Top 7 best inventory management software for Shopify

Since the dawn of commerce, the way we buy and sell has transformed drastically.

Busy bazaars and marketplaces — once filled with goods hanging from tents and booths, merchants yelling out at each passing buyer, and customers haggling to get the best deal — have now moved into the World Wide Web. Many traditional sellers have migrated online, setting up shop on platforms like Shopify.

This shift from physical to digital storefronts has revolutionized retail, but the fundamental importance of managing what’s in stock has and will remain unchanged One could even say that in ecommerce, effective inventory management is more crucial than ever. It’s the key to meeting customer demand without overstocking or running out of products.

With the right tools, Shopify sellers can synchronize their stock across multiple channels, forecast demand, and keep their virtual shelves stocked with the right products at the right time, ensuring their digital bazaar thrives in the online marketplace.

How to manage inventory in Shopify?

While Shopify provides basic inventory management features, businesses with complex needs may find it falling short in offering comprehensive solutions. To address specific inventory requirements effectively, third-party inventory management software integrations become a considerable choice.

Specialized software can improve and boost the capabilities of Shopify, providing features that require fewer resources while increasing productivity. For businesses dealing with different products, variations, or sales channels, integrating external inventory management tools becomes essential.

These solutions offer more control over stock levels, order fulfillment processes, and real-time insights into inventory performance. By seeking external solutions, businesses can tailor their Shopify inventory management to match the unique demands of their operations, ensuring a smoother and more productive ecommerce experience.

Overall, while Shopify lays a solid foundation for online stores, adding dedicated ecommerce inventory management software into the mix is key to achieving optimal control and efficiency in stock management. But with all the solutions out there, how to choose the best inventory management software for Shopify?

What to look for in the best Shopify inventory management app?

Selecting the right inventory management software is critical for businesses aiming to streamline operations and enhance efficiency.

Here are some features to look for in a Shopify inventory management app.

Integration with ecommerce platforms

Integrating with ecommerce platforms is critical for Shopify inventory management. This integration ensures that your inventory management system and Shopify store work together seamlessly. It enables real-time synchronization of product details, orders, and customer data across your online store.

This feature helps prevent discrepancies between your inventory system and your Shopify store. For example, when a customer places an order, the inventory levels in your management system should automatically update to reflect this change. This helps maintain accurate stock levels, ensuring that your product listings are always up to date. It also avoids situations where products are oversold or stock levels are inaccurately represented on your website, which could lead to shipping delays and disgruntled customers.

Accurate and up-to-date customer order information allows businesses to streamline their order fulfillment processes, reduce shipping errors, and improve customer satisfaction.

Scalability

Scalability is an essential aspect to consider when selecting inventory management software for your Shopify store. As your ecommerce business grows, so will your needs, product range, order volumes, and possibly additional sales channels. Therefore, the software you choose must be able to accommodate this growth without restricting operational efficiency.

A scalable inventory management system should allow you to add new products to your inventory without hitting a ceiling on the number of items the software can handle. It should also manage a rising volume of orders, processing them efficiently regardless of whether you’re handling tens of orders a day or thousands.

Furthermore, as you expand your business to more sales channels beyond Shopify, such as marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, or even physical retail locations, the software should easily integrate these channels into a centralized system. This centralization is crucial for maintaining a comprehensive overview of your inventory across all platforms, ensuring consistent product availability information and simplifying stock management.

Live tracking and visibility

The ability to monitor inventory levels in real time is a game-changer. This inventory management method allows for instant visibility into every aspect of your inventory, tracking stock movements as they happen across all sales channels and storage locations. Having access to accurate data helps effectively prevent stockouts or overstocks, ensuring that inventory levels are always optimized to meet customer demand.

Live tracking provides businesses with the data necessary to make better inventory-related decisions and react promptly to changes in demand, adjust purchasing strategies, and optimize stock levels as needed. This kind of agility is crucial in the ecommerce landscape, where trends can change rapidly, and customer expectations for quick fulfillment are higher than ever.

Forecasting and demand planning

Forecasting and demand planning are critical components of an inventory management system. Using historical sales data, these systems can accurately predict future demand. This enables businesses to optimize their stock levels and strike the perfect balance between minimizing holding costs and ensuring popular products are always available for customers.

