What Is eCommerce Inventory Management Software?
ECommerce inventory management software is a specialized type of inventory management software designed for online retailers or eCommerce businesses. It helps eCommerce businesses to manage their inventory levels, sales, and orders across various online sales channels such as:
- their own website
- marketplaces like Amazon and eBay
- referral and affiliate programs
- social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
ECommerce inventory management software typically includes features such as real-time inventory tracking, multi-channel order management, shipping integration, automated stock updates, and reporting. It can also help businesses to optimize their inventory levels, reduce out-of-stock situations, and prevent overselling.
Common Features of eCommerce Inventory Management Software
ECommerce inventory management software is designed to help online retailers keep track of their eCommerce stock management. The software comes with a range of features that make it easier to manage inventory and keep it up-to-date. Some common features of eCommerce inventory management software include:
- Inventory tracking: This feature allows online retailers to keep track of their stock levels and product availability in real-time. It helps prevent overstocking and stockouts, which can negatively impact sales.
- Order management: This feature helps retailers manage orders from multiple sales channels in one place. It helps them process orders efficiently, ship products quickly, and update order statuses automatically.
- Product categorization: This feature allows retailers to categorize products based on various attributes such as size, color, style, and more. It helps them organize their inventory and make it easier to search for specific products.
- Reporting and analytics: This feature provides retailers with insights into their inventory performance, sales trends, and customer behavior. It helps them make data-driven decisions about their inventory management and sales strategies.
- Barcode scanning: This feature allows retailers to scan barcodes on products and update their inventory levels automatically. It helps them save time and reduce errors associated with manual data entry.
- Integration with sales channels:This feature allows retailers to integrate their inventory management software with their eCommerce platforms, marketplaces, and other sales channels. It helps them sync inventory levels across all channels and prevent overselling.
- Multi-location inventory management: This feature allows retailers to manage inventory across multiple locations, such as warehouses, brick-and-mortar stores, and third-party fulfillment centers. It helps them optimize their stock levels and improve order fulfillment times.
Benefits of eCommerce Inventory Management Software
ECommerce inventory management software provides several benefits to online retailers. Here are some of the key benefits:
- Improved inventory accuracy: Inventory management software helps retailers keep track of their stock levels in real-time, reducing the likelihood of stockouts or overselling. It also helps prevent errors associated with manual inventory tracking, improving overall inventory accuracy.
- Time-saving automation: Inventory management software automates many manual inventory management tasks, such as order processing and data entry, saving retailers time and reducing the likelihood of errors.
- Increased efficiency: By providing a centralized location for inventory management, the software helps retailers streamline their operations, reducing the time and effort required to manage inventory across multiple sales channels.
- Better sales forecasting: With access to detailed inventory data, retailers can use inventory management software to make more accurate sales forecasts, improving their ability to plan for future inventory needs and optimize their stock levels.
- Multi-channel integration: Many inventory management software solutions integrate with popular eCommerce platforms, marketplaces, and other sales channels, allowing retailers to sync their inventory levels across all channels and preventing overselling.
- Improved customer satisfaction: With accurate inventory data, retailers can ensure that they always have the products customers want in stock. This helps reduce the likelihood of stockouts and backorders, improving customer satisfaction.
- Cost savings: By reducing the likelihood of stockouts and overselling, and by automating manual inventory management tasks, inventory management software helps retailers reduce their costs and improve their bottom line.
The Challenges of eCommerce Inventory Management Software
Ecommerce inventory management software is essential for any online retailer to manage their inventory effectively. However, there are several challenges that come with using this type of software.
- The software must be able to handle a large number of products, SKUs (stock-keeping units), and variations. This can be a challenge for some inventory management systems that may struggle to keep up with the volume of items that need to be tracked.
- The software must be able to integrate with multiple sales channels, such as marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart, as well as social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. This is crucial for keeping track of sales and inventory across all channels.
- The software must be able to handle real-time inventory updates. Online retailers need to be able to see how much inventory they have in real-time to avoid overselling products or running out of stock. This requires a high level of accuracy and reliability from the inventory management software.
