Inventory Reconciliation in Clothing Stores Using Excel & Python

Automate Stock Reconciliation Between Physical Inventory and Digital Records

For clothing stores, inventory reconciliation is a crucial task to ensure that the physical stock matches the digital records. Using Excel and Python, this process can be automated to reduce manual effort, improve accuracy, and save time.

By integrating data from physical counts (using barcodes or manual counts) with digital inventory records, Python scripts can perform automatic reconciliation, flagging discrepancies and generating detailed reports for review.

Code Example:

import pandas as pd

# Sample physical inventory data
physical_inventory = pd.DataFrame({
    'item': ['T-shirt', 'Jeans', 'Jacket', 'Sneakers', 'Sweater'],
    'physical_count': [50, 60, 30, 80, 40]
})

# Sample digital inventory data (from Excel or POS system)
digital_inventory = pd.DataFrame({
    'item': ['T-shirt', 'Jeans', 'Jacket', 'Sneakers', 'Sweater'],
    'digital_count': [45, 60, 28, 85, 40]
})

# Merge the two dataframes on 'item' column
inventory_df = pd.merge(physical_inventory, digital_inventory, on='item')

# Calculate discrepancy
inventory_df['discrepancy'] = inventory_df['physical_count'] - inventory_df['digital_count']

# Highlight discrepancies
discrepancies = inventory_df[inventory_df['discrepancy'] != 0]

# Print results
print("Discrepancies found:")
print(discrepancies[['item', 'physical_count', 'digital_count', 'discrepancy']])

This Python code compares the physical inventory count with the digital inventory records. Any discrepancies are flagged and displayed, allowing the store to take immediate corrective actions.

Reduce Human Error and Streamline Stock Audits

Manual stock audits are time-consuming and prone to errors. Automating reconciliation between physical and digital inventories significantly reduces human error, ensuring that discrepancies are identified and corrected promptly. This automation allows employees to focus on higher-priority tasks instead of spending time manually comparing records.

Code Example:

# Function to automate reconciliation process and generate audit report
def reconcile_inventory(physical_df, digital_df):
    # Merge dataframes and calculate discrepancies
    merged_df = pd.merge(physical_df, digital_df, on='item')
    merged_df['discrepancy'] = merged_df['physical_count'] - merged_df['digital_count']

    # Return items with discrepancies
    return merged_df[merged_df['discrepancy'] != 0]

# Execute reconciliation and generate report
audit_report = reconcile_inventory(physical_inventory, digital_inventory)

# Output reconciliation results
audit_report.to_excel("inventory_audit_report.xlsx", index=False)
print("Reconciliation report saved as 'inventory_audit_report.xlsx'.")

This function automates the entire reconciliation process and generates a report that can be directly saved to an Excel file. This process greatly speeds up inventory audits while ensuring accuracy.

Improve Operational Efficiency and Save Valuable Time

Automating inventory reconciliation with Python and Excel allows clothing stores to improve operational efficiency by:

• Reducing the time spent on manual inventory counts and audits.
• Minimizing discrepancies between physical and digital records.
• Providing immediate, real-time insights into inventory discrepancies, allowing faster corrective actions.

Instead of relying on manual reconciliation, businesses can automate the process and ensure more accurate stock levels, improving both operational efficiency and inventory management.

Why Choose Lillqvist Strat?

At Lillqvist Strat, we understand that time and accuracy are paramount in inventory management. Our customized Python solutions for inventory reconciliation will help your clothing store:

• Automate the process of comparing physical and digital stock levels.
• Eliminate human error and increase accuracy during stock audits.
• Improve overall efficiency and reduce the time spent on manual checks.

With Lillqvist Strat’s expert solutions, your clothing store will operate with greater precision and speed, allowing you to focus on delivering a great shopping experience for your customers. Let us help you streamline your operations, so you can spend more time on growing your business.