Effective forecasting lies in analyzing potential sales trends, seasonal fluctuations, and customer buying patterns. This data is priceless for planning inventory purchases and production schedules, reducing the risk of excess stock or shortages. Additionally, accurate demand forecasting empowers strategic decision-making, helping businesses to align their inventory management practices with their overall sales and marketing strategies.

Automation

Inventory management automations help elevate accuracy and efficiency, especially in areas like order fulfillment and stock updates. Barcode scanning streamlines inventory tracking by instantly updating the system as items move in and out of stock, significantly reducing the chances of human error in manual data entry.

Other automatic features, such as reorder points and order routing, play a crucial role in minimizing the manual workload. These capabilities ensure that inventory levels are maintained optimally without needing constant manual oversight, triggering restocking at the right time based on predefined criteria. This cuts down time spent managing stock levels while avoiding stockouts or excess inventory, thereby enhancing overall operational productivity.

Multilocation support

For businesses operating out of multiple warehouses or having various storage locations, software with multilocation support is crucial. This ensures that you have precise control over your inventory across different locations, empowering more efficient order fulfillment and resource allocation.

Multilocation tracking allows for a comprehensive overview of stock levels at each location, enabling businesses to make informed decisions about where to allocate resources most effectively. It supports strategic inventory movement between locations to meet demand without overstocking or understocking in any single area.

This also simplifies ecommerce order fulfillment by identifying the closest or most suitable location to ship products to customers, reducing shipping times and costs. Essentially, multilocation support not only centralizes operations across various storage locations but also enhances customer satisfaction with faster delivery times.

User-friendly interface

An intuitive and user-friendly interface in inventory management software is not just a luxury — it’s a necessity to ensure smooth, efficient operations. Quick and easy navigation across the platform can significantly reduce the learning curve, minimizing the need for extensive training and lowering the risk of errors.

A well-designed interface should present complex data and options in a simple and straightforward way, making critical tasks such as stock updates, order processing, and reporting both intuitive and convenient. This feature ensures that team members can perform their roles more effectively, contributing to overall operational efficiency.

Even better, a user-friendly system encourages higher adoption rates among staff, ensuring that the software is utilized to its full potential. This leads to better inventory accuracy, improved order fulfillment rates, and enhanced decision-making based on valid data.

Reporting and analytics

Comprehensive reporting tools and analytics features are essential for unlocking insights into your inventory performance, sales trends, and other vital business metrics. These tools go beyond simple inventory tracking, offering a deep dive into data that can support strategic decisions.

Look for software that not only provides a range of pre-built reports covering aspects like sales performance, stock levels, and order fulfillment metrics but also offers the flexibility to customize reports. Customizable reports mean that you can tailor the analytics to fit the unique needs and priorities of your business, focusing on metrics that matter the most to you.

Working with actual data is crucial in making data-driven decisions toward optimizing inventory levels, improving customer satisfaction, and increasing sales. For example, analyzing sales trends helps businesses forecast demand more accurately and adjust inventory procurement accordingly. Similarly, understanding stock levels in real time can help identify slow-moving items, offering valuable insights to create targeted promotions or discounts to free up warehouse space.

Mobile accessibility

Mobile accessibility offers the flexibility to manage and monitor your inventory from anywhere, at any time, directly from a mobile device. This ensures that you can stay updated on crucial inventory changes, respond to sales trends, and make informed decisions on the go.

Whether you’re on the warehouse floor, on the go, or simply away from the office, you can check stock levels, update inventory, approve purchase orders, or even communicate with suppliers and customers. This not only speeds up decision-making processes but also improves the efficiency of order fulfillment, leading to higher customer satisfaction.

Mobile solutions often come with intuitive interfaces designed for ease of use on smaller screens, making it simple for you and your team to perform complex inventory management tasks without getting extensive training beforehand. This ensures that your business maintains agility and competitiveness in a fast-paced market.

Cost-effectiveness

When evaluating Shopify inventory management apps, the overall cost is a critical consideration.