Key Considerations When Purchasing eCommerce Inventory Management Software
When considering the purchase of eCommerce inventory management software, there are several key factors that should be taken into account.
Software According to Your Business
The type of software needed depends on a variety of factors such as the size and type of business being operated. Small businesses may require simpler solutions than larger companies with multiple locations and complex operations. Software solutions such as Zoho Inventory can provide comprehensive features from basic stock tracking to order fulfillment, invoicing, warehouse management, and more.
Budget
Budget can also play an important role in choosing eCommerce inventory management software. It is essential to consider how much money is available for purchasing and implementing the solution before making a decision on which product to buy. In addition, determining whether additional training or support is needed should be factored into the overall cost of ownership.
Know-how for Maintenance
It's important to understand what level of technical know-how is necessary in order to make use of an inventory management system effectively. While some solutions are designed with user-friendly interfaces and require minimal technical knowledge to operate, others may require more advanced technical skills in order to get the full benefit out of them.
14 eCommerce Inventory Management Software to Consider
To help businesses make informed decisions about their inventory management systems, we've brought together 14 of the best inventory management software for eCommerce (in no particular order).
Sortly
Sortly is a comprehensive system that streamlines the management of stock and sales processes. The software allows users to track inventory across multiple warehouses, enabling them to easily monitor stock levels and make informed decisions about ordering and restocking.
Sortly offers a range of integrations with other eCommerce platforms, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento, allowing businesses to sync their data effortlessly. This makes it possible for ecommerce owners to manage their inventory more efficiently and cost-effectively.
Zoho Inventory
Zoho Inventory is an all-in-one solution that helps businesses track their inventory and manage orders, invoices, and shipments from one place.
The software supports multiple warehouses, barcode scanning, automated order fulfillment, and more. With Zoho Inventory, users can easily keep track of their stock levels, create accurate sales orders and manage their eCommerce inventory with ease.
Zoho Inventory offers a suite of features that make it an excellent choice for managing eCommerce inventories. It supports multiple warehouses, so businesses can maintain effective control over their stocks at different locations.
Netstock
Netstock provides advanced visibility across multiple sales channels and warehouses, enabling businesses to monitor their stock levels in real-time, as well as plan ahead for future orders.
Netstock's features are tailored towards eCommerce businesses, with capabilities such as automatic order processing, integrated shipping, and tracking of customer returns. The software also includes automated replenishment options to ensure that stock levels stay at optimal levels.
It provides an intuitive dashboard for easy monitoring of inventory, sales, and other key metrics.
Odoo
Odoo is designed to be used by small, medium, and large businesses alike, providing a range of features that simplify the task of managing inventory across multiple warehouses and outlets. Odoo integrates with many third-party applications, allowing users to automate tasks such as order fulfillment and stock replenishment.
The platform also provides real-time insights that can help companies make better decisions about their inventory levels. By using Odoo, businesses can ensure they always have the right amount of stock on hand, without having to worry about overstocking or understocking their shelves.
Finale Inventory
Finale Inventory offers a comprehensive range of features including product categorization, order fulfillment, and stock control. Finale Inventory also provides a powerful reporting system to track sales, profits, and other key metrics. This makes it easier for business owners to monitor their inventory levels and make decisions on when to restock or de-stock items.
Finale Inventory also has tools for managing customer data, such as customer profiles, contact information, and payment histories. With its user-friendly interface, Finale Inventory is perfect for eCommerce businesses of all sizes.
It integrates with popular online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay so that sellers can easily manage their listings from one platform. It also supports multiple shipping carriers, allowing users to select the most cost-effective option for each order.
Fishbowl
The Fishbowl inventory management system for eCommerce offers powerful features and capabilities to help businesses manage their inventory with ease. It has a simple interface, making it easy to use even for beginners.
The software also provides detailed reports and analytics so users can easily track their inventory and make informed decisions. Also, Fishbowl integrates with other popular platforms such as QuickBooks, Magento, Shopify, and ShipStation to provide comprehensive inventory management solutions.
The software is cloud-based allowing users to access their accounts from any device with an internet connection. This makes it convenient for business owners who may not always be in the same location as their warehouses or stores.
