The Best Inventory Management Software For Small Businesses

Since 2015, Zoho Corporation’s extensive line of business software products has included Zoho Inventory, an inventory system we here at Merchant Maverick like quite a bit. Zoho Inventory gives you a high degree of control over your inventory, including the ability to set products to automatically re-order from your suppliers when your inventory falls below your chosen threshold.

Zoho Inventory’s expansive list of capabilities includes warehouse management, in-app barcode management, order management and fulfillment, invoice and purchase order creation, streamlined customer and vendor management, reporting features, and more.

Pros

Easy to use
Reasonable monthly cost
An extensive list of integrations

Cons

A limited number of shipping labels
Somewhat limited reporting

Zoho Inventory Pricing

Zoho offers a limited free plan along with three paid plans. These paid plans range from $39-$199 per organization per month if you pay annually and $49-$249/organization/month if you pay on a month-to-month basis. Additionally, Zoho offers the following add-ons:

Orders & Shipping Labels: $5/month for 50 orders plus 50 shipping labels.
Additional Warehouses: You can pay $9/month for an additional warehouse (or $90/per year).

Features

Zoho Inventory offers the following features:

Inventory Management: The inventory system allows you to create item listings, kit items together, and even set products to automatically re-order from your suppliers whenever your inventory falls below the threshold you set.

best inventory software

Warehouse Management: Zoho Inventory offers features of particular interest to subscribers with multiple warehouses.
Barcode Scanning: Zoho Inventory supports barcode scanning in-app.
Order Management & Fulfillment: Zoho Inventory’s order management lets you accept orders from multiple sales channels.

Other features on offer include:

Invoice and purchase order creation
Streamlined customer and vendor management
Sales order creation
Returns
Reports

When To Use Zoho Inventory

Zoho Inventory is built to be scalable — you can always start with the free plan and sign up for a higher subscription tier as your business grows. However, large businesses may find the limited number of shipping labels on offer and the relatively simple reporting to be too constraining. We find that Zoho Inventory’s offerings are best suited for smaller businesses.

2. Square Inventory

Square Inventory

Get Started with Square Inventory

Square is best known for its payment processing and POS services. What you may not know about Square is that it offers a decent set of inventory management features as well — and for no cost whatsoever.

Square’s free inventory features won’t be sufficient for larger, multilocation businesses. For small businesses already in Square’s target audience, however, Square’s stock management features and integrations with Shopventory and Stitch Labs are well suited to fill their needs.

Pros

Highly affordable
Easy setup
Can accept thousands of items

Cons

Some features are lacking
Not suited for large businesses

Square Inventory Pricing

Square offers basic inventory and reporting features for free. It’s hard to find a better deal than that. Of course, if you’re looking for such features as employee management, you’ll need to purchase add-ons.

Features

Square Inventory provides the following inventory features:

Stock Management: You can easily manage your stock through Square’s app.

best inventory software for small businesses

Stock Alerts: Square shows you when an item is running low in your dashboard if you enable this feature.
Modifiers: Customize any product by adding optional or forced modifiers. When the item is selected, the employee (or customer) can be easily walked through the additional options.
Additional Integrations: Square also integrates with Shopventory and Stitch Labs for those who need more than the free inventory features Square offers.

When To Use Square Inventory

If you’re running a small retail establishment or quick-service eatery, Square’s free inventory features should be enough to satisfy the needs of your business. If your business grows to the point where you need something more robust, you can always upgrade to Square for Retail or Square for Restaurants if you intend to remain in Square’s business ecosystem.

3. Cin7

Cin7 Inventory

New Zealand-based Cin7 is an inventory solution for the types of businesses positioned to take advantage of the countless robust features offered. The relatively high cost may put Cin7 out of the reach of startups and most smaller outfits, but Cin7 isn’t really intended for them anyway.

Cin7 is one of the few companies operating in this space whose user reviews are almost entirely positive and enthusiastic. With amazing feature depth, supreme customizability, and a long list of big-name integrations, Cin7 packs quite a punch.

