It is an aspect of running an Airbnb or serviced apartment that gets overlooked by newcomers to the market. As the number of guests walking through the doors of your properties increase and as your number of properties goes up, keeping your listings well plenished with essential items is one key area to optimise as early as possible. They don't just run out either - they get broken, stolen, and simply go missing because it's not tracked properly. We're talking everything from toilet roll to bed linen, coffee beans to the Netflix subscription.
Getting your inventory management operations in place will save you money, time, reduce friction between changeovers and, most of all, keep that high quality guest experience front and centre.
Fortunately, there are plenty of technology and apps out there to help you optimise your inventory for Airbnb management as well as some good, simple practices to abide by.
The Airbnb Inventory Checklist: create one per room Creating a checklist for each room in your Airbnb is a fundamental step in managing your inventory effectively. This approach allows you to keep track of the items you need to stock in each area and ensures that nothing is overlooked. Categorize the items according to room, such as the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, and living area. A detailed checklist serves as a handy reference when restocking, helps maintain consistency throughout your rental property and really helps the cleaning staff to know what needs to be in each room after a full sweep. Now when that ridiculously expensive chaise longues goes missing, it's accounted for immediately...!
Cleaning management apps for Airbnb Leverage technology. By combining cleaning with inventory management, you can have an easier time navigating this crucial area. Your cleaners can update the apps when stocks run low, they can take pictures to show broken items or spoiled linen and furniture, and can ping automated alerts for when supplies need replenishing, and much more. Our recommendations in this area include some of the major PMS suppliers (property management software) like Guesty and Hostaway. These large software providers incorporate these features into their subscriptions (sometimes with extra costs of course), and there are more specific apps like Turno (Previously TurnoverBnB) and Properly which you can integrate with most PMS. These latter apps can also help you find relevant cleaning companies who will of course be literate with using the technology.
Laundry and Linen One of the big areas in both stock management and cleaning for holiday lets and Airbnbs. Ensure you have an ample supply of bed sheets, pillowcases, towels, and other necessary linens. Establish a system to keep track of their usage and schedule regular laundry cycles to ensure a fresh and clean experience for each guest. Some more specific tips we like here include ensuring that all duvet covers are fastened when going into the washer/dryer to avoid smaller items getting inside them and increasing the drying time; stain treat your linen before washing and generally sticking to white linen and towels - stains come out easier and you require less bleach. Other tips: ensure all your bedding is the same for every property to minimise sorting time, and lock additional linen away in a closet to help with the changeovers. One tip we see from many in the Airbnb host community is to bulk order items to enjoy discounts from larger distributors, sometimes partnering up with other hosts in your area.
Minimise food waste Think carefully about foodstuffs which can expire quickly. It would be great for your guests' experience to keep the fridge full of fresh milk but it could lead to lots of waste at the end of each stay. Water, coffee and packaged snacks such as brunch bars and individually packaged croissants are all highly suitable with long shelf lives and can be bought in bulk, and that's where you should focus.
Investment in quality While the upfront cost may be slightly higher, quality products are more durable and likely to last longer, reducing the frequency of replacements. Opt for furniture and other items that are designed for commercial use and can withstand the wear and tear of frequent guest turnover. Quality stock not only improves the guest experience but also saves you time, money, and effort in the long term. And it is possible to furnish your Airbnb with quality items cost effectively.
At our networking events for Airbnb investors and short term let / serviced apartment property managers across the UK - our next one is in Leeds where you can sign up here - many suppliers are also in attendance so we encourage you to attend and learn what services and technology you can implement to help your business. In this case, getting to know the main cleaning companies in your area and what inventory management tools they are using could be a great tip to get on top of this key area. And as ever, we'd love to hear more specific examples of how you are solving the challenges of inventory management.
If you liked this article on operating an Airbnb, why not check out these other articles from the blog:
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