There are some businesses that regularly run out of inventory, and there will come a time where they’d have to close down due to the unforeseen circumstances. Fortunately, today there are various software systems designed to help them manage their inventory to effectively operate their business.
Check out this exhaustive list of the best inventory management software used by small businesses.
Flodesk
Flodesk is a fast-growing email marketing service for small businesses. Their focus is on design, enabling small business owners to create beautiful emails and showcase their brand. Flodesk offers workflows that allow users to automate lead magnet delivery, welcome sequences, and more with an easy-to-use visual builder.
Key features:
- Fixed price of $38 per month, regardless of list size
- Unlimited subscribers & unlimited email sends
- Drag-and-drop email builder with layout blocks
- Create email signup forms, even without a website
- Create automated email sequences
StudioCloud
StudioCloud has made a name for itself as a reliable business management platform and company management system in much less time. It is a one-stop solution for your business needs that contains all the features you need to manage your business anytime, anywhere. Go check this business tool to organize and simplify your life.
Top features:
- Manage clients, partners, and vendors at one place
- Create and send professional invoices
- Send automated, personalized, text and email reminders
- Have clients review and sign contracts online
- Easily customize the look and feel of your software
Timely
Knowing how your business spends time is elementary, whether you bill for it or not. Timely streamlines the whole time tracking process by recording everything your team works on automatically. It dramatically reduces time management overhead, while improving reporting and invoicing accuracy.
Top features:
- Automatic time tracking
- Real-time project dashboards
- Sophisticated, client-friendly reporting
- Hourly rates, capacity and overtime
Zoho Inventory: Best Inventory Management Software for Small Businesses
Overall Score: 4.58 OUT OF 5 i
- Handles multiple channels, warehouses, and currencies
- Mobile app available
- Can monitor expiration dates on batch orders
- Integrates only with Zoho software
- Lacks returns management
- Lacks rental function
Zoho Inventory Pricing
- Free: 50 monthly online orders, 1 warehouse, 2 users
- Standard: $59/month for 1,500 online orders, 2 warehouses, 3 users
- Professional: $99/month for 7,500 online orders, 5 warehouses, 5 users
- Premium: $159/month for 15,000 online orders, 7 warehouses, 10 users
- Elite: $239/month for unlimited orders, 15 warehouses, 15 users
Zoho Inventory earned the highest score (4.58 out of 5) out of any inventory management software considered. It received perfect scores on its inventory features and scored well on ease of use, too.
We chose Zoho Inventory as the best inventory management tool for small businesses because it provides great value for the price. Depending on the plan, you can handle multiple warehouses, ecommerce, and purchase orders. The system has advanced bundling and kitting features for combining multiple SKUs, is customizable to different types of businesses and use cases, and can integrate with other Zoho products or operate as a standalone system. Plus, Zoho Inventory has an intuitive interface.
Zoho Inventory Features
| Standout features | App for Android (4.5 stars rating on Google Play) and iOS (4.1 star rating in App Store): Add items, manage sales orders, view warehouse stock, and fulfill orders from your phone or tablet |
| Best for industries | Retail, ecommerce, multinational, dropshipping |
| Ease of use | Overall easy to use, with intuitive navigation; Kitting/bundling takes more effort than with other software |
| Tracking | Track items, set reorder points, create reminders, and note preferred vendors |
| Order management | Create purchase orders manually or via online sales, integrate with over 40 shipping carriers, generate shipping labels, and get shipping updates |
| Barcoding | Barcode scanning auto-populates your fields when you create invoices, sales, or purchase orders |
| Sales channels | Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Shopify |
| Integrations | Zoho software only like Zoho CRM and Zoho Books |
| Advanced features | Composite function for kitting, batch tracking, expiration dates, real-time shipping rates, and in-transit details |
| Customer reviews | Customers say Zoho is easy to use and a good value, but they would like greater template control and a smoother bundling function |
Agiliron: Best Inventory Management Software for B2B Retail
Overall Score: 4.31 OUT OF 5 i
- B2B and B2C ecommerce store options
- Handles product customizations and substitutions
- Works in offline mode
- Expensive product, and base plan is limited
- The system has a steeper learning curve
- Some Marketplace integrations are paid features
Agiliron Pricing
- Premier: $99/month for unlimited orders, 1 user, POS, full-featured CRM, and ecommerce store
- Enterprise: $199 a month for unlimited orders, 1 user, advanced inventory management, multiple stock locations, warehouse mobile app
- Global Enterprise: $299 a month for unlimited orders, 1 user, multi-currency, and channels across multiple counties
- 30-day free trial
Agiliron is a multichannel retail management system with ecommerce, retail, and wholesale functions. Comprehensive B2B and B2C inventory features to create custom orders, kits, assemblies, matrixed products, and product substitutions set this system apart. Though a little pricier and complex, it’s great for B2B, wholesale, or B2C businesses with complex kitting or assembly needs.
Agiliron earned an overall of 4.31 out of 5 on our inventory management software assessment criteria. It scored well on advanced inventory functions, earning the same perfect score as Zoho Inventory. The system could have gotten higher marks if it offers a free plan and includes more users. Some of its integrations to ecommerce and marketplace platforms are paid features as well.
