Best Inventory Management Software
With actual items, inventory management may be a strong foundation for your whole company's success.
To accomplish this monumental undertaking, you'll need inventory management software. It might be difficult to choose the ideal inventory management system for your needs because there are so many options out there. So we've put up this guide to assist you to discover the ideal one for your company type.
Including e-commerce sellers, restaurant owners, dropshippers, and manufacturers, we'll examine seven of the top inventory management software options available in this post.
What is Inventory Management?
All supplies and items that enter and exit the inventory management system must be tracked at all times. The vast majority of firms that produce or sell products maintain a stock of items. Retail merchandise can be stored in warehouses or shops by entrepreneurs. Product assembly and distribution must be tracked by manufacturers, who need supplies for this purpose. To sum it all up, restaurants keep tabs on everything from booze to ingredients to napkins.
Why Do We Need Inventory Management?
For businesses, inventory management is essential because it ensures that there are never too many or too few products on hand, reducing the danger of stockouts and erroneous accounting. Inventory tracking is a necessity for public firms to comply with SEC guidelines and the Sarbanes-Oxley or SOX Act. Documentation of management procedures is a need for demonstrating compliance.
Benefits of Inventory Management Software
When you use inventory management software, you will spend less time keeping track of what you buy and what you sell. However, for small business owners, inventory management software offers various advantages, including:
Optimized Inventory
It is critical to your business's financial health and customer satisfaction that you have the correct amount of inventory. This procedure is made visible to you thanks to the program.
Reduced Errors
Errors might arise when data is entered manually. The scanning of barcodes and the automated updating of several sales channels are both made possible by inventory software.
Higher Profits
To eliminate waste, you need accurate inventory management, and productivity enhancements allow you to do more without increasing your personnel expenses. Better service for consumers leads to greater sales when the purchasing and shipping processes are seamless and transparent.
Increased Efficiency
The use of automation tools allows business owners to free up their time to attend to more important concerns by freeing them from manual labor.
Features To Consider Before Choosing Inventory Management Software
For every firm that intends to sell to the general public and has a significant amount of inventory, inventory management software is a need. If you're still using paper, pencils, and Excel spreadsheets to keep track of your inventory, you're putting yourself at risk for things like erroneous records, inventory shrinkage, overstock, and shipping delays. If you're thinking about implementing an inventory tracking solution, you should keep these points in mind.
Cost
The price of the program is typically determined by your needs. If you can figure out the market pricing of the program, you'll be able to see if the vendor's price is reasonable or excessive.
Your organization must be ready to take on the challenge of inventory management software before investing. The appropriate moment to spend on technology depends on your financial situation. Startups, small businesses, and individuals on a tight budget will appreciate how much less expensive cloud-based inventory management systems are.
Your Requirements
Determine what you want before meeting with a vendor. You need to identify the challenges you encounter in inventory management as well as the answers you expect. Do you wish to keep tabs on the progress of your shipments? Does it suffice for you to keep an eye on your stock? You'll receive the greatest bargain faster if you tell the seller what you want before you start shopping.
Ease of Use
When it comes to inventory management software, usability is often disregarded by business owners, even though it has a direct impact on how successful the software deployment is. If your team has to spend hours learning how to use the program, it's generally not worth the money. In your search for a service that will make inventory management easier, go with the one that's more user-friendly than the more difficult one.
Flexibility
Flexibility is an additional factor to consider while selecting inventory management software. Find out if the program you're looking at will work on a mobile device, how many people can access it, if it's web-based or in-house, and so on. If you have a large number of businesses or warehouses spread out across a large area, you need to be able to adapt quickly.
Support
You don't want to be left in the dark and unable to use your inventory management software after investing. After a buy transaction is lost or a low-level stock alert can't be put up, you'll expect someone to come to your aid as fast as possible. As a result, confirm that you will receive full assistance in a form of education, warranty, and help.
Customization
Inventory management software may need to be customized if your needs are very complicated. Because of this, ensure that the program can be tailored to meet your requirements and wants. See if it is possible to integrate a new inventory management system with the one you already have in place.
Integrations
You may not require automated systems other than inventory management software now, but as your firm grows, you will most certainly need them in the future. Currently, the majority of companies utilize up to four applications to manage their day-to-day operations. Because of this, you need to be sure that the product you pick can be integrated with other systems. Accounting, eCommerce, and buying systems are frequently tied into inventory management software.
Popular Inventory Management Software
Katana
The finest inventory management software, Katana ERP manufacturing software, is used in the manufacturing process. Manufacturers can keep track of everything in their inventory, including raw materials, finished items, and work-in-progress, with Katana's help.
Real-time tracking and workflow modifications are possible with this inventory management system, which re-allocates inventory items to match the new workflow. The best part is that Katana lets you establish reorder points for your raw materials and completed items, so you don't run out of stock and have to shut down your business.
Katana inventory management software gives manufacturers the essential features for:
- Scanners for barcodes
- Using barcode inventory scanning in Katana, businesses may more easily receive and track their incoming merchandise. Katana's inventory management software lets you assign barcodes to goods, see them on the Katana dashboard, and use barcodes to find specific items in your inventory.
- Sales and production management in a multichannel environment
- The ability to monitor all of your sales channels at the same time, as well as all of your inventory, activities, and orders, can help you meet your deadlines. Katana's inventory management software helps differentiate your product, regardless of whether you're selling online or in-person.
- Batch tracking
- Perishable inventory businesses, for example, are required by law to keep track of their batches. Manufacturers of both on-hand and custom-order goods can benefit from batch monitoring with inventory management software.
- Integrations
- With our codeless templates, our native integrations, or by calling on the resources in our API. All the required tools are provided by Katana, so customers may connect their chosen e-commerce platforms, accounting software, and CRMs to the system.
