Managing a small business means having everything work as efficiently as possible. Reducing costs while increasing your sales is your top priority. Time is of the essence, so automating is the key to making doing business easier. What you need is small business inventory management software. Here’s what you need to know:
What is a Small Business Inventory Management Software?
Have you ever found it frustrating to track items or parts throughout your supply chain? Handling the storage, inventory, and sale from manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer can be a Herculean task. This is where small business inventory management software comes in.
This is a tool that automatically tracks how many products or items a business has in stock. It also records and helps monitor how many were sold, returned, or when you should reorder. The most basic software may include accounting tools and point-of-sale systems suitable for small businesses.
The Best Small Business Inventory Management Software
1. Zoho Inventory
A popular choice for small business owners, Zoho Inventory is great value for your money. It allows you to handle multiple ecommerce stores and warehouses. You can check stock levels, manage warehouse items, and fulfill orders.
It features order management, analytics, reporting, and barcode scanning capabilities. It has a free plan with limited features, so if you want to make the most out of the software, the paid plans are highly recommended.
Pros
Can handle multiple warehouses, currencies, and channels
Comes with bundling, kitting, and composite tools
One of the least expensive options
Cons
No return management feature
Limited POS integrations
2. FreshBooks
Primarily an accounting software, Freshbooks also has the capabilities of an inventory management software. This is an excellent option for small businesses with fundamental inventory needs. Not only does it enable you to track your items, but it’ll also make accounting easier.
It integrates with many assets and transportation management software such as 2ship and Barcloud. If you sell in different channels, Freshbooks will come in handy. It automatically gathers data from Shopify or Squarespace for effortless management of your inventories.
Pros
Easy to navigate user interface
It comes with excellent invoicing features
Superb customer support
Cons
Limited users and clients
Tier-based pricing is confusing to some users
3. Agiliron
This small business inventory management software is truly cost-effective. Agiliron lets you manage multiple channels with e-commerce, social media, retail, and wholesale features. It will also provide you with comprehensive B2B and B2C inventory, kitting, and many other unique features.
It integrates with Quickbooks, Amazon, Shopify, PayPal, and many other ecommerce-related software and platforms. All its subscription plans offer unlimited orders and 24/7 customer support.
Pros
Has customer-specific price settings
International capabilities
Wide ecommerce applications
Cons
High learning curve
Only one user per plan
4. Veeqo
Built explicitly for ecommerce businesses, Veeqo has many features that make inventory and shipping a breeze. It has purchasing, reporting, shipping, and order management tools, whether you have one warehouse or more. Its straightforward platform is centralized to make tracking and management simple and uncomplicated.
One notable feature of Veeqo is its shipping integrations. This includes major shipping couriers such as FedEx and UPS. It has a 14-day free trial that lets you try out its service without making a huge commitment.
Pros
Shipping discounts
User-friendly interface
Multi-channel inventory management
Cons
Some reports of software bugs
So-so customer support
5. Lightspeed Retail
Most popularly known as a point-of-sale software, Lightspeed Rail also has impressive inventory management features. It allows you to conduct sales online or in-store while tracking your inventory levels in real time. This is a very helpful software to have if you’re in the retail industry.
This small business inventory management software lets you select from a wide array of business types, such as apparel, home and gift shops, and many others. Lightspeed will then show you how it can work in your precise retail niche.
Pros
Offers seamless integration with ecommerce and in-store POS
Provides advanced reporting on CRM, vendor, and granular inventory
Unlimited entries across all plans
Cons
Has no free plan
No options for managing perishable products
6. Sortly
Small non-retail businesses will find Sortly an excellent inventory management software, thanks to its free plan. Well, it’s not only that, this software has many more amazing features to its name. Its intuitive functionality helps new business owners get the hang of tracking inventory and other minute details about their products.
Sortly can help you with warehouse management, inventory control and reports, and barcode scanning, among others. It also enables you to keep track of stock levels and returns through its alerting feature.
Pros
Reasonably priced premium plans
Ideal for those starting a new inventory
Easy-to-use interface
Cons
Integrating with other apps is for paid plans only
Customer service may be hard to contact
7. Orderhive
With its robust inventory and multiwarehouse features, Orderhive has become small business owners’ favorite. Among all the small business inventory management software on this list, Orderhive offers the most integrations. It has a return management feature that is essential for ecommerce business owners.
This software offers advanced options for purchase orders, which includes duplication, custom fields, and importing and exporting features.
Pros
Multi-channel, centralized inventory system
Great workflow automation
Gives detailed real-time data
Cons
No free plan
Android-only mobile app
8. Katana
Specifically created for manufacturers, Katana will help you track all your products and supplies at every level of the manufacturing process. Its automatic workflow lets you concentrate on manufacturing. Aside from inventory features, this software will help you with scheduling, production planning and control, and many other tasks.
It has a very low learning curve; you’ll quickly know how to keep track of sales and purchase orders, production receipts, warehouse statuses, productions, and many others.
Pros
Has inventory control and optimization tools
Has comprehensive manufacturing shop floor control
Allows tracking by the expiration date
Cons
Only has email support
No mobile app
Honorable Mention
The eight small business inventory management software listed above are our top choices. But there is one outstanding brand that we can’t ignore so we added it to our honorable mention list:
Megaventory
Suitable for small and medium-sized businesses, Megaventory is a cloud-based order and inventory management solution. Its key features include order fulfillment, invoicing, reporting, and manufacturing management. It also offers comprehensive customer support that will help you provide better customer experiences.
Pros
Alerts you when you are running low on stocks
Provides automatic calculation of inventory’s value
Handles customer and vendor returns without human intervention
Cons
The dashboard can be hard to navigate on small screens
The item editor has a high learning curve
Final Thoughts
To find out which small business inventory management software is the best for you, you need to know your inventory tracking needs quite well. After doing so, you can choose from the list above and get the most suitable one for your brand.