～ Explore stocktaking challenges for Vietnam retailers, including staffing issues, lost sales during counts, timely result reviews, and the value of professional support.～
Challenges in Stocktaking
Stocktaking requires retailers to verify where products are located, what items they are, and how many units are physically available. To ensure reliable inventory data, this process must be completed accurately and without omissions. As a result, successful stocktaking depends on sufficient manpower, clear procedures, effective supervision, and consistent execution.
For retailers in Vietnam, where modern retail formats such as convenience stores, supermarkets, specialty stores, and shopping malls continue to expand, maintaining high inventory accuracy is becoming increasingly important. Accurate stocktaking not only supports financial reporting but also improves inventory management, store operations, and decision-making throughout the business.
1. Securing Stocktaking Staff and Maintaining Accuracy
One of the biggest challenges in stocktaking is securing sufficient manpower while maintaining counting accuracy.
Ideally, store employees can conduct physical stocktaking themselves. However, in practice, this is often difficult due to daily operational responsibilities, limited staffing resources, and time constraints. As a result, retailers may need to seek support from other stores, headquarters teams, temporary workers, business partners, or external service providers.
While cost is naturally an important consideration, stocktaking requires more than simply assigning additional people to count products. Inventory counting demands training, clear operating procedures, attention to detail, accountability, and consistent work quality. These factors directly affect inventory accuracy and the reliability of stocktaking results.
Temporary workers or external support personnel may not be familiar with stocktaking procedures or store operations. Even when detailed instructions are provided, experience levels and quality standards may vary. Staff dispatched from headquarters or other stores may have a better understanding of company procedures, but they may not always have the same level of familiarity with the specific store environment.
For companies seeking a higher level of consistency and efficiency, outsourcing to a professional stocktaking service provider can be an effective option. Trained stocktaking specialists are expected to count large volumes of inventory accurately and efficiently within a limited timeframe. Their productivity and count accuracy can also be measured through established quality-control processes such as sampling and verification checks.
At the same time, outsourcing involves additional costs. Retailers should evaluate not only direct expenses but also the potential benefits of improved inventory accuracy, reduced operational burden, and higher overall productivity when making decisions.
2. Loss of Sales Opportunities
Another common challenge is the potential loss of sales opportunities during stocktaking.
In many cases, physical inventory counts are conducted when customers are not present, typically before opening, after closing, or during temporary store closures. This minimises operational disruption but may reduce selling hours and affect sales performance.
For retailers in Vietnam, where demand can fluctuate significantly during Tet holiday demand, major shopping events, public holidays, tourism seasons, and year-end promotions, even a short interruption to trading hours may affect business performance.
Many retailers operate seven days a week and may not have regular closing days. Closing a store for stocktaking can therefore create not only immediate sales losses but also the possibility that customers will visit competing stores instead.
To minimise these risks, retailers often consider alternative approaches such as opening later than usual, closing earlier, conducting stocktaking after business hours, or in limited cases, carrying out stocktaking while the store remains open.
Ideally, stocktaking should be completed with minimal impact on customers and normal business activities. However, conducting stocktaking overnight or outside regular operating hours can place significant demands on store employees. In such situations, professional stocktaking support may help retailers complete the process more efficiently while reducing operational disruption.
When evaluating stocktaking costs, businesses should consider both the direct expense of the stocktake and the potential cost of lost sales opportunities.
3. Timely Review of Stocktake Results
Completing the count is only one part of the stocktaking process. The results must also be reviewed, verified, and analysed promptly.
If unusual figures or significant discrepancies are identified, retailers should investigate them while relevant information is still readily available. Timely review helps businesses identify the causes of inventory loss, operational errors, or process weaknesses before they become larger issues.
To support financial closing, companies need accurate beginning inventory data, purchase information, sales records, and ending inventory figures. Delays in reviewing stocktake results may therefore affect profit calculations and financial reporting schedules.
However, post-stocktake analysis can be challenging. Companies may not have sufficient staff available to review the data thoroughly, or they may lack clear procedures regarding which figures should be checked and how discrepancies should be investigated.
For this reason, retailers should prepare a review process before the stocktake takes place. This includes defining when results will be reviewed, who will be responsible, how discrepancies will be verified, and what resources will be required.
By preparing these procedures in advance, businesses can use stocktaking data more effectively for inventory management, operational improvement, and financial reporting.
For Companies Facing Stocktaking Challenges
Many retailers continue to conduct stocktaking internally but face challenges such as staff shortages, inconsistent counting quality, operational disruption, and lengthy review processes.
However, stocktaking is far more than simply counting products. It is a fundamental business process that supports financial closing, profit determination, inventory accuracy, identification of inventory loss and inventory overage, fraud prevention, operational improvement, and the effective operation of digital inventory management systems and automated ordering systems.
To achieve accurate and efficient stocktaking, retailers need reliable data management, careful preparation, appropriate staffing, and effective post-stocktake review procedures.
AJIS supports retailers as a professional stocktaking service provider, covering the entire process from physical inventory counting to data delivery and reporting. Drawing on extensive operational experience and specialised expertise, AJIS helps retailers improve inventory accuracy, strengthen inventory management, and support more efficient store operations.
For more information about our stocktaking services, please refer to the page below.
👉 Stocktaking service – AJIS Vietnam
Read previous article: Column 1 Why Is Stocktaking Necessary for Retailers ?
Read previous article: Column 2 How Stocktaking Improves Inventory Accuracy
Read previous article: Column 3 Common Pitfalls in Stocktaking
Editor: AJIS Group
AJIS Group is a global corporate group led by AJIS Co., Ltd., which has been a leading provider of stocktaking services and retail support services in Japan. The Group operates in the United States, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
With a proven track record of working with more than 3,000 companies and supporting a cumulative total of over one million stores annually, AJIS Group helps address a wide range of challenges faced by the retail and distribution industries. Its services include stocktaking, store operations support, sales floor improvement, and promotional support.
By providing practical services tailored to the market characteristics of each country and region, AJIS Group contributes to improving store operational efficiency and enhancing the value of sales floors.