Pros

Very feature-rich
Strong customer service
Point of sale included

Cons

Expensive
Slightly buggy

Cin7 Inventory Pricing

Cin7’s pricing is quote-based, so you won’t find any prices on the company’s website. However, we’ve gathered that pricing starts at around $299/month. Cin7 is a premium product, and the pricing reflects that — though there is a 10-day free trial period. There are three subscription plans to choose from: Starter, Momentum, and Advanced.

Features

Cin7’s advanced features will take some time to learn. Inventory management experience is definitely a plus here. Thankfully, you can schedule an appointment with a company representative to walk you through the system if you need some 1-on-1 help.

best inventory software

Let’s go through just some of the tools Cin7 gives you:

Inventory Management:
- Back ordering
- Batch importing
- Branch transfers
- Custom fields
- Label printing
- Batch updates
- Up to 50,000 SKUs
- Multicurrency report
Point Of Sale:
- Batch sales
- Gift vouchers
- Layaway programs
- Payment integrations
- In-screen product tabs
- Pickup store options
- Unlimited registers
- Offline mode
- Sales reports by staff
Warehouse management
Reporting
eCommerce

When To Use Cin7 Inventory

Many Cin7 users have noted in their reviews that the software seemed tailored for their own retail business. Businesses in the fashion industry seem particularly taken with Cin7. In truth, any mid- or large-sized retailer would stand to benefit from Cin7’s advanced business features. From inventory management to POS, warehouse management, third-party logistics, and eCommerce, Cin7 has it all.

4. Shopify

Shopify

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You probably know Shopify for its SaaS eCommerce software. It’s one of our favorite online store providers for a reason. However, Shopify’s inventory management system is well-developed enough to warrant attention on its own.

Shopify’s inventory features place it at the top of the heap when it comes to eCommerce inventory. Combine that with Shopify’s POS, payment processing, gateway, and marketing features, and you have one formidable package for merchants.

Pros

Easy to use
Numerous integrations
Attractive templates

Cons

Add-ons often necessary
Variable customer support

Shopify Pricing

Shopify offers three subscription plans. Basic Shopify goes for $29/month, while Shopify (the plan is just called Shopify) costs $79/month, and Advanced Shopify will set you back $299/month. Discounts are offered for annual and biennial subscriptions.

Features

Shopify’s list of features could fill a whole article. We’ll pay particular attention to the inventory features here.

best inventory software

List Unlimited Products: Shopify’s inventory management places no limits on the number of products you can add. Shopify allows for unlimited product images as well.
Product Variations: List variations of your products, such as color, size, and material.
Bulk Import/Export: This handy feature facilitates migration from your previous platform and lets you make bulk edits to your catalog.

Other Shopify features include:

Checkout Features:
- Multilingual checkout
- Guest checkout
- Automatic shipping rates
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Automatic tax calculator
- Checkout on your domain
Store Management:
- Multilingual admin
- Mobile store management
- Customer segmentation
- Manual orders
- Dropshipping app integrations
- Point of sale
Marketing and SEO features
Web hosting

Shopify also integrates with Stocky, an inventory management product for brick-and-mortar retailers. It’s available for users who have Shopify POS enabled and use Shopify POS Pro for at least one store location.

When To Use Shopify Inventory

Merchants already using Shopify will want to take advantage of the inventory management features. Also, if you’re looking to set up an online store and you anticipate having considerable inventory management needs, Shopify warrants your strong consideration.

Get Started with Shopify

5. QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online

Get Started with QuickBooks Online

Intuit QuickBooks has long been a powerhouse in the accounting software arena. QuickBooks Online, Intuit’s cloud-based accounting solution, boasts 2.2 million users and a host of great accounting features and integrations. But while QuickBooks Online is best known for accounting, it also offers strong support for inventory management.

Let’s go through what QuickBooks Online provides from an inventory perspective.

