Inventory management is a systematic way of storing, sourcing, and selling inventory of both raw products and finished materials. It could also be the right stock, at the right levels, in the right place, at the right time, and at the right cost as well as price.
Inventory management consists of areas such as controlling and overseeing purchases from suppliers as well as customers; maintaining the storage of stock; controlling the amount of product for sale; and order fulfillment. Inventory software automatically tracks how many products a business has in stock, how many have been sold and when to reorder. However, the selection of an inventory management system is dependent on the size of your business.
Some of the best applications for inventory management as a business owner are:
1. Cin7 orderhive: this is an affordable application which is loaded with advanced features and several integrations. It also provides access to meet the needs of companies in most industries, ranging from large enterprises to start-ups. Shopify users have the privilege of using this application at no cost for basic orders, shipping, and inventory management features, while other users can have a 15-day free trial period with no credit card needed. However, this application is only available for Android users and requires a minimum of $100 to set up. It has amazing features such as kitting, bundling, and composite support; automated purchase order creation; bulk add, update, or delete products; supports barcode scanning; and low-stock and out-of-stock alerts.
2. InFlow: this application provides a central inventory database and business-to-business showrooms where clients can view and shop for products. The inFlow software is web-based and offers an easy-to-navigate app for Android and iOS devices. It includes incredible features like business intelligence reports, the ability to create general business-to-business showrooms or password-protected showrooms for special clients, vendor payments, order histories, and purchase orders, backorder capabilities, scanning and generating barcodes, email invoices and receipts, and contact information and order histories. Interestingly, it can be connected to several tools, such as Shopify, QuickBooks, and Amazon.
3. Lightspeed Retail: This inventory management application is built for small retail shops with stock tracking tools, tons of integrations, and excellent e-commerce capabilities. The Lightspeed Retail program is cloud-based and comes with an iPad version to check out customers on the sales floor. The top inventory features for Lightspeed retail include bulk change prices and automated discounts. It is capable of tracking inventory levels, allowing for coupons, promotions, giveaways, and employee discounts. It sets up customer reorder guidelines and can create and send purchase orders. Lightspeed Retail software can be integrated with multiple applications such as Kimoby, Pointy from Google, RetailNext, and Retail Toolkit.
3. Zoho Inventory: This is an online inventory management software with a free version and affordable paid plans. For small businesses, Zoho Inventory permits you to add items, fulfill orders, and view inventory from any device, making it the best free option. It is a cloud-based program that works on desktops, tablets, or phones and can be accessed via a web browser or via Android and iOS apps. The Zoho inventory can automatically order out-of-stock items or email order confirmations, send real-time status notifications to buyers, handle dropshipping, accept backorders on out-of-stock items, and export information about inventory, customers, and sales.
4. Upserve: This is basically used in restaurants with a strong POS system and inventory capabilities. This software is cloud and app-based for Android and iOS devices and allows business owners to oversee and run their restaurants from anywhere. It also provides tools that could help to synchronize recipes to the POS system, automatically refill quantities when you get new stock, use one-click purchasing for inventory, manage vendors and supplies, scan inventory from your mobile app, compare actual and expected stock reports, track real-time ingredient inventory, and receive alerts for low-stock items.
It is important to know that inventory tools that come with accounting software products and point-of-sale systems are enough for some small businesses, but more complex businesses may require third-party applications. Therefore, consider your industry and which stages of the supply chain you need to track, along with integrations and user interface, to choose the right software.