This article will teach you what an inventory management system is and why having good inventory management is important. We collected the top 9 best inventory systems and researched how to choose the right one for your business. Let’s start with eCommerce business basics:
What is inventory management?
Inventory management is managing the purchasing, storing, and selling of stock, whether raw materials, components, or completed items, to ensure the proper kind and quantity of stock is accessible without retaining surplus stock and tying up capital. When adequately executed, inventory management saves businesses money.
What is the Primary Goal of Inventory Management?
Inventory management's primary goal is ensuring enough items or resources to meet demand without creating overstock.
What are the Advantages of an Inventory System?
An accurate inventory system is essential to the success of any product-based organization, and regular inventory tracking may help prevent stock mistakes and other difficulties. The following are the advantages of an effective inventory system:
- Better Inventory Accuracy: With an effective inventory system, you know what you have and only purchase the inventory required to satisfy demand.
- Reduced Risk of Overselling: The inventory system helps track what's in stock and on backorder, reducing the risk of overselling.
- Cost Savings: The inventory cost is incurred until it is sold. Carrying costs include fees for storage, handling, and shipping, as well as insurance and pay for staff. Inventory is also susceptible to theft, natural calamities, and obsolescence.
- Inventory Control: Better planning and store management enable a business to reduce the number of days an item is out of stock and avoid excessive inventory. Learn more about "Easy Stock Management" and how to resolve stockouts.
- More significant insights: With an inventory system and stock inventory control, you can readily see sales patterns, recalls, and expiration dates.
- Better Terms With Vendors and Suppliers: The inventory system also gives information on which items sell and in what volume, allowing for improved relationships with vendors and suppliers. Utilize this information to negotiate better rates and conditions with suppliers.
- More Productivity: Good inventory systems save time that may be spent on other tasks, increasing productivity.
- Increased Profits: A vital understanding of supply and demand will result in a higher inventory turnover, which increases profits.
- A More Organized Warehouse: A warehouse that is organized based on demand, in which products are often sold together, and other variables decrease labor costs and accelerate order fulfillment.
- Better Customer Experience: Customers are more loyal when their orders are delivered on time.
How to Choose an Inventory System?
Three simple steps are needed to choose the best inventory system or software:
- Describe your problems with managing your inventory.
- Know who will use the software and think about any integrations, like Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). See "Choosing the Right Inventory System" for help figuring out what software you need.
- Look for software that has these essential features: automatic restocking, cycle counting, and the ability to track things.
In the world we live in now, inventory planners need to collect, report, and analyze data in near- and real-time. When picking a system, it can be helpful to look at case studies of what other businesses have done with their inventory.
Here are the best 9 inventory systems that may be worth considering for your online business:
- Page365: Order Management System made for online sellers. It helps store management with a free stock inventory management system that auto-records all stock movement. Embedded with real-time updates, it's an all-in-one system with all functions online sellers need. Page365 is suitable for businesses in Asia, mainly the Philippines & Thailand, as they sync inventory with Shopee and Lazada, 2 of Asia’s most significant marketplaces. Their software plan starts free, so you can quickly check if it’s the right option for your business.
- Brightpearl: Brightpearl is excellent because it is made only for brands that sell online, through multiple channels, or wholesale. This means the system is full of valuable features and has no extra features that slow down your work. It has robust item management software features and demand planning, so it can update inventory across multiple channels in real time and accurately predict demand.
- TradeGecko: Tradegecko, a standalone product of QuickBooks Commerce, is shutting down outside of the US, and they stopped taking new customers on June 9, 2021. Tradegecko will merge into QuickBooks. Tradegecko has a platform in the cloud that is at the center of how businesses work and can cover more than one place and work with other systems.
- QuickBooks Commerce: QuickBooks Enterprise is more than just software for keeping track of inventory; it lets you manage your employees, do your accounting, and much more.
- DEAR Inventory: DEAR makes it possible for all businesses to use enterprise-level inventory or item management, manufacturing, sales integration, reporting, and automation. Use the power of the DEAR inventory management software's many modules to help your business grow. We keep all of your business's moving parts in one place and automate tasks that take a lot of time, whether you sell retail, wholesale, or make things.
- Fishbowl: Fishbowl says it is the best QuickBooks solution and might be a good choice for businesses that make or store things. It works well with Amazon, QuickBooks, Salesforce, and other well-known business solutions and systems. Not only is it easy to keep track of inventory, but it also keeps an eye on expiration dates to help with stock rotation and prevent waste.
- Stitch Labs: Stitch is the operational hub for a brand. It centralized inventory across all sales channels and locations, making everything easier to see and control. With easy-to-use features for inventory and item management, fulfillment, purchasing, financials, and reporting, Stitch gives brands operational efficiency that can grow with their business.
- Finale Inventory: Finale Inventory is the best inventory management system for high-volume, eCommerce and warehouse management applications.
- Ordoro: Ordoro is a hub for all your inventory needs, and you can connect different channels, like suppliers and marketplaces, to the app. You can use Amazon to fill orders through Ordoro or choose a third-party drop shipper. The app lets you connect several warehouses or storage spaces, no matter how big or small.
Try out a few options through free trials or demos to see which works best for you.
Conclusion
An inventory system is an essential part of any business, and when done right, it helps online entrepreneurs streamline their processes and make their operations more accurate and efficient. And the best way to keep track of everything is to choose an intelligent inventory system or software. With an inventory management solution, you can see your stocks in real-time, organize your operations, and reduces the risk of running out of stock or having too much of it.
On top of that, these tools can help you optimize inventory levels and negotiate better prices with suppliers, which can save you money. Also, inventory management software enables you to improve customer satisfaction by making it easier to keep track of inventory levels. This makes it less likely that you'll run out of stock and makes it easier to meet customer demand.
If you are in Asia, Page365 is the best solution for managing your inventory. It's good at what they do, which makes it easier and takes less time to keep track of stock and supplies. With this software, you can have better inventory control, reorder supplies when needed, and figure out which items need to be sold faster or are too many.
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