Inventory management software for small businesses offers automation, operational efficiency, and profit growth for businesses across industries. We have conducted research to identify the top 10 inventory management software solutions based on criteria such as price, features, and more.
Enhance your business’s operating efficiency, customer service, and overall profitability with the right inventory management software solution.
Comparing Top Business Inventory Management Software
Here are the top inventory management software solutions for various business needs in 2023:
- Cin7: The complete software in all aspects
- Ordoro: Suited for selling on multi-national channels
- inFlow: Well-suited for B2B and wholesale businesses
- Katana: Perfect for manufacturers
- Zoho Inventory: Value for money
- ShipBob Merchant Plus: Best Suited for hybrid needs
- Fishbowl Inventory: Preferrable for users on QuickBook
- Sortly: Designed for small retailers and tracking assets
What is Business Inventory Management Software?
Inventory management involves monitoring the movement of products and supplies. Whereas the tracking, reordering, and updating of inventory is handled by business inventory management software. It seamlessly integrates with point-of-sale and accounting systems to streamline all inventory-related processes.
Using the best inventory management software enables accurate tracking of current inventory levels, identifying business needs, and taking practical measures to fulfill customer orders efficiently while avoiding excessive stock of specific items.
Benefits of having a Business Inventory Management Software
Inventory management software is a crucial tool for businesses heavily reliant on inventory, including retailers, e-commerce sellers, manufacturers, and service-oriented businesses. Implementing sound inventory management practices with the help of software yields benefits such as increased profits, streamlined operations, and improved customer service.
The software plays an important role in optimizing stock tracking, purchasing, receiving, timely deliveries, and real-time inventory synchronization with sales platforms. It also helps identify and address issues like receiving errors, and inefficient storage, contributing to the overall profit as well as making operations efficient.
How to choose a Business Inventory Management Software
The best inventory management software providers offer various features to make work easy for you. Here are some key features to keep in consideration for choosing a business inventory management software.
- Scanning and Labelling with barcodes: You can label products and keep track of them in your inventory by scanning through barcodes.
- All-in-one inventory management: Allows you to keep track of your inventory from one place.
- Real-time tracking: It enables you to track the availability of products and materials within your supply chain, ensuring you have visibility on when to initiate orders to fulfill your inventory again.
- Alerts when inventory is finishing: It automatically notifies you with alerts whenever your inventory levels are low.
- Automated reordering: The software allows you to change the settings and automate the creation and sending of purchase orders to restock your inventory when it reaches a predefined level.
- Generating reports: You will have access to comprehensive reports that provide in-depth analysis of your sales, customer behaviors, purchase patterns, and overall business performance.
8 Best Business Inventory Management Software
1. Cin7
Overview:
Cin7 offers a comprehensive suite of features, including integration, stock tracking, automated purchasing, and warehouse management tools. It provides seamless integration with online stores, marketplaces, and shipping software for efficient order, inventory, and shipping management.
Cin7 excels in stock tracking and warehouse management, with the ability to sync stock levels across multiple warehouses, automate purchase orders, and facilitate order forwarding. It also includes a built-in point-of-sale feature and offers 24/7 support and comprehensive online tutorials.
Features:
- Cin7 provides a built-in point-of-sale (POS) system across all plans
- Seamless integration with leading e-commerce and shipping platforms
- Automated order management for multiple warehouses, including integration with Amazon FBA.
Verdict:
We believe Cin7 is the perfect choice for rapidly expanding online sellers seeking automation in fulfillment and purchasing, along with a seamless experience for multichannel online sales. It also offers a point-of-sale (POS) system to cater to in-store sales, making it a comprehensive solution for businesses with diverse sales channels.
Pricing: Starts at $325 per month
2. Ordoro
Overview:
Ordoro is a comprehensive inventory management software that simplifies every aspect of multichannel sales, including supply chain management, parts-based inventory tracking, and shipping. It offers real-time synchronization of inventory levels and shipping status with a wide range of e-commerce platforms and online marketplaces.
