Resources

The Simple Inventory blog

Practical, no-fluff guides on keeping stock accurate — and doing less of the manual work.

Guide

From box to QR code: label your inventory in an afternoon

A step-by-step playbook for tagging your entire stockroom with QR codes in a single afternoon.

6 min read

Business

Reducing shrinkage: a playbook for small businesses

Measure inventory shrinkage, find the real causes, and reduce it without locking everything down.

7 min read

Business

Inventory KPIs that actually matter for small teams

Skip the vanity metrics — the handful of numbers that tell you whether your inventory is healthy.

6 min read

Business

The true cost of a stockout (and how to calculate yours)

Stockouts cost far more than a missed sale. The hidden costs, and a formula to estimate yours.

6 min read

Guide

QR code inventory tracking: a practical guide

Why QR codes beat manual lookups, how to label your items, and how to scan stock from any phone.

6 min read

Guide

Keeping stock counts honest across multiple locations

Per-location tracking, clean transfers, and rolling counts that stop multi-site drift.

7 min read

Industry

Van stock 101: inventory tracking for field teams

Treat each vehicle as a location and give crews a phone-first way to keep stock current.

6 min read

Industry

Inventory management for makerspaces

Track shared tools, filament and fasteners with QR scanning, alerts, and access for every member.

6 min read

5 questions to ask an AI assistant about your stock

Five practical prompts to run against your live inventory once you’ve connected Claude.

5 min read

Guide

How to run a stock reconciliation (without the headache)

A step-by-step approach to counting, comparing and correcting your inventory.

7 min read

What is an MCP server — and why your inventory tool should have one

A plain-English explainer of the Model Context Protocol and why a built-in server matters.

6 min read

How to manage inventory by chatting with Claude

Connect Claude and manage stock in plain language — check levels, log receipts, build reorder lists.

6 min read

Guide

How to organize a stockroom so anyone can find anything

Zoning, naming conventions, labeling and QR codes that make finding stock instant.

6 min read

Guide

7 signs you’ve outgrown spreadsheets for inventory

Spreadsheets are fine until they aren’t. Seven warning signs it’s time to switch.

5 min read

Guide

Cycle counting vs. full physical counts

Pros, cons and how to choose (or combine) the two approaches to counting stock.

7 min read

Guide

How to set reorder points so you never run out

What reorder points are, the formula, and how alerts keep you from running out or overstocking.

6 min read

Guide

The small business guide to inventory management

Set up accurate stock tracking, avoid stockouts, and ditch the spreadsheet for good.

8 min read

Have a topic you’d like us to cover? Let us know.