Tips on Moving Your Store’s Merchandise

Tips on Moving Your Store’s Merchandise

Sometimes, you may need to store your business’s merchandise in a facility for a short time. This is common when moving your sales business or if trying to contain overstock in a franchise situation.

Returns and Perishables

Before ever hiring the office moving company, you should take inventory of your merchandise and begin contacting the businesses you bought it from. It doesn’t always matter if it’s an older purchase. Many manufacturers are willing to purchase the items back from you at your cost. You may be out shipping, but it’s better than having to move thirty boxes of items that you haven’t sold.

Perishables are another thing to look out for. If your merchandise is going to be in storage for any length of time, any perishables (even long-stock items like candy) should be cleared as fast as possible. If you do not have the ability to clearance these items, you may consider trashing them or donating them as a tax write-off. Many storage companies will not allow perishables within their facilities for obvious reasons.

Packing

Merchandise should be packed with like merchandise for easier sorting when at the destination. If possible, ask your movers to bind and tag block groups of merchandise as they pack. If you are a department store, this can be made easier by asking certain groups of movers to work within specific departments. Then they can bind the pallet as they go, and your store is sorted much more quickly and easily.

Remember to mark discard stock as quickly as possible, prior to the movers arriving. You don’t want perishable products, worthless clearance, or other non-carried items to clutter your boxes and become a hassle at the unpacking stage.

Long-Term Storage

If your move requires storage for a long period of time, you need someone to be with you for the duration. This means searching for a moving company that does storage as well as packing, shipping, and delivery. Why? It’s far easier to compile one payment for one company than to have to keep running between two (or more) companies for a service that one provides. There is no good reason to make things more complicated for yourself when dealing with a move. It only serves to make it harder on you and your employees.

Long-term storage should be available through many moving companies or with their partners in the industry. Ask for the company’s rates and your options when you book your move.

Getting It All Back

Delivery day is sure to be a hectic one, with all of your stock returning to you and trying to get the business ready to open. However, we recommend taking it as slowly as you can. Use your checklist to be certain that every box is present, and allow your employees to stock the shelves. Though you may hire a moving company to unpack, you should make certain that it is willing to stock shelves for you if you desire this service. Many moving companies won’t do this due to liability risks and for the simple fact that this is typically outside of their job description.

However, if the movers are willing to stock your shelves, try to have employees guide them throughout the process. This helps to make certain that the right products are in the right places and helps to associate your employees with where the stock is in the new location.