This doesn’t just mean the initial purchase or subscription fees but also additional expenses related to implementation, potential customization, employee training, and any ongoing costs. It’s essential to choose a software solution that offers a good balance between affordability and the range of features necessary to meet your business needs.

Assessing the total cost of software involves looking beyond the sticker price to understand how the software will impact your operations and bottom line over time. For example, a system that might seem cheaper upfront could require extensive training or frequent upgrades, increasing its long-term cost. On the other hand, a more costly solution might offer greater efficiency or automation capabilities, leading to cost savings in other areas, such as labor or error reduction.

It’s also worth considering the scalability of the software and whether it will accommodate your business growth without significant additional investments. Some platforms offer modular pricing or tiered subscriptions, allowing you to pay only for the features you need and keep adding more as your business expands.

By taking into account these essential considerations, businesses are well-prepared to select the best inventory management software for their Shopify store.

What is the best inventory management software for Shopify?

Choosing the right inventory management platform can streamline your operations, improve efficiency, and help you stay ahead of customer demands. But just like

We’ll explore the following top 7 inventory management software solutions tailored for Shopify users in 2023:

1. Shopify built-in inventory
2. Katana Cloud Inventory
3. Stocky
4. Oracle NetSuite
5. Cin7
6. StockSync
7. Sumtracker

Shopify built-in inventory

The Shopify built-in inventory management system is integrated directly into the Shopify platform, designed to streamline operations for Shopify store owners. It provides essential features to manage inventory, including tracking stock levels, setting up inventory alerts, and managing inventory across multiple locations.

Pricing:

Shopify’s inventory management capabilities are included in all plans with no additional direct cost for using Shopify’s basic inventory management features. Shopify’s pricing plans start from $24 per month for the Basic plan.

They also offer a 3-day free trial, allowing new users to explore the platform and its inventory management features before committing to a subscription.

Pros:

• Integrated directly into Shopify — Being built into the Shopify platform, it offers seamless integration for inventory management, reducing the need for external tools or apps for basic inventory tracking and management
• Real-time tracking — Shopify’s system allows for real-time inventory tracking across multiple locations, helping to prevent stockouts and overselling
• Easy to use — Shopify’s user interface is known for its ease of use, making it simple for new users to navigate and manage their inventory
• Streamlined procurement — The system supports purchase orders and inventory transfers, simplifying the procurement process and moving goods between locations

Cons:

• Limited advanced features — For businesses with complex inventory management needs, such as demand forecasting, advanced reporting, or multichannel selling across platforms outside of Shopify, the built-in features might lack some functionalities
• Extra costs for scalability — As businesses grow or require more sophisticated inventory management functions, they may need to rely on additional paid apps from the Shopify App Store, increasing operational costs

Given the advantages of integration and ease of use, alongside potential limitations for more advanced needs, Shopify’s built-in inventory management system is well-suited for new and starting businesses looking for a straightforward solution. However, growing businesses with more complex requirements might consider third-party integrations or alternative inventory management solutions.

Katana Cloud Inventory

Katana Cloud Inventory is designed to enhance inventory management, particularly for manufacturers and businesses that need to efficiently manage raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished products. It’s especially beneficial for Shopify store owners who are looking for a more advanced inventory solution that also allows additional integrations with third-party services.

Pricing:

Katana Cloud Inventory’s pricing starts at $179 per month. For businesses that need more extensive features, Katana offers higher-tier plans that provide additional functionalities and support for growing businesses.

Katana offers no free trial, but they do provide demo calls and guided implementations for those looking to get to know the features before committing.

Pros:

• Seamless integration with Shopify — Katana offers easy integration with Shopify, allowing for real-time synchronization of orders and inventory levels
• Manufacturing focus — Ideal for manufacturing businesses, providing features like bill of materials (BOM) management, manufacturing resource planning (MRP), and floor-level operations management
• Intuitive dashboard — A simple, easy-to-navigate dashboard offers a complete overview of production schedules, inventory levels, and order management, enhancing decision-making
• Multilocation inventory management — It supports tracking inventory across multiple locations, including warehouses and retail outlets, making it suitable for businesses with diverse storage needs
• Integrations — Katana offers numerous integrations to other apps to cover various business angles, including accounting, CRM, reporting, shipping, or building custom workflows with API

Cons:

• Price for small businesses — While offering a range of advanced features, the cost may be a consideration for smaller businesses or startups just beginning to scale
• Limited in certain aspects for retailers — Shopify retailers may find themselves needing shipping or accounting features, which Katana still lacks but makes up for by integrating with other service providers

The decision to use Katana Cloud Inventory should be based on specific business needs, especially if your business requires detailed inventory and production management integrated with Shopify sales. Katana offers significant benefits for inventory control, production planning, and order management.