Agiliron Features
| Standout features | Agiliron lets you create and track matrix item products, serialized products, assembly products, kit products, and pre-set substitution products |
| Best for industries | Retail, ecommerce, B2B, wholesale, manufacturing |
| Ease of use | Centralized inventory tracking, onboarding specialist, and an online learning center with videos |
| Tracking | Track bin, lot, serial, style SKUs, and service products |
| Purchase orders | Create purchase orders and assign them to accounts and salespeople |
| Barcoding | Input and track manufacturer, Amazon, or other SKUs |
| Sales channels | Amazon, eBay, Shopify, Magneto, other online stores |
| Integrations | Multiple payment solutions, QuickBooks, ShipStation, and more |
| Advanced features | Kitting and assembly, bulk order, bulk packing slips, product substitutions, and customizations like gift wrapping |
| Customer reviews | While customers enjoyed the range of features and said it was reasonably easy to use, several did mention that it was initially intimidating and took longer to learn |
inFlow Cloud: Best Barcode-Based Inventory Management Software
Overall Score: 4.13 OUT OF 5 i
- Offers B2B portal
- Seamless use of barcode scanners
- Provides onboarding support
- Accounting software integration is limited to QuickBooks
- Limited integrations
inFlow Cloud Pricing
- Light: $71/month for 100 monthly sales orders, 2 users, 1 warehouse, 2 integrations
- Standard: $179/month for 1,000 monthly sales orders, 5 users, unlimited warehouses, 3 integrations
- Plus: $449/month for 100,000 monthly sales orders, 10 users, unlimited warehouses, unlimited integrations
- 14-day free trial
Ordoro
Schedule a demo Price: Plans range from $59 per month to $499 per month
Ordoro’s inventory management plans come with other benefits like discounted USPS shipping rates and a number of integrations.
Key features:
- Track and sync inventory and sales.
- Create and fill purchase orders.
- Barcode scanning.
- Discounted shipping.
Delivrd
30-day free trial Price: Free; or paid plans start at $49.99 per month per user
This is another great free inventory tracker option for your business: Delivrd is also a web-based service that you can get a free account with. That free plan is very limited, though, only allowing 10 products and one user and location.
If you want to upgrade to a paid plan, Delivrd’s most popular plan is $49.99 per month per user and it includes unlimited inventory and order management. For even more capabilities, you can choose the plan above that, which is $99 per month per user and also comes with e-commerce fulfillment services.
Key features:
- Inventory management.
- Barcode printing and scanning.
- Third-party integrations.
- Pick, pack and ship.
- Profit and loss reporting.
Sortly
Available for desktop, iOS and Android Price: Free; or paid plans start at $39 per month
Sortly’s free plan is only for one user, but you can upgrade to the Advanced or Ultra plan to add three or five users, respectively. Any changes or updates to your system can be made through the free Sortly app, allowing you to manage inventory remotely. Sortly is designed to be used intuitively without a tutorial but customer service is offered for any questions.
Key features:
- Barcode lookup.
- In-app scanner.
- Custom fields.
- Stock alerts.
On Shelf
Available on iOS and Android Price: App is $4.99, but additional fees may apply
On Shelf takes your inventory management a step further through the use of customer-specific tracking. By tracking customer history, the app allows you to see a customer’s purchase history, mail specific products to buyers, import contacts and contact all your customers.
Be aware that there are two apps, each designed for iPad or iPhone, and that cloud backup service is an additional monthly cost. Pricing depends on the length of subscription and the number of synced users but is still within the lower-than-average price point of the most functional apps we found.
Key features:
- Highlights most and least profitable items.
- Searchable time frames.
- In-app invoicing.
- Barcode scanner.
- Data import from another system or spreadsheets.
Inventory Now
Available on iOS and desktop Price: Starting at $7
The interface of Inventory Now is designed to be a non-flashy way to keep track of your inventory through the product cycle. The barcode scanning function allows for easy addition of new products, as well as pairing with PayPal Here to replace your point of sale system. Data can be imported and exported as a spreadsheet, as well as automatically backed up to your existing Dropbox account.
Key features:
- Track product lifecycle.
- Barcode scanner support.
- Category, subcategory and location details.
- Item grouping.
- Order tracking.
- Invoicing.
ProofHub
ProofHub is a powerful business management software and platform that combines all the features you might need to take care of your business. You can streamline your processes, store and share files, share feedback under one roof with ProofHub. Its mobile app can be used by both Android and iOS users on the go.
Top features:
- Effective project and task management
- Gantt charts to keep your projects on track
- Dynamic reports to get clear insights
- Time tracking to track time spent on tasks
Start managing your teams and projects efficiently with ProofHub!
Conclusion
To run a successful business, you need to track your inventory and businesses today use software for inventory management. There are many small business inventory apps such as Wave and Intuit Quickbooks that can manage all aspects of your inventory. There is an additional cost attached to them, but the benefit far outweighs the cost. Today we will discuss some of the best free inventory software for small business and cloud based inventory management options to help you outsource your task so you can focus on what you do best—running a successful business.