Just how many spreadsheets are you currently using to manage inventory? (We’ll wait.) And is one named “Copy of copy?”
If answering that question took you a moment — or if you still don’t know for sure — it may be time to invest in inventory management software.
The best inventory management software can work wonders for your business — offering extensive features ranging from built-in EDI capabilities to barcode scanners, POS systems, and more. When researching inventory software, it’s important to consider the features that are most applicable to your industry, what makes the most sense for your business needs, and your company size. Here are nine of the best inventory management software solutions, who they’re the best fit for, their prices, and some key features.
Methodology: To compile our list, we evaluated software solutions that come capable with uniquely different features and vary in the markets they serve. To solidify our rankings, we weighed the number of features, prices, and user reviews of each option.
Named the best inventory management software by Forbes and Investopedia, Cin7 stands out by offering two elite software solutions — Core and Omni — designed to meet the needs of businesses in a number of different industries.
Cin7 Core is a comprehensive solution that helps small businesses track inventory, manage sales, and reach more customers. By integrating with numerous sales channels like Shopify and Amazon, Core lets business owners track sales from any device. Designed to scale as your business grows, Core additionally automates your workflow so you can focus exclusively on running your business smoothly while the software does the rest.
Cin7 Omni is a top choice for companies looking for native EDI connections and third-party logistics (3PL) connections. With Omni, businesses can connect with over 700 tools and work to expand their sales channels and reach new customers. With products, stock locations, sales, and reporting all in one place, Omni empowers product sellers to run operations smoothly without the hassle of shuffling through spreadsheets to manage sales and reporting.
Best for: While Core is the best all-around solution for small businesses looking to automate inventory management and grow rapidly, Omni is best for product sellers looking for built-in 3PL & EDI to improve efficiency
Pricing:
Free trial: A free trial of Cin7 Core is available for 14 days.
Key features: Core offers sales channel integrations, multi-channel order management, financial reporting, and a mobile app. Omni offers built-in EDIs, built-in 3PL, built-in POS, and sales quoting.
Formerly Skubana, Extensiv Order Manager allows you to sell large volumes of items on virtually every online marketplace, such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and more. Great for online sellers wanting to automate dropshipping tasks, Extensiv Order Manager makes connecting marketplace partners with fulfillment centers easy.
By integrating with numerous marketplaces and order management software (including Cin7), Extensiv Order Manager allows online sellers to build and scale their online marketplace with ease.
Key features: Automated order management, integrated with 100+ shopping carts, product bundling, reporting capabilities, auto-send purchase orders
For large multi-location brands, Netsuite is a solid ERP option. NetSuite’s advanced platform allows enterprise companies to automate complex processes and operate more efficiently.
NetSuite has various features that make it a strong choice for large companies looking to centralize their data into a single solution. To help businesses improve efficiency, NetSuite includes a built-in financial management solution that automates accounting tasks and tracks financial data.
Key features: Built-in accounting and financial management software, real-time inventory updates, cycle count planning, sales channel integrations
A solid choice for B2B wholesalers and retailers, inFlow allows business owners to create B2B showrooms, scan and generate barcodes, send invoices and receipts, manage purchase orders and vendor history, and generate sales and industry reports.
Similar to Cin7, inFlow integrates with numerous sales channels like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Squarespace — to name a few. Additionally, the software automates sales and invoicing and provides location tracking after a customer places an online order.
Key Features: Virtual showroom, automated quoting and invoicing, live location tracking, and video tutorials available online.
Katana is known as a strong option in the manufacturing sector — offering an end-to-end software solution for manufacturers that comes with parts and assembly tracking, storage floor management, barcode tracking, third-party logistics, and more.
Katana’s manufacturing software allows businesses to store all their data in the cloud so owners can focus on smoothly running their businesses. By allowing you to create custom dashboards and automate sales and accounting processes, Katana makes it easy for manufacturers to streamline their operations.
Key features: Live inventory management, shop floor control, cloud accounting, accurate costing, sales order insights
For quickly growing businesses, Zoho is a compelling choice. With key features available at a more affordable price than most competitors, young companies can get inventory management support at value.
Offering order management, inventory tracking, product bundling, knitting, and more, Zoho allows up-and-coming companies to streamline their operations and focus on growing their business. The one downside is that Zoho integrates with fewer marketplaces than competitors, limiting the sales channels that businesses can take advantage of.
Key features: Purchase order creation, online form building, sales map visualization, stock management, automated billing, inventory management from any device.
Fishbowl is a great choice for large companies, namely manufacturers and e-commerce businesses, looking to streamline production processes.
For manufacturers, Fishbowl can be particularly valuable — as the solution allows businesses real-time tracking as parts move through assembly, storage, and fulfillment. For e-commerce companies, Fishbowl integrates with sales channels, supports product bundling, and recommends substitute products when items are out of stock.
Key features: Inventory tracking, multi-location management, vendor management, product bundling, order fulfillment.
With strong multi-channel sales capabilities, Ordoro serves as a comprehensive inventory management software built for e-commerce companies looking to improve their sales process.
Ordoro allows product sellers to improve the sales process by automatically forwarding orders to warehouses and other vendors for order fulfillment. Beyond this, the software also creates purchase orders based on forecasting.
Key features: Barcode scanning, order verification, automated order routing, customizable packing lists, real-time order tracking, discounted UPS and USPS rates.
Sortly isn’t a comprehensive inventory management software like some of the solutions we listed above. But Sortly can be extremely effective for small businesses looking for an affordable asset-tracking software that sets reorder points and notifies you when inventory levels are low.
Since it’s a less advanced software, it’s fairly intuitive, has a library of resources and training material on its site, and phone support.
Key features: Asset tracking, parts tracking, barcode inventory, PPE tracking, supplies and consumables tracking
The best inventory management features vary widely depending on industry needs, so you should ensure your selected software comes with the features you need to run your specific business efficiently.
For example, a clothing retailer will approach inventory management much differently than a food and beverage vendor because they can afford to keep clothing on the shelves longer. The same is true for a discount shop — a highly competitive market — versus a luxury car brand, which can enjoy a lower inventory turnover ratio.
Here are a few industry-specific must-have features for inventory management software:
The key pillar of retail inventory management is maximizing sales while avoiding being out of stock or overstocking. As a result, there are some core components the best inventory management software for retailers includes. These are:
Fulfilling orders on time is paramount in wholesale inventory management, and the best inventory management software makes it simple for wholesalers to track orders and ensure processes go smoothly. Key features include:
Manufacturers need an inventory management tool that will track assets from purchase to sale and allow visibility into the production process. The best software includes:
Beyond industry-specific capabilities, some universal considerations to remember when selecting the right inventory management software for your business include:
Streamlining your sales, manufacturing, and distribution process is a critical part of growing your business, and robust inventory management software is a worthy investment that can help accomplish this. Inventory management software can improve your internal processes and give you insights into your sales numbers, product performance, and customer base.
While choosing a solution may be daunting, the results tend to speak for themselves. At Cin7, we help our customers place over 125 million orders per year, resulting in well over $35 billion in gross merchandise value annually. As sales processes evolve and change, we pride ourselves on our ability to adapt and help businesses grow.
Looking to get off spreadsheets for good? Start your 14-day free trial to see what our products can do for you.
