A Shelving Guide for Organizing Supply Rooms

It is important for your retail business that you keep your supply room organized. If you don't, it can be difficult to know what you have and what you need – and that can result in lost profits. A badly organized supply room can also make it difficult to reach inventory that you need because it is blocked by other inventory in your supply room. And finally, you'll need to keep your inventory secure to prevent theft. For that, you need shelving that will protect your inventory so that it's safe and secure.

How to choose retail shelving for your supply room

Supply rooms in many retail establishments are small. If that's true for you, you'll need to make the most efficient use of your space. How?

• Choose shelving that's the right size and material for the inventory you store

Retail shelving for supply rooms is made of metal, plastic, and/or wire; it comes in a variety of sizes meant for specific weight limits. Choose the proper shelving systems for your own inventory, depending on product weight and specifications.

• Choose modular shelving systems

Modular shelving systems incorporate retail shelving for storage -- and much more. With modular shelving, you can also make use of other storage components like pegs, bins and trays so that you can store small or irregularly shaped inventory that can get lost easily or won't store properly on a shelf. You can also mix and match different storage components and parts to get the exact configuration you need. You can also change configurations easily (and endlessly) as you need to, as your own storage needs change. Once you establish your supply room's initial layout, you should simply be able to reconfigure specific areas of the supply room without having to reorganize the entire thing, thus avoiding significant disruption.

• Use your vertical space

You can't use your supply room's space efficiently if you don't "go vertical." Use retail shelving that is as tall as possible (at least six feet tall) without endangering your staff; don't make shelving so tall that employee falls, dropped merchandise, or other mishaps are possible dangers, but do go as high as you can with safety in mind for most efficient use of space.

• Opt for mobile shelving

Mobile shelving or "carriage systems" are supply room retail shelving options on wheels. There are two different kinds of mobile shelving: The first type is on casters and simply moves around the floor freely when pushed. The second type is placed on tracks. With either of these systems, you can simply push your supply room retail shelving units more closely together for storage so that you have vertical "stacks" of shelving units. When you need something from one of the units, you can simply move the other unit(s) aside to create an opening so that you can retrieve what you need and then push them back together again. When you do this, you effectively double your supply room's usable floorspace.

• Invest in locking retail fixtures if necessary

Retail loss through employee theft is all too common, but preventable. In addition to utilizing other security devices like cameras and retail security tags, locking supply room fixtures can help prevent inventory theft and protect your bottom line.

Even small supply rooms can give you lots of space for storage with the right retail shelving and fixtures. They'll also help you organize your inventory so that you know what you have (and what you need) easily, and can help protect from theft and loss. You can conquer disorganization right away just by using the right retail shelving and fixtures.