Stocky

Stocky, an inventory management app developed by Shopify, is designed primarily for brick-and-mortar retail businesses using Shopify POS Pro. It offers a range of features to streamline inventory processes, including tracking inventory levels,  demand forecasting, creating and managing purchase orders, and conducting stocktakes. Integration with Shopify POS allows for smooth workflows, enabling sellers to efficiently manage inventory and sales.

Pricing:

Stocky is free to install for Shopify POS Pro subscribers, making it an added benefit for those already using or planning to upgrade to this plan. This means that the cost of using Stocky is essentially included in the Shopify POS Pro subscription.

While Stocky itself does not have a standalone free trial, Shopify offers a free 3-day trial, which can include Stocky as part of the POS Pro subscription. This allows businesses to evaluate the whole ecosystem, including inventory management capabilities with Stocky, before making a full commitment.

Pros:

• Integrated with Shopify POS Pro — Offers seamless operation within the Shopify ecosystem, specifically tailored for users of Shopify POS Pro
• Comprehensive inventory management — Features include creating and managing purchase orders, conducting stocktakes, in-depth reporting, and reviewing and receiving incoming inventory
• Extra features — Stocky provides additional tools for inventory forecasting and utilizes barcode scanning to speed up inventory-receiving processes

Cons:

• Limited to Shopify POS Pro users — Only available with Shopify POS Pro subscriptions, limiting its availability to a specific user base
• Mixed user reviews — Some users have reported issues with functionality and support, indicating that the experience can vary
• Additional cost — Since Stocky is only included with Shopify POS Pro subscriptions, this service requires additional expenses

Considering its features and integration within the Shopify platform, Stocky is a great option for Shopify users with physical retail locations looking to optimize their inventory management. Potential users should consider their specific needs and whether they align with Stocky’s offerings, especially given its association with Shopify POS Pro.

Oracle NetSuite

Oracle NetSuite is a comprehensive cloud-based ERP solution that integrates with Shopify to provide a robust inventory management system. It’s well-suited for businesses looking for a single platform to manage finances, customer relationships, ecommerce, inventory, and more.

Pricing:

NetSuite’s pricing is based on a subscription model, and the cost can vary widely depending on the modules selected, the number of users, and the level of customization needed. It’s required to contact NetSuite directly for a detailed quote based on your specific business needs.

NetSuite does not offer a free trial, but they provide free product tours to show potential customers the most important features and benefits.

Pros:

• Comprehensive solution — NetSuite offers a wide range of functionalities, including accounting solutions, CRM, HR, supply chain management, and inventory management
• Customization and integration — The software is highly customizable and integrates smoothly with other NetSuite modules as well as external platforms such as Shopify
• Automation and real-time data — It automates many processes and provides live data visibility into financials, inventory, and more

Cons:

• Complexity and implementation time — NetSuite can be complex and have long implementation times. It may require additional training to fully learn to use its capabilities
• Cost — NetSuite is known for being a premium solution with additional fees for customer service and other functionalities, making it less accessible for smaller businesses

For businesses that require an advanced, all-in-one ERP solution that integrates seamlessly with Shopify, NetSuite is a strong option. However, its complexity and cost mean that it’s best suited for mid-size to large enterprises or businesses with specific needs that justify the investment.

Cin7

Cin7 is a cloud-based inventory management solution that’s particularly effective for Shopify users looking for automation and centralization of inventory, orders, and shipping processes across multiple channels.

Pricing:

The pricing starts at $295 per month for the Standard plan, with the possibility to upgrade to more advanced plans. The exact costs may vary depending on the specific needs and scale of your operations.