Pros

Easy to use
Advanced invoicing features
650+ integrations
Good tax support

Cons

Occasionally unintuitive
Expensive

QuickBooks Online Pricing

QuickBooks Online offers four subscription plans. Here’s where things get a bit complicated. QuickBooks is currently offering a 70% discount for your first three months, so you’ll be paying $4.50 to $45 per month for your first three months and $15 to $150 each subsequent month. However, if you choose to try the product for a free 30-day trial, this three-month 70% discount will not apply.

Features

Here’s what QuickBooks Online has to offer in terms of inventory management:

Inventory tracking is available with a Plus or Advanced subscription plan
When adding items, you can save default sales prices, purchase prices, SKU numbers, images, and create item descriptions
Create item bundles for easy invoicing
Set re-order points and see the current stock level when creating invoices

best small business inventory software

Here’s what else QuickBooks Online has to offer:

Invoicing
Estimates
Client portal
Contact management
Expense tracking
Bank reconciliation
Chart of accounts
Accounts payable
Order and print checks
Project management
Time tracking
Reports
Budgeting

When To Use QuickBooks Online

Businesses requiring the kind of inventory capabilities a product such as Cin7 provides may not find what they need here. However, for small- to mid-sized businesses looking for inventory management features in their SaaS accounting software, QuickBooks Online should serve your business well.

6. Vend

Vend POS

Get Started with Vend POS

A decade ago, Vend was launched, making it one of the first cloud-based point of sale systems. It’s one of our highest-rated POS systems, and it includes a very capable inventory management system.

When considering all the robust (and scalable) retail management features provided, Vend is a great fit for small stores and large enterprises alike.

Pros

Loyalty program
eCommerce integrations
Multistore capability

Cons

Basic reporting tools
Expensive monthly cost

Vend Pricing

Vend offers three subscription levels: Lite, Pro, and Enterprise. Lite and Pro cost $99/month and $129/month, respectively. For Enterprise pricing, you’ll have to contact the company for a quote.

Features

Vend’s inventory management system allows you to do the following:

Add, remove, and edit inventory items
Track stock levels and any special taxes, costs, or prices for your products
Import/export your inventory to/from a CSV file
Import, create, and print barcode labels
Purchase order management

best inventory software

Other features offered by Vend include:

eCommerce integration (Pro and Enterprise plans only)
Loyalty program
Customer management
Price books
Gift cards
Employee management
iPad app
Flexible interface
Transaction options
Reporting

When To Use Vend

Businesses looking for strong inventory management features in their accounting software have ample reason to consider Vend. Users like it for its intuitive simplicity, its relative affordability, and, indeed, its robust inventory management system.

7. TradeGecko

TradeGecko

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Get Started with TradeGecko

TradeGecko is a cloud-based inventory management system for small- to medium-sized businesses. One thing that separates TradeGecko from many of its competitors is its international focus. The company counts a total of 24,000 users in 104 countries.

Proclaiming a focus on “businesses who sell wholesale and direct to consumer,” TradeGecko offers a strong inventory management system along with reporting, support for multiple users, and much more. Let’s take a closer look.

Pros

Good for a variety of business sizes
Advanced features
Good value for the cost

Cons

Some bugs reported
Some customer support concerns

TradeGecko Pricing

TradeGecko offers six subscription plans — more than most inventory management packages provide. The first five plans go from $39/month to $799/month, while the sixth plan, Pro, requires you to contact the company for a quote.

Features

best inventory software for business

Here is some of what you’ll get if you go with TradeGecko.

Inventory Management:
- Product details
- Product history
- Variants
- Barcode scanning
- Inventory details report
- Reorder report
- Stock adjustments
- Bundles, product kitting, and pack sizes
- Stock On Hand syncs with system operations
Multiple users
Barcode scanning
Barcode scanner
Multiwarehousing
Payments
Integrations:
- eCommerce
- Accounting
- Shipping
- Inventory forecasting

When To Use TradeGecko

International businesses will find a lot to like about TradeGecko, as will wholesale and direct-to-consumer businesses. As it turns out, TradeGecko backs up its marketing copy with its long list of powerful features.