Ordoro stands out with its exceptional purchasing automation, seamlessly forwarding orders to multiple warehouses and dropship vendors. It simplifies inventory replenishment with one-click purchase orders based on sales forecasting or reorder quantities.
Features:
- Ordoro seamlessly synchronizes inventory, orders, and shipping across a wide range of e-commerce stores and online marketplaces.
- It offers robust functionality to sell and track kitted, bundled, and assembled products.
- The software automates dropshipping and efficiently manages multi-warehouse operations.
Verdict:
Ordoro is a well-suited choice for you if you are a multichannel e-commerce business seeking seamless inventory synchronization across various sales channels. It excels in tracking raw goods and parts for kitted items, simplifying the management of dropship orders and supplier purchase orders.
Pricing: Ranges from $59 to $149 per month
3. inFlow
Overview:
inFlow offers a comprehensive inventory management software solution with advanced features tailored for business-to-business and wholesale businesses. It offers advanced features like multi-warehouse management, dropshipping, and virtual showrooms.
It supports business-to-business quotes and invoicing, sales rep order routing, manufacturing workflows, and efficient pick-and-pack processes. inFlow provides live support, including phone, chat, and email assistance, along with a resource center for additional guidance.
Features:
- inFlow offers a virtual showroom portal feature specifically designed for wholesale and B2B sales.
- It also includes sales rep order routing and tagging functionality for streamlined order management.
- With convenient one-click quote-to-order-to-invoice capability, inFlow caters to B2B and wholesale needs efficiently.
- The software offers flexible billing options with both monthly and annual billing plans.
Verdict: We recommend inFlow inventory management for startups and expanding businesses that prioritize B2B and wholesale markets. It is equally suitable for both B2B and B2C e-commerce sellers, providing a versatile solution for various business models and market segments.
Pricing: $89 to $439 per month
4. Katana
Overview:
Katana‘s comprehensive inventory management software effortlessly caters to the order management, inventory tracking, and shipping requirements of various e-commerce, multichannel, and B2B businesses. However, its true strength lies in serving the manufacturing sector.
Katana provides an extensive range of inventory management features specifically tailored for manufacturers, including barcode-enabled parts tracking, production planning, assembly tracking, storage and shop floor management, and supplier logistics, among others.
Katana offers exceptional inventory and workflow management capabilities at a competitive price point. Considering the wealth of features available, Katana’s inventory management software provides excellent value for manufacturers and other shipping-oriented businesses.
Features:
- Katana offers a 14-day free trial, providing an opportunity to explore its extensive feature set.
- It seamlessly integrates with the majority of top e-commerce platforms and shipping apps, ensuring smooth data flow and streamlined operations.
- Katana’s time-saving features for purchase order creation and tracking further enhance efficiency in inventory management processes.
Verdict: Katana’s inventory management system is well-suited for businesses of all sizes, ranging from small to large-scale B2B and B2C manufacturers. Additionally, it offers great value for e-commerce and multichannel resellers.
Pricing: Ranges from $99 to $599. Its base essential plan is $99 per month when paid annually and includes all essential parts, project and finished unit inventory management tools. Moving to the Advanced plan costs $299 per month.
5. Zoho Inventory
Overview:
Zoho offers an impressive inventory management software that is hard to beat in terms of pricing, making it an excellent choice for startups and growing businesses. It includes comprehensive order management, inventory tracking, and shipping tools. The software supports product bundling and kitting, making it ideal for custom or subscription-based businesses.
While the e-commerce integrations are limited, Zoho integrates with popular platforms like Shopify, Zoho Commerce, Amazon, Etsy, and eBay. Zoho provides 24/7 phone support, quick response times, and an extensive online knowledge base.
Features:
- Zoho’s inventory management software offers convenient time-saving features like autofill purchase order creation for suppliers and drop shippers.
