This is a guest post by Darren DeMatas, Co-Founder of Selfstartr. Inventory management systems help eCommerce sites keep track of whatâs selling - preventing overselling and prompting site owners to reorder items before an item goes out of stock. A comprehensive inventory management system, combined with the eCommerce funding necessary to keep products in-stock, is a critical ingredient for the success of your online store.
One of the most frustrating customer experiences is when they choose to trust your brand and complete their transaction, but receive a call or email alerting them that the item theyâve paid for isnât actually available for immediate fulfilment.
Your brand will take a hit with that customer, and it may result in a customer that never gives you a second chance to earn their trust.
Keep reading to learn about the different inventory management systems available for the most popular eCommerce platforms - and Iâll help guide you through the options based on my personal experiences in launching my own eCommerce sites.
RetailOps is popular because it offers a lot more data than just inventory levels. The cloud-based platform helps eCommerce stores and traditional retailers dig into what products are selling - helping to inform future buying decisions when acquiring new product lines, or expanding existing ones.
And it empowers merchants to effectively sell both in-stock products, as well as fulfill drop-shipped and JIT orders. Support for complex fulfillment scenarios means that every order is handled using the information necessary to ensure accuracy and timeliness.
ORDORO gives eCommerce sites 15 days to try out their software for free - a fantastic way to get a sense for how well it will perform in your environment. And, itâs super compatible - supporting almost every major eCommerce store platform. It provides a single system for seeing real-time inventory across both online and offline sales channels. You can also use its bundling system to tie multiple products to a single SKU - helping ensure each component of a bundled product is in-stock and ready for order fulfillment.
The Starter Plan helps new eCommerce sites get going for free - allowing up to 50 orders to be fulfilled each calendar month. Once revenue starts rolling in, you can upgrade to a âBasicâ or âProâ plan.
PEOPLEVOX is a UK-based eCommerce systems provider. Their warehouse inventory system is compatible, out-of-the-box, with 16 of the most popular eCommerce platforms. The companyâs commitment to providing free add-on software and plugins to enhance the experience helps users get more out of their product. For example, you can use their free tools to connect your delivery partners with your warehouse - allowing for more automated order fulfillment and order tracking.
Try out a free demo, but be prepared to shell out $1,000+ per month after your demo to keep the service running.
UNLEASHED comes to use from New Zealand. It helps uncover opportunities to increase profit-margins by giving eCommerce operators real-time inventory control and profitability reports. As products leave your warehouse, youâll be able to see a clearer picture of how current orders are helping, or hurting your ability to maintain healthy margins. Their free mobile apps plug-into their cloud-based system to help support your sales and purchasing team with the information they need - always up-to-date and impactful.
Note: Pay careful attention to the invoices that are imported into your accounting software of choice - some notations may be cut-off or left off entirely.
Linnworks is an end-to-end solution that helps eCommerce sites list product inventory across multiple-platforms. Information is accessible from any device and their reporting allows for site owners to feel more in control of the process, while taking advantage of opportunities to automate updates to listing details, order fulfillment and product replenishment. The real power of Linnworks is in its integration with both eCommerce platforms and the programs youâre already using to print postage and take care of customers.
Free option for tiny eCommerce sites with less than 50 SKUâs. $160/mo for larger sites with more advanced needs.
Tradegecko helps you to view all of your most critical product metrics in one easy-to-read reporting platform thatâs always up-to-date thanks to the cloud. Integration with both accounting and inventory software is a plus. And the ability to combine information from multiple channels helps ensure you have everything you need at your fingertips.
14-day free trial is available. Ultra-compatible with Xero accounting. Plans start at $79 per month.
HubLogix is one of the best tools for eCommerce sites that work with outside vendors to fulfill orders. If you have both warehouse product inventory, and third-party order fulfillment, their cloud-based platform helps keep all of the moving part in-sync: delivering a unified experience to your customers from order to delivery. Companies can save money by having orders automatically routed to the most cost-effective fulfillment option, based on the customerâs location and shipping preferences. This is huge for your bottom-line.
Pricing is most heavily based on how many eCommerce channels you need to track. Single eCommerce channels can be managed for $499/mo. Multiple eCommerce channels will require their $999/mo plan.
ChannelApe is a powerful inventory management platform that helps direct your team to fulfill customer needs quickly. No matter which channel your customer uses to place an order, ChannelApe can use pre-configured triggers to prompt your team with custom downstream jobs that need to take place in order to ensure a great customer experience. It can also understand outside product catalogs, making product listing much more efficient.
Ecomdash is a cost-effective inventory management system for startups and eCommerce sites that are looking to add new channels, without adding to their overhead. They allow an unlimited number of channels, and their award-winning customer support helps ensure a smooth integration. Unified reporting, customer-friendly pricing and helpful service makes ecomdash a great solution for both online and offline sales and inventory reporting.
Based on order volume, pricing starts at $50/mo for up to 100 orders per month. Then, a sliding scale of plans up to $650/mo for high-volume sites.
SellerCloud, as the name implies, is another cloud-based inventory management system for eCommerce sites. Comprehensive reporting gives you all of the information you need, on any device, to track products from listing, to purchase, deliver, and even return (hate it when that happens). Easy integration with the most popular eCommerce tools and software helps ensure information is relevant and current, without a ton of custom coding.
Pricing is billed per-order. If your site isnât generating orders, there is no cost. But, for each order generated, youâll see a fee ranging from $0.01 to $0.25 for each transaction that is processed and tracked.
As the market becomes more and more crowded, eCommerce site owners are benefiting from innovative features and more comprehensive solutions. Inventory Management originally referred to the tracking of inventory - it wasnât even necessarily real-time.
Thanks to the power of the digital storefront and the cloud, itâs possible to use the tools Iâve outlined to track every aspect of the order cycle:
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