As an online seller, your warehouse is the main strength of your business. Your storefront and online brand presence are essential factors, but the inventory store is the skeleton of your established company. If your warehouse is out of stock, your optimized website and the exceptional business store won't matter.
If the management system of your company is out of your control, the business is doomed. To control the inventory system of companies, many retailers opt for the option of warehouse inventory management software.
These tools are adequate to run your inventory system effectively and provide you with complete control over your warehouse system.
This article will provide you the suggestions on how you can choose effective software for warehouse inventory management.
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Why is Warehouse Management System Important?
Many people are surrounded by the question of why they need any warehouse management system?
When you start your business, you might have a short inventory that you can count on fingerprints. After a specific time, when your business expands, and you receive the bulk of orders, you need a big warehouse to manage your storage, and managing inventory becomes complex.
Handling thousands of orders and manually knowing the inventory updates at your fingertips is impossible. Therefore, you need effective warehouse inventory management software.
Imagine customer-ordered product isn't delivered at their location because either your warehouse management doesn't dispatch it or it is delivered to the wrong address; your customers might switch towards your competitors.
Warehouse management software helps you locate and manage your inventory and have more control over the warehouse operations.
If you don't know exactly how much inventory is placed in your warehouse, you can lose revenues due to a lack of inventory status.
Suppose your warehouses are in multiple locations and you don't automate the system; inventory will become disorganized. The end solution is automating your warehouse system to avoid uncertain circumstances.
Factors to Look Into before Selecting Warehouse Inventory Management Software
Choosing the right inventory management software is vital because the tool should be aligned with your desired business objectives and goals.
If you consider the following elements while choosing the right warehouse management tool, the chances of selecting an accurate tool will increase dramatically.
Integration
Nowadays, companies use different software to run their business effectively.
The inventory management software you purchase should be capable of integrating with the current software. Otherwise, your inventory system will not work to its utmost efficiency.
Your team members might face problems in time management of tasks of the acquired inventory tool is not appropriate. It will directly impact the automation.
These are the five main types of software you can integrate with inventory to maximize effectiveness.
- If you are using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), ensure that your inventory tool integrates effectively. ERP incorporates numerous data that are effective for your inventory tool. Proper integration can enable employees to see a bigger picture of ERP data. You will always have the best and most accurate information access.
- The transportation management system is another integral part that you must integrate with your inventory management tool. Your operational efficiency will enhance when they both are interlinked with each other. Managing warehouses and forecasting based on performance are the fundamental advantages of integrating them. You are losing out on a significant opportunity to optimize your warehouse system
if they are not integrated
- You want your existing software to integrate successfully with customer relationship management (CRM). Customer activities can be tracked by their proper integration. From order placement to the delivery to the customer, having these two software integrated will give you an understanding of how your orders are handled. By doing this, you will have updates on order delivery status and ensure their timely delivery.
- A custom management system (CMS) is another important software to integrate with your warehouse inventory management software. Their integration is beneficial for those companies that are operating globally or on a significant level.
- Are you using any custom software? If yes, ensure it integrates well with the inventory management tool.
Improving Forecasting and Better Reporting
The future is uncertain, but you can guess it based on past results. At this point, the inventory tool is the best choice to provide you with accurate business forecasts.
If the warehouse management tool is good enough, it will allow you to track product locations and suppliers and showcase the products that take a long time to sell.
Based on this information, you can predict the sales and manage your warehouse accordingly. It will prevent you from sales loss and avoid overstocking. Your warehouse space can be maximized through effective decision-making.
After knowing the total stock, you need, and how orders will go, your warehouse efficiency is escalated. The tool provides a better report of the overall inventory status; without this report, you can’t make effective decisions.
Ease to Use
The next vital factor to consider is using the inventory tool software easing. The complex inventory tool for your employees will not benefit you as your employees will find it challenging to understand the tool.
If the inventory management tool is easy to use, it will save your training time, and employees can easily control the software to extract maximum benefits. A good inventory management software will automate your business aspects.
Having a warehouse management tool with 24/7 support can let you avoid particular challenges related to your inventory management.
Inventory tools should be easy to use, which help automate your inventory operations and enable the business to scale.
Web or Server Bases Storage
Now comes the comparison between the two storage types and their pros and cons.
Web-based pros and cons
Nowadays, web-based solutions are popular as they help manage costs, offer elasticity, and multiple other benefits.
Let’s explore the advantages:
- The functionality of the web-based inventory tool is exceptional as it provides instant usage after software setup.
- Upgrades are effortless to install.
- It's cost-effective in price as you don't have to buy multiple hardware that will save your money. If you are looking for a cost-effective solution, then web-based solutions are suitable for your inventory management.
- The fundamental advantage of a cloud-based inventory tool is that it will grow as you scale. When your business expands, the software also keeps growing accordingly. It's the characteristic of the best warehouse inventory management software.
- Every seller is worried about protecting their business operational data. You don't have to worry about these issues with a cloud-based inventory tool.
Let’s explore the cons:
- You are paying a license fee to the company that owns the warehouse inventory management software. The price of the web-based inventory solution is not expensive, but it can, as time passes, become costly in some instances.
- Web-based inventory solutions provide everyone with the same version, which means customizing the solution can be challenging.
Server-based pros and cons
Let’s look into the pros:
- The server-based solution is quickly adaptable to the new advancement in technologies.
- The software can be easily customized according to your needs.
Now comes the cons:
- The prices of these solutions are high.
- Upgrades are hard to manage.
Conclusion
Selecting a suitable inventory management tool for your business requires research and effort to reach a desirable opportunity. However, these efforts can pay off in more control over your inventory, higher profits, and automation.
The decision to go for the most effective solution for your inventory is yours. You can view our blogs if you want more information regarding inventory management software.
FAQs
Which software is best for warehouse management?
If you are looking for the best warehouse management tool, inventooly is the best option.
What software do warehouses use?
Warehouses use warehouse management system software to run their inventory operations.
How do I track my warehouse inventory?
Simple use the best inventory management software to track your inventory records.