- It seamlessly integrates with various Zoho applications, including Zoho Books, CRM, Analytics, and Sign, providing a cohesive ecosystem for streamlined business operations.
- Additionally, Zoho integrates with the popular e-commerce platform Shopify, enabling smooth data flow between your inventory management and online store.
Verdict: E-commerce startups and small businesses that utilize Shopify, Zoho Commerce, and compatible marketplaces will find immense value in Zoho’s comprehensive inventory management solution.
Pricing: Free. Else price ranges from $59 to $329
6. ShipBob Merchant Plus
Overview:
ShipBob, a leading provider of third-party fulfillment and logistics services, introduced Merchant Plus, a standalone version of its robust inventory management software. It offers advanced features such as automated purchase orders, multi-warehouse tracking, and efficient shipping capabilities.
The software supports kitted orders, pick-and-pack processes, and integrates with various e-commerce platforms. ShipBob also provides a full-service 3PL option for warehousing and fulfillment expansion.
Features:
- ShipBob offers cutting-edge supply chain tools that are considered industry leaders.
- The software ensures accurate and automated order pick-and-pack processes, streamlining fulfillment operations.
- Sellers can easily incorporate outsourced fulfillment as their sales demand grows, allowing for seamless scalability.
Verdict: ShipBob’s Merchant Plus is the ideal choice for larger omnichannel, wholesale, and B2B businesses. It offers comprehensive supply chain, order, and inventory management software with powerful features for in-house and outsourced order fulfillment.
Pricing: Quote for price
7. Fishbowl Inventory
Overview:
Fishbowl Inventory is a robust and feature-packed inventory management software specifically designed for larger manufacturers, e-commerce businesses, and multichannel sellers. While it offers comprehensive manufacturing and warehousing logistics tools suitable for any business, its seamless integration with QuickBooks and Xero accounting software environments sets it apart.
Fishbowl simplifies inventory tracking, supplier purchasing, and warehousing data management by centralizing all information for easy access across multiple locations.
Features:
- Select specialized modules for manufacturing or warehousing needs
- Effortlessly integrate with QuickBooks for seamless workflow
- Utilize barcode tracking to monitor stock, parts, and finished goods
Verdict: If you’re a manufacturer or a large-scale shipping business utilizing QuickBooks or Xero accounting systems, Fishbowl Inventory is the perfect choice for your advanced inventory management needs. With this software, you can take control of your inventory, enhance productivity, and drive success in your manufacturing or shipping endeavors.
Pricing: Quote for price
8. Sortly
Overview:
Sortly is an affordable and user-friendly inventory and asset tracking software that caters well to specific requirements. While it may not offer end-to-end order, inventory, and shipping management capabilities like some other solutions, it stands out with its competitive pricing.
Sortly excels in efficiently tracking quantities and locations of various items, including saleable goods, office supplies, project materials, and business equipment assets.
With Sortly, you can generate barcodes for easy scanning and counting. The software allows you to group items based on storage locations or other factors such as display areas, projects, clients, or teams. This feature enables seamless shelf replenishment, efficient equipment tracking for teams, and convenient part bundling for projects.
Features:
- QR codes instantly display item details when scanned
- Barcodes expedite stock checks for efficient inventory management
- Easily track the check-in and check-out of equipment, tools, and supplies
Verdict: If you’re an individual, small retailer, service provider, project-based business, office, or nonprofit seeking a budget-friendly and user-friendly inventory and asset tracking solution, Sortly is the perfect fit for you. Its affordability and ease of use make it an ideal choice for efficiently managing your inventory and assets without breaking the bank.
Pricing: $29 to $59 per month
Conclusion
The selection of inventory management software plays a crucial role in streamlining business operations, optimizing inventory control, and maximizing profitability. The eight business inventory management software highlighted above offer a range of features and functionalities to cater to various industry needs.
Whether you’re a startup, e-commerce seller, manufacturer, or B2B business, these software options provide essential tools such as stock tracking, automated purchasing, order management, and multichannel integration.