Maintaining accurate inventory records is essential to success in cannabis retail, however, it can often be a struggle. There is a lot to manage when you have 3 versions of inventory to keep in sync; you should always have the same inventory counts between Metrc, your point of sale, and your physical inventory. When one or more inventory locations are out of sync, it will require effort, time, and labor to reconcile and may put your business at risk of audit or fine (CA requires dispensaries maintain no more than 5% inventory discrepancies). When it comes to point of sale systems, the Metrc integration is pivotal. If you’re using a system that sends Metrc sales to the state in real time, there can be issues with downtime; when Metrc’s API experiences downtime and the sales that occur during that downtime go unreported, that will lead to inventory inaccuracies. Poor record-keeping leads to lost profits and unsatisfied customers, but luckily there are ways to prevent this.
Meadow’s Inventory Management System Provides:
- Reliable Metrc integration & full state compliance
- Uptime of 99.99% for retail and delivery orders
- Accurate menus, everywhere customers shop
- Ability to audit your inventory and reduce theft with Cycle Counts
- Premium Inventory Velocity and real-time, easy to access data
- More Inventory Management features
Meadow's advanced inventory management software helps streamline your operations while meeting all relevant regulations, so you no longer have to worry about inaccurate data distracting from the quality customer service that sets you apart. With Meadow’s integration with Metrc, leave the manual data entry behind. If you’re spending time uploading CSV files or checking for unreported sales, you could be spending that time completing more valuable tasks at your dispensary.
Let's look at five of the most common reasons behind cannabis retail inventory inaccuracies and how they can easily be avoided with our user-friendly dispensary POS system.
Problem: Selling from the Wrong Batch. One reason your inventory may be inaccurate is if you are selling from the wrong Metrc batch of products.
Solution: To avoid this issue, Meadow’s labeling system makes it simple for retailers to easily create unique labels to add to each product in their inventory. This helps to ensure that accurate amounts of inventory are kept track of, preventing stock issues and Metrc package mix-ups. Labeling each individual unit is the most reliable way for retailers to make sure they are accurately selling the correct products. Monitor inventory transactions of packages in Meadow to follow the life cycle of any given product. To save time, you can use a barcode scanner to add items to an order, a cycle count, or to a transfer in Meadow to save time searching for the correct batch.
In addition, Meadow offers the ability for you to enable “scan only mode” at POS. This means that only items that have been properly scanned into the system are allowed to be added to the cart. If that retail model does not work for you, be sure to separate batches clearly on the retail floor and in the stockroom using Metrc tags and make sure your team has clear SOPs to clarify the order they should be selling products.
Problem: Theft. The cannabis industry is growing rapidly, but unfortunately because it's still largely a cash business, it's a target for thieves because they know that there's typically large amounts of money and expensive products inside a single location.
Solution: Investing in security measures such as surveillance cameras and alarms, as well as training staff members to actively monitor activity within the premises can help reduce instances of theft and keep your records accurate.
In addition to these security measures, monitoring your inventory closely will help detect issues with theft proactively. Meadow's real-time cycle count functionality makes sure your physical inventory is in perfect sync with POS and Metrc - helping you proactively catch fraud, loss or misuse. Completing regular and frequent cycle counts will ensure that all of your inventory is accounted for and accurately recorded. You will be able to identify trends when you monitor your inventory closely and address discrepancies within just a few clicks.
Problem: Product Damage Unreported. Make sure to stay on top of damaged inventory. Whether it’s removing damaged products from inventory, like a broken jar, or completing a return for an unsatisfied customer, these small changes to your inventory should be addressed immediately. If your current system requires too many confusing steps to properly record a return in your POS and Metrc, your staff might be avoiding the work.
Solution: Create systems where damaged or returned product must be reported immediately and thoroughly documented for accuracy purposes. With Meadow, you can create reconciliations to your inventory in just a few seconds. The user-interface makes it very easy to understand what changes are being made. Walk through returns and exchanges at point of sale without any confusion with step-by-step required fields and entries. These adjustments in Meadow are reported to Metrc for you, so you only need to complete these actions in one place, and inventory numbers are updated in real-time everywhere.
Problem: Incoming Delivery Receiving Errors. When new shipments arrive, it’s important that each product is accounted for, before it’s stored in the dispensary or storeroom. Otherwise, there could be discrepancies between what was received vs what was invoiced, leading to an inaccurate representation of available stock on hand versus what’s recorded in the system.
Solution: First, always be sure to confirm the physical inventory that’s being delivered to your store with the Metrc manifest and invoice. There are several opportunities for mistakes here. Products that you didn’t order could arrive, inventory quantities could be incorrect, packages could be missing from the transfer entirely, and more. Be sure to take your time receiving deliveries and confirm all data points are correct before signing off.
Once you’ve confirmed everything is accurate, Meadow’s ‘create purchase order from transfer’ workflow doesn’t leave packages behind and makes it easy to confirm inventory on hand. If you need help, you can access Meadow’s customer support team in 5 minutes or less. The support team is online, available and committed to helping you easily resolve these issues if you need extra assistance.
Problem: Lack of training. Without proper staff training, dispensaries can be at risk for costly inventory mistakes. The cost of training new employees is expensive, and if your system is difficult to use, your resources will continue to be exhausted without the promise that mistakes won’t happen in the future.
Solution: To ensure operational efficacy and reduce employee learning curve time, Meadow offers an easy to use training system called Meadow Mastery. This is a free, online, self-paced training resource for front and back of house teams. This helps to streamline training processes while delivering an executive level of knowledge to your new team members. They can access these courses from anywhere with internet access. You can assign lessons to staff based upon their role at your store.
If you're having trouble with inventory accuracy, it might be time to switch to Meadow's intuitive cannabis retail software. We can help you manage your inventory within this easy-to-use interface. With Meadow, you won't have to worry about common inventory mistakes with our built-in safeguards for compliance and quick-to-respond support inquiries.
Fill out the form below to book a demo and see how we can help you take control of your inventory.
