I own a grocery store in Vermont at the base of a popular ski mountain. My GM, Ashley, primarily runs the operations and, along with a few other employees, manages the purchasing for our 3,000 square foot store. 

I try to keep up with her and all that is on her plate every day. Our store may be small, but her daily task list is far from it. A few weeks ago, I was walking the aisles and noticed that a top-selling item was out of stock. I made a mental note to ask the team to re-order it and moved on to the next task.

The following day, I was walking the aisles and noticed the same top-selling item was out of stock and realized I never asked the team to re-order it. I made another mental note to do so and moved on to the next task. By the time we re-ordered, the item had been out of stock for 7 days. 

Had I moved beyond taking a fleeting “mental note,” our standard process would not have been much better. I would have jotted down the item on a piece of paper, and put it a pile on our desk for the team to address later. From there, someone would dig up the vendor’s email or phone number and re-order when they got the chance. 

At best, our paper note & email process would have saved us a few days, but the item would still have gone out of stock and a record of the order would be buried in email, or even a voicemail or text message on an employee’s phone. Inventory alerts in our POS could have helped, but inventory management is a whole other story we’ll get to in a future post.

Our small store orders from 9 distributors and 30 direct suppliers and traditionally the ordering process is different for each vendor - be it email, phone, text, scanning order forms, or in some cases antiquated online ordering tools. 

Re-stocking our shelves should be easier. Going out of stock has a direct impact on revenue for stores and brands and traditional ordering methods make it too easy to run out of popular items.

This is one of the reasons we started Mable and why we’re so excited to be launching our new mobile app. Mable consolidates our store’s vendors onto one web and mobile-friendly platform - making it super easy for Ashley and the team to order and re-order inventory the moment they notice something getting low. 

Now, when anyone notices an item running low that is on the Mable platform, they will use the Mable mobile app to scan the UPC and send a P.O. to the vendor in seconds. 

Independent retailers have enough on their plates. In an environment where buyers are multitasking and in a near-constant state of distraction, re-ordering inventory needs to be instant. With Mable, re-ordering product will take seconds, helping buyers and vendors save time and make money. 

Download the Mable app here.