Inventory Management Software: Why It’s Essential for Businesses

By Anne Shaw
The Hartford Small Biz Ahead
Originally Published: June 5, 2024

If you use spreadsheets to manage and track your inventory, you’re not alone. Many small businesses start out that way.

But as your business evolves, a manual inventory management system can limit you. It’s time consuming and easy to make mistakes.

Now, imagine a day of sales without making any manual inventory updates. At closing time, your inventory is accurate, and you know where everything is. Imagine receiving automated low stock alerts—and being able to spur sales by showing that scarcity to online customers. When you use specialized software to manage inventory, all of that is possible—and more.

Inventory management software streamlines your inventory processes. By integrating with your accounting and point-of-sale (POS) software, you can automate inventory updates, tracking and reordering. You’ll not only save time but also improve your customer experience with better product locating and accurate sales history. You can also potentially increase profitability—goodbye, backorders and lost sales.

What features should you look for with inventory management software?

When shopping for inventory software, look for the following key features:

• Real-time inventory tracking. This feature provides accurate stock counts and product locations whenever you need them. Some software even tracks the status of products in your supply chain.
• Digital labeling and barcode scanning. Label your stock with barcodes. Then use scanners to track items so your inventory software can make automatic updates.
• Mobile access. This feature allows you to get updates from your phone when you’re on the go.
• Reporting. Pull accurate reports on everything related to inventory. Keep a pulse on sales trends, customer preferences and purchase patterns to make informed decisions before issuing promotions and placing future orders.
• Automated reordering. Automatically create and send purchase orders when products reach a predetermined low-stock level.
• Low-stock alerts. Get automated alerts when stock gets low.
• Consolidated inventory management.Manage inventory in one place, no matter how many locations you have.
• Free versions.Some inventory management options come with free versions of their software to let small businesses try before they buy. You can choose to upgrade later when you need larger quantities or additional features.

Depending on your business, some of these features may be more important than others. Before comparing inventory management software, create a…[MORE]

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To read the entire article by Anne Shaw at The Hartford Small Biz Ahead website, visit: Inventory Management Software: Why It’s Essential for Businesses