You’re familiar with the process. The customer comes to your store to try and buy a product. The customer is excited about the new shoes and spends a lot of time researching them. One problem lies in the shadows. The shoes are out-of-stock. Inventory management software could make the difference between losing customers and keeping them around for many years.
Why? Why?
You can do the same for your backend.
Your store’s life force is inventory. You’ll have problems with future and present customers if an item isn’t in stock or you don’t move it through the correct logistical channels.
This is where inventory management software comes in to play.
Below are our top choices. Some offer full inventory and sales suites while others provide simpler, more compact inventory management tools.
What’s Inventory Management Software?
Many business owners find inventory management tedious and time-consuming. A software tool that has the right features can help alleviate some of the stress and headaches associated with inventory management.
You will need to track your inventory, whether you run an ecommerce site, a brick-and-mortar store, or a grocery store. These tools will give you an overview of every aspect of your products. You can track the movement of your inventory to get a better understanding of your customers and their needs.
Software for inventory management can have many common features such as:
- Barcode scanners – To track and manage products
- Inventory optimization – To make sure you have enough of each product for your customers
- Stock notifications: These alerts let you know when you are stocking up or down on a particular item based upon defined thresholds.
- Multi-location Management: This allows you to manage multiple warehouses and point-of-sale systems simultaneously.
- Material grouping – Collect inventory in predefined categories to measure the most in demand products.
- Report generation – View your sales history, track the most popular products, and manage items that aren’t selling as expected.
- Purchase Order Records: Keep track and keep track of what products you have in stock, and where they came from.
Inventory management tools allow you to track goods throughout your business supply chain. This allows you to track everything, from sales orders to unique business needs. Many software solutions include integrations to connect to your accounting system and offline barcoding strategy.
Best Inventory Management Software
The best inventory management system is not a one-size fits all solution. You may need multiple tools combined into one back-end process depending on your inventory needs.
Here are some of the most sought-after tools available to help you get started.
Katana
Katana is a unique inventory management tool that focuses exclusively on small-scale manufacturers, unlike many of the other tools we have featured. Katana is an online software program that allows small and medium-sized factories to manage their inventory and production schedules.
Smart management of finished goods and raw materials is the main function. Katana provides a dashboard that allows for easy and convenient tracking of all critical processes.
You’ll especially enjoy seamless transitions between information sheets and integrations with many business platforms. Online selling is possible with Katana. QuickBooks and Xero integrations are great for keeping track of stock, payment information, purchase orders, accounting, and other details.
Pricing
Katana is a powerful tool that allows companies to reduce costs and streamline their sales without having to spend a lot. Although there is no free version, you can download Katana for a trial. Prices start at $99 per month.
Pros
This is a great way to streamline invoicing, inventory, production, and other processes.
Excellent value for money
Katana MRP can be used in a very simple way
Knowledgebase is great for beginners
Amazing support team
Cons
For beginners, it is difficult
It is difficult to organize orders
QuickBooks Commerce
QuickBooks Commerce Platform allows commerce brands to manage their wholesale and retail operations from one central platform. The core capabilities of the platform and its extensive app ecosystem allow businesses to automate order workflows, increasing operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction. It allows you to manage multiple sales channels, including Amazon, WooCommerce and Wayfair, fulfillment locations, expedite payment processing, create private B2B eCommerce experiences and automate the connection between multiple systems.
QuickBooks Commerce is designed for supply chain, operations and ecommerce professionals who want to automate their business. It frees them from repetitive tasks that can be prone to human error or inefficiency. You can spend more time building customer relationships and growing your company.
QuickBooks Commerce is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses. The Founder Plan starts at $39 per month.
Pricing
The Founder package includes support for one user and 10 sales orders per calendar month. Prices for QuickBooks Commerce start around $35 per monthly. A lite version is available for $69 per monthly, small business $169 per per month, or Business $459 per per month. You get more features and access to more users the more you spend. For those who have more complex needs, there are Premium and Enterprise plans.
Pros
Great for all businesses
Multiple sales channels supported
Interface is simple to use
Great for supply chain professionals
Excellent value for money
Cons
Software bugs can cause some problems
The customer support is not the best
Zoho Inventory Management
Zoho Inventory Management, one of the most popular tools on the market, is designed to increase sales and expand businesses. Zoho Inventory can help you manage your offline orders and online orders. It can also be integrated with other tools to improve your sales strategy.
Zoho can be linked to your Amazon, eBay, and Shopify accounts. You can create purchase orders, manage drop shipping, and much more from one application. You can track every item in your inventory from beginning to end with batch tracking and serial number features. To ensure that your items reach your customers as quickly and efficiently as possible, you can choose from multiple shipping options.