- Multi-location
- Inventory management software from Katana will help you keep track of all of your products in numerous warehouses, factories, or consignments. In this way, you can quickly arrange a stock transfer & keep ahead of demand if one site has low stock levels.
- SKU management
- When it comes to inventory management, SKU numbers are a must since they allow you to pinpoint the specific item and variety you have on hand. A good e-commerce platform like Shopify may also use SKUs to assist shoppers to find additional products they might be interested in.
Price:
Prices begin at $99 per month.
Free trial:
14-days
Ordoro
If you're a small-scale e-commerce vendor, Ordoro is the greatest inventory management software out there, and it's completely free to get started with. With capabilities like shipping label production, omnichannel inventory management, automatic drop shipping, and many more, Ordoro helps you streamline your fulfillment processes.
Ordoro's biggest selling point is the fact that you don't have to pay a dime to get started. There are no setup costs, monthly subscriptions, or free 30-day onboarding for new customers.
For e-commerce inventory management, Ordoro is an excellent choice.
- Shipping and logistics
- In charge of the inventory for dropshipping
- An API that is available to everyone
- Advanced data analytics
Price:
A monthly price of $59.00 is the starting point.
Free Trial:
A free version is available, as well.
Ecomdash
Order fulfillment and inventory control Ecomdash is a platform that allows customers to manage all of their e-commerce channels in one location. A multi-channel inventory management system for small and medium online retailers, Ecomdash was designed with you in mind. All of your stock levels across all of your channels are synchronized and you may even tweak the inventory rules for every channel individually.
To top it all off, Ecomdash offers a wide range of training resources, including video lessons, articles, and assistance to help you get started.
A few of Ecomdash's most important features are as follows:
- Dropship management across many storage facilities
- Inventory control for many warehouses.
- creation of barcodes
- E-commerce integrations
Price:
Starts at a monthly rate of $25.00.
Free Trial:
A 15-day free trial is available, as is a free version.
Upserve
People who work in the food & beverage industry will appreciate this one: Upserve restaurant inventory control. With inventory management software such as Upserve, businesses may access iOS or Android-based or POS systems. Increased efficiency, tracking of orders, and increased earnings are all possible thanks to this cloud-based inventory control system. For restaurant owners and managers, Upserve's check-approval and automated tipping features make it a smart choice for managing restaurant inventory.
The following functions are available to customers of the Upserve inventory management software:
- Keeping track of shifts and employees
- Adjustments to the tips
- Check-splitting
- Incorporation of a logbook
Price:
Prices begin at $59 a month.
Free Trial:
No
Square
Square Point of Sale is a mobile POS app for iOS and Android smartphones that has inventory management capabilities built-in. Even if the internet goes down, your firm can still function using Square's inventory management software since it operates offline and can even take payments.
It is simple to process discounts & manage refunds using Square POS. Inventory management options, such as preserving product names, tracking quantities, and pricing, are provided as part of this service.
Features, hardware, & equipment that are available with Square inventory management software include:
- Management of online sales orders
- Reports and analytics
- a little point-of-sale device
- Apps like Square Retail and Invoice and Payroll are also available.
Price:
The monthly fee is $25.00.
Free trial:
There is a 15-day free trial as well as a free version.
Oberlo
Invoicing and inventory control software Dropshipping and in-house stock management are two of Oberlo's primary functions. Oberlo's product info and graphics may be customized by users to match their brand. Suppose, for example, that a consumer buys a drop shipped item from you. Importing items straight into Shopify shops and setting up delivery to clients throughout a centralized dashboard is possible in this situation, as well.
IInventory control software Oberlo has the following features:
- Keeping an eye on your inventory
- Streamlined sales reporting
- Map of product variations
- Tracking of customer orders
Price:
A month's subscription costs $29.90.
Free Trial:
A free version is available.
Revel Systems
Invoicing and inventory control software To accommodate businesses of all sizes, Revel Systems was developed. Customers can manage all aspects of their business from a single dashboard thanks to Revel Systems' integration of operations and customer channels.
Your sales, orders, and payment summaries are all tracked by the data analytics capabilities, and the information is shown in reports and graphs. Using Revel Systems, you may manage your inventory in several locations with a POS system.
As part of Revel Systems' inventory management software, you'll find features like:
- Inventory control that is both automated and comprehensive
- Management of customers
- Control of social media platforms
- A system that orders for you automatically
Price:
Monthly rates begin at $79
Free Trial:
No, they don't provide a free demo.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What hurdles will My Company Face in Implementing Inventory Management Software?
Training and integration will take up a large portion of your time. IT systems aren't the only areas where separate inventory management software should be connected with current ERP and SCM systems. Inventory management & demand planning divisions sometimes need to work together to meet the company's needs. An S&OP method, maybe with the use of web portals, can help facilitate this. Inventory management software may necessitate the reformatting or creation of new bespoke apps to capture new data.
What is the Difference Between Inventory Management and Warehouse Inventory Management?
A warehouse management system or WMS and other specialized tools are designed to keep track of inventories in a warehouse. Keeping track of the inventory in a warehouse is made easier and more efficient by this system. This program, for example, may tell you where and when to "pick," store, and refill your supplies. A more comprehensive approach to planning and optimizing inventory across the whole supply chain is often taken by inventory management software.
Conclusion
At the beginning of this essay, I mentioned that the correct inventory management software seems critical, especially as your business grows. There's a fine line between managing inventory & marketing at the very same time, which necessitates the use of software to keep track of what items you have on hand and devise an efficient marketing plan appropriately.
Before deciding on an inventory management system, make sure you investigate different options. For manufacturers seeking an automated system for managing production inventories, it's a good idea to look at one tool before settling on a solution.