Cin7 also offers a 14-day free trial for users to test out the platform.

Pros:

• Centralization — The software centralizes inventory management for Shopify stores, which is essential for managing orders, shipping, and inventory efficiently
• Multichannel integration — It integrates with over 300+ apps, allowing for seamless operations across various platforms beyond just Shopify, including major ecommerce and shipping providers
• Customer support — Users have given positive feedback for its customer support and the onboarding process, helping businesses set up and make the most of the platform

Cons:

• Reliability issues — Some users have reported reliability issues, such as problems with inventory syncing back to Shopify and duplicated inventory entries. These can lead to significant operational disruptions
• Support response time — While customer support is generally praised, there have been reports of slow response times to resolve issues, which can be frustrating for businesses relying on timely support

For Shopify users, Cin7 represents a powerful tool for streamlining inventory and order management across multiple sales channels. Considering the availability of a free trial, it might be worth exploring Cin7 to determine if it aligns with your business requirements and processes.

StockSync

StockSync is an inventory management app that simplifies the process of syncing inventory and managing products from multiple suppliers. It offers a range of features to automate and streamline various aspects of inventory management.

Pricing:

StockSync offers a free plan for businesses with fewer requirements. Paid plans start from 5$ per month and depend on the specific need for stock variants. For importing new products, you need to purchase Stock Sync credit.

There’s also a 14-day free trial that allows access to all features for updates and exports.

Pros:

• Versatility — StockSync supports a wide range of file formats and integration methods, including CSV, XML, Google Sheets, and APIs, making it easy to automate inventory updates from various sources
• Real-time updates — The app provides real-time inventory updates, minimizing the risk of overselling and ensuring accurate stock levels
• Customization — Users can set quantity rules, easily remove discontinued products, and export stock data to suppliers, enhancing inventory accuracy and management efficiency

Cons:

• Complexity — While StockSync is highly customizable, some users may find the initial setup and understanding its features a bit complicated at first
• Limited support on the free plan — Support is available, but users on the free plan might find it less thorough compared to paid plans

StockSync is a comprehensive solution for Shopify users dealing with large product catalogs and multiple suppliers, offering a range of tools to automate and simplify inventory management. Its versatility and automation capabilities make it a valuable asset for ecommerce businesses looking to streamline their operations.

Sumtracker

Sumtracker is an inventory management solution tailored for ecommerce sellers, integrating with platforms like Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, eBay, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. It’s designed to help businesses manage, track, synchronize, and update inventory across multiple locations, handling purchase orders, price lists, and incoming stock efficiently.

Pricing:

Pricing starts at $44 per month for up to 200 orders, with advancing plans available for higher order volumes and more store connections, as well as additional features.

Sumtracker offers a 30-day trial, giving businesses plenty of time to get acquainted with the features and tools of the platform.

Pros:

• Multichannel inventory sync — Seamless inventory synchronization across various platforms, including Shopify, Etsy, eBay, Amazon, and Walmart
• Product bundles — Create bundles of items and goods while the software automatically updates the inventory levels of the individual items
• Reporting and alerts — Sumtracker offers low stock alerts, inventory forecasting, stock valuation, and cost of goods sold (COGS) reports
• Ease of use and customer support — Users have praised its simplicity and the responsiveness of the customer support team

Cons:

• Lack of certain features — Some users have noted the absence of wholesale features and the capability for order creation as a disadvantage
• Limited report customization — Although Sumtracker provides comprehensive reports, there are users who wish for more customizable reporting options, such as PDF reports emailed weekly

Sumtracker’s comprehensive features and positive reviews suggest it’s a strong contender for businesses looking to manage inventory across multiple sales channels efficiently. The availability of a 30-day free trial makes it an attractive option for merchants to test its capabilities without initial financial commitment.

So there you have it — 7 best inventory management software for Shopify. These are, of course, only suggestions to take on board when considering your options. The final decision should be made by you and your team, thoroughly evaluating which software fits your day-to-day needs and is the most effective solution to your inventory processes.

As a start, you can already sign up for a free demo with Katana’s team of experts to determine which solutions work best for you and find out how Katana can improve your Shopify inventory management.