Zoho inventory also includes advanced inventory management tools such as access accounting software and asset management tools that will help you make better business decisions. This could be the right software solution for you if you are looking for complete business solutions.
Pricing
Although there is a free version, it has very few features. You can get a free trial of the paid version to test it out.
Pros
Integrates with a CRM
Great for inventory tracking and customer experience
Integrations with leading tools
Workflow tools for marketing and human resources
Interface is simple to use
Use Shopify, eBay, and Amazon accounts
Cons
Tutorials can be very ineffective.
Subscriptions can be purchased per user or in groups
Fishbowl Inventory
Although Fishbowl inventory is not as well-known as Quickbooks or Zoho inventory in terms of asset management, FIFO tools and accounting systems, it is gaining popularity quickly. Fishbowl is a great inventory management tool that allows you to keep track of inventory and evaluate your business’ needs.
Fishbowl can help you achieve whatever business goals you have. It offers everything from dropshipping tracking to inventory data barcoding and other advanced features. Fishbowl integrates with many of the most popular tools available on the market, so you can do more. You can integrate with Quickbooks, Salesforce CRM, ShipStation, and Quickbooks to get accounting software.
Fishbowl offers everything, from manufacturing tools with work orders to asset management insights that can help small businesses grow to asset tracking and warehouseing. Real-time inventory updates are available. You can track your items by lot number and keep track of asset levels in multiple locations.
Pricing
Fishbowl inventory management starts at $43,95, which can seem high. Your license does not expire so you don’t need to renew every month or year.
Pros
Integrates with market-leading tools
Assists with asset and work order management
Perfect for tracking and reporting
Actual-time inventory updates
Subscriptions that do not expire
Cons
Expensive at first
Not well-known
English is the only language.
Stitch Labs
Stitch Labs makes your life easier, no matter if you are a small business or a large enterprise. It is a complete software solution that tracks everything, from invoices to orders placed on-site and inventory items. With a user-friendly interface, it offers the same level of simplicity as Quickbooks customers and Zoho customers. Stitch is also a great tool for growing brands to quickly check stock levels and sell items on a variety of channels.
Stitch Labs’ customizable experience is ideal for companies who want to merchandise creatively. It offers everything you need, from inventory items at a discount to loyalty programs. Without the need for time-consuming tools, you’ll have complete control of your inventory system.
Stitch offers order management solutions, wholesale management, purchasing, replenishment, in-depth reporting, and analytics. Stitch Labs can help you figure out what you should sell online.
Pricing
Stich Labs pricing starts at $799 per month. This makes it one of the most costly inventory management options. You do have access to unrestricted channels and users and excellent support.
Pros
Innovative predictive analytics and sales forecasting
Sales channels auto syncing
Multi-channel support and multi-user support
Advanced search and user-friendly interface
Excellent customizable experience
Cons
Expensive pricing structure
Forecasting is not always accurate
SellerCloud
SellerCloud has a lot of features. It’s the same suite we mentioned above. Scheduled listings, shipment tracking, inventory tracking and customer feedback management are all included. This app is a bit more than an ordinary inventory management app. We love Seller Cloud because it has so many integrations. You can connect to channels such as Amazon and eBay. This includes vendors, shopping carts repricers, payment gateways, and many other things.
We’ll be focusing on inventory management in this article. Let’s look at the main features. The system can maintain inventory sync across all platforms and allows multi-warehouse management. You can reserve inventory for deals or channels using the tool. All vendor feeds are automatically updated with any changes to your inventory. In case you need to send a new order, low stock alerts will be sent to you. For both you and your customer, inventory tracking is included.
Pricing
Seller Cloud’s inventory management and ERP software depends on the amount of merchandise you sell. To get an accurate quote, you will need to tell the company how many orders are placed. It is also important to determine whether you need a dedicated server or premium support. The monthly minimum cost is typically around $1000.
Pros
Simple and easy supply chain management
All orders and inventory can be synced quickly
There is no need to keep separate connections with suppliers
For quick and easy selling, reorder features
Convenient tools
Pricing is simple and transparent
Cons
It needs a lot of updates regularly
For beginners, it can be overwhelming
Expensive for some
ChannelAdvisor
Channel Advisor is another ecommerce suite that offers products to help you bring in new customers, manage inventory, handle social commerce, and expand your product intelligence. Channel Advisor software is designed to help companies post their products on the internet quickly and easily. Channel Advisor, for example, has a digital marketing channel that distributes your products on sites like Google. Bing, Yahoo Facebook.
The system then goes onto the marketplaces. It would, for instance, ensure that your products are available and available to be sold on Amazon, Walmart and Sears. Channel Advisor offers features that allow you to gain insights into the buying habits of your customers. These product data are used to help you determine how you can improve your conversions. It is one of the best options out there, as most of the products are dedicated to your inventory.