Lightspeed Retail
Lightspeed Retail is an inventory management software specifically designed for eCommerce businesses. It offers automated tracking for inventory, allowing businesses to view their stock in real-time. This software automatically updates product availability across all channels, reducing the need for manual data entry.
Lightspeed Retail provides detailed analytics to help with forecasting and marketing decisions. With its easy-to-use interface and customization options, businesses can tailor their inventory management system according to their specific needs.
Kentro
Kentro inventory software for eCommerce offers an integrated platform to manage all aspects of the eCommerce process including inventory management, shipping and fulfillment, customer service, and accounting. The platform also provides advanced features such as order tracking, product recommendations, order customization, and automated returns.
With its intuitive user interface, Kentro makes it easy for businesses to keep track of their eCommerce inventory while saving time and money. Businesses can also customize their inventory settings for each platform to ensure accurate stock levels at all times.
Kentro provides automated email notifications when stock levels reach certain thresholds or when new products are added to the store. This helps businesses stay on top of their inventory and avoid costly mistakes.
Trunk
Trunk offers a unique set of features that enable businesses to effectively manage their eCommerce inventory in one centralized platform. It provides comprehensive analytics that help users identify trends and make informed decisions about their inventory.
Trunk also offers real-time visibility into the status of orders and shipments, helping businesses stay up-to-date on their stock levels at any given time. It lets users customize product labels, barcodes, and packaging lists according to their needs.
Trunk also has an intuitive dashboard that provides valuable insights into inventory performance. This makes it easier for businesses to track key metrics such as sales volume, average order value, stock turns, and more.
Wasp
Wasp allows users to track orders and shipments, adjust pricing levels automatically, and generate detailed product reports. It also offers integration with other business applications such as QuickBooks, Sage 50, Xero, PayPal, and Amazon Marketplace. This makes it a good choice for businesses looking to automate their eCommerce inventory management processes.
The user interface of Wasp is intuitive and easy to use. It has a drag-and-drop designer feature that enables users to customize the design of their own dashboard according to their preferences. This ensures that users have the most efficient access to the data they need for making informed decisions about their inventory levels.
Sage X3
Sage X3 is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that combines sales and distribution, financials, manufacturing and supply chain operations, and other features in one comprehensive platform.
With Sage X3, businesses can access integrated real-time data and insights to gain better control of their operations. This helps them improve efficiency and reduce costs while gaining competitive advantages such as increased customer loyalty and improved profitability.
It also provides advanced analytics tools to help them identify trends in their supply chain processes and make informed decisions about stock levels, pricing strategies, and product availability. Sage X3 integration offers customizable dashboards so users can quickly access relevant information at a glance.
Cin7 Omni
Cin7 Omni is a powerful inventory management software designed specifically for eCommerce businesses. The primary goal of this software is to provide real-time visibility into inventory levels and stock movements across multiple warehouses and sales channels. This enables businesses to monitor their operations more closely, identify potential areas of improvement, and manage their inventory more effectively.
Cin7 Omni provides an extensive range of features that enable businesses to automate various aspects of their inventory management process. These include automated order fulfillment from multiple warehouses, automated stock replenishment based on sales trends, and optimized warehouse routing for efficient delivery of products.
Adobe Commerce
Adobe Commerce features an easy-to-use interface, powerful analytics tools, and a host of advanced features that make managing an eCommerce store easier. It's also backed by Adobe's reliable customer service team, which helps users troubleshoot any issues they may encounter.
With Adobe Commerce, eCommerce businesses can monitor their inventory in real-time and quickly adjust their stock levels based on changing demands. They can also optimize their operations with automated task triggers and workflow automation tools that help streamline the ordering process.
InFlow
InFlow is a cloud-based solution that allows users to automate the process of ordering, tracking, and managing inventory. One of the key features of InFlow is its ability to generate personalized reports based on user preferences. This helps businesses get a better understanding of their inventory levels, enabling them to make more informed decisions about ordering and stocking levels.
InFlow has built-in tools for organizing and tracking inventory counts. This ensures that businesses can accurately account for stock as it changes over time. Furthermore, the software comes with customizable alerts that alert users when stocks need to be replenished or when products are running low.