Pricing
Pricing for Channel Advisor software is determined by performance. The amount that you spend will drop if your sales fall. This allows you to manage your retail business’ order fulfillment without running out of money. You have multiple options for reordering and tools that will help you keep everything running smoothly.
Pros
Excellent customer service with lots of support
Assistance with orders from multiple markets
The system is reliable and works well
Interface that is very customizable and suits your needs
Pricing is determined by your cash flow.
Convenient layout
Cons
There are some issues with charging
Data reports are not always reliable
nChannel
nChannel, a cloud-based multichannel platform, connects your sales channels to your fulfillment channels. It connects your front-end sales channels such as Shopify, Magento and Bigcommerce with back-end systems like NetSuite and MS Dynamics GP. nChannel integrates your systems and centralizes inventory management, order management, product information management, and more.
The inventory management software helps you avoid overselling by automatically updating your inventory levels across all sales channels. The software automatically transmits order information to your fulfillment system, ensuring that your orders are processed quickly and accurately. These components will help you provide a better customer experience. Customers will be able to see when inventory is available as well as the status of their orders. Multichannel is a serious endeavor. nChannel can help you get through those complexities.
Pricing
nChannel is a great choice for anyone who wants to manage inventory via a mobile device or web. It’s easy to plan a profitable business with fifo or lifo accounting, thanks to order tracking and tons of high-volume data. Pricing starts at $400 per month with no free option. You will also not receive a free trial.
Pros
Solutions for businesses with lots of data
Diverse integration options
Interface very customizable
Many support options for tracking orders
Straightforward user interface
Cons
There is no free trial
Sometimes integrations can be complicated
Veeqo
Veeqo, a software package that allows small businesses to track everything from inventory management to orders and shipping, is all-in-one. It’s easy to help your brand grow faster because you have everything you need in one user-friendly backend.
Veeqo allows business owners to access a multichannel inventory management platform, which can integrate with up 16 channels. Veeqo also supports multiple warehouses, wholesale orders, returns, and detailed revenue reports. Veeqo offers state-of the-art picking and packing solutions, including barcode scanner pick. You can also integrate up to 21 shipping orders.
You can always get a free trial if you aren’t sure if the Veeqo software suits you.
Pricing
Veeqo offers excellent inventory control and shipping services for online businesses at a very affordable $120 per month. This service is a great choice for small businesses as it’s one of the most affordable on the market.
Pros
Excellent customer service and support
With16 channels, integrates
21 shipping order integrations
Start with a free trial
A useful system for the back-end
Cons
Some bugs can cause severe discomfort
It is difficult to implement supplier codes
Ordoro
Odoro, another amazing tool, is designed to speed up the process of running your business. This tool is great for small businesses. This software includes everything you need to manage a business. You can batch-print shipping labels in just a few clicks. With huge discounts from the USPS, you can get the best shipping rates.
Ordoro can be integrated into your sales channels. You can assign barcodes for SKUs, and issue unique purchase orders when product levels get low. Ordoro can even sync and track inventory updates automatically for you.
Ordoro is especially useful for dropshippers who are interested in businesses that support dropshipping. It allows dropshippers to fulfill their orders through a vendor portal and supports vendors routing dropshipping requests.
Pricing
Ordoro offers two pricing options. There are two options for pricing: a basic option for shipping online and a pro solution for shipping and inventory control. For up to 50 orders per calendar month, the basic system is completely free. The Pro service costs $39 per month and allows you to manage inventory for up 100 orders.
Pros
For beginners, very affordable
Support for barcodes, sales channels and other information
Dropshipping is a great option for businesses.
Shipping labels that can be printed in batches
Shipping rates at a great discount
Cons
Customer support is not the best
Some glitches may cause you to suffer
CIN7
Another great way to reduce time and create inventory reports is CIN7. This innovative inventory management system will allow you to track product life cycles quickly, effectively, and ensure you reorder the most valuable products before stock runs out.
CIN7 makes it easy to manage connected inventory. This allows smaller brands and those that are growing to sell more products worldwide. To get you started, there’s a free trial. Once you log in, you will find an inventory management environment that allows you to keep stock in line and in line with orders from every stock channel and location. CIN7 includes access to many point-of-sale integrations, warehouse management tools, and other unique features for automation.
You can manage everything with CIN7, including order workflows, inventory assets, stock locations, and other sales channels, all in one place.
Pricing
CIN7’s pricing is very reasonable considering all of the features you get. The starter plan costs $299 per month and comes with a free trial. This plan is much cheaper than other inventory tools.
Pros
It’s quick and easy to use
Support for connected inventory management
Ideal for small businesses and beginners
Great for order centralization
It is very helpful to have support
Cons
Warehouse management is not great
It may be difficult to get customer service the first time.