Top 10 questions to ask when choosing inventory management software
Equipping yourself with inventory and sales management software can really optimize your business and help it grow. This is true for any size of company. Today's entrepreneurs can choose from a number of solutions which, by automating inventory management, can provide real leverage for growth.
Improving, simplifying and controlling in real time are the objectives of properly integrated inventory management software. Gone are the days of Excel! Welcome to the age of new technologies. As an entrepreneur, you have better things to do than program inefficient, time-consuming solutions.
You're now in the process of finding the ideal solution for your business. But given the countless results on the Internet, you're thinking that it's going to be an uphill battle! Let us guide you along the path to choosing the right software for your business. Here are the factors to consider and the questions to ask yourself first:
1. What's your company's profile?
The first step is to draw up a profile of your company, as each software package responds to specific profiles. You can group together the following information:
- B2B, B2C or both
- Type of activity: services, industry, crafts, etc.
- Distribution channels: stores, mail order, e-commerce, wholesalers, etc.
- International and/or national dimension
- Number of currencies to manage
- Number of products and part numbers
- Number of suppliers
- Number of warehouses
- Number of simultaneous users, etc.
2. How big is your company?
These days, whether you're a start-up, a small business or an SME, you don't have to be a big company to benefit from the features of inventory management software. There's something for every size of business.
Considering your company size (volume and number of employees) will help you narrow down your search. Budgets for such software vary widely, and you don't want to choose an oversized solution that will cost you too much! Make sure you know who the software is for, and whether it matches your business volume.
3. What are the challenges of inventory management for your business?
Determining your objectives will help you to more easily and quickly identify the software features you need.
Here's a list of challenges you may face in your company:
- Optimize and automate inventory and sales management: to prevent errors and save time.
- Improving your purchasing strategy: to avoid stock-outs or overstocking and obtain better negotiations.
- Increase visibility across all your activities for more effective decision-making:
- Identification of costs and margins on your sales in detailed reports
- Real-time inventory status and valuation
- Product traceability and location
- Collaborate with your team: your team's productivity and efficiency can be improved thanks to a cloud-based collaborative platform.
- Increase service quality and customer satisfaction: stock-outs and pricing errors are costly, especially in terms of customer service quality.
- Manage an omnichannel distribution strategy : you sell via different distribution channels (e.g. e-commerce, stores, events, etc.) and you need a clear, real-time view of your inventory.
This list is obviously not exhaustive, but it will help you in your thinking.
4. Open Source vs. SaaS (Software as a Service)?
You may be wondering what the jargon is all about! Without scaring you, it's best to familiarize yourself with a few terms you're likely to come across during your research.
Open Source: this is software incorporating technology whose source code is available to programmers. The solutions offered are fully customizable, but require technical expertise, high maintenance costs and frequent updates.
SaaS: SaaS software technology makes it possible to offer complete solutions in the form of subscriptions with shared hosting on an external server, with no maintenance costs or technical skills required. Updates are regular and performed remotely. The range of functions available is generally greater.
5. What are the differences between hosted and installed software?
Installed software: The software is installed on your company's server after you have purchased a license. You don't need the Internet, but you will have to outsource technical support and updates, then pay for updates to be purchased and carried out in-house. Backup is carried out in-house.
Hosted software: this is a solution installed on remote servers accessible via the Internet. Payment is by subscription. These mobile solutions enable you to work remotely and from multiple systems: mobile, tablet, computer. Maintenance and data updates are carried out by the publisher. Last but not least, data outsourcing can provide greater security.
6. What's the budget?
Depending on the choice, the budget can be totally different. The key is to establish a budget envelope that corresponds to your finances, and to study several proposals.
If inventory management is crucial to your business, be careful not to minimize the budget. Some solutions are free of charge, but often lack scalability and functionality.
Likewise, it seems pointless to equip yourself with oversized software and spend crazy amounts of money on a tool that you'll only use to 30% of its capacity. Especially as you'll find it hard to get to grips with because it's so complicated!
The budget can be considered as a single initial investment in the case of installed solutions, but you need to take into account all incremental costs: maintenance, updates, team training, etc.
In other cases, as with hosted solutions, you take out an annual or monthly subscription, with no surprises, which will give you a precise idea of the overall annual cost. Subscription packages vary according to your usage. Before choosing a formula, make sure you're well ahead of the game.
7. What features do you need?
In general, software offers a detailed list of features. Often, the list seems long and not very readable. Learn to read between the lines, as the same functionality often appears in several places in different forms.
Of course, the software should take care of the majority of your needs, but it's not the quantity of features that makes it more suitable. Make sure it "sticks" to your objectives first.
Here's a list of features, again not exhaustive, that will help you list your needs more precisely.
Sales management :
- Centralization of contacts and customers,
- Easy product creation and barcode management,
- Quotations, purchase orders and invoices generated from one another at the click of a button,
- Real-time payment tracking,
- Support for multiple currencies,
- Price lists: different sales conditions for different customers...
Purchasing and supply management :
- Centralization of contacts and customers,
- Creation of purchase orders,
- Setting up an alert stock to avoid stock shortages,
- Order status tracking, etc.
Inventory management :
- Real-time stock status and inventory,
- Management of multiple warehouses,
- Inventory adjustment: stock-in and stock-out, movements between different warehouses, etc.
- Product returns; Dropshipping.
Statistics, reporting, dashboards: at any given moment, you need to be able to identify which products are selling best, which sector is the most buoyant, etc.
You should also consider the software's potential for evolution. Your business is going to grow, and the solution you choose needs to stay with you for at least a while. Even if you don't need every feature right away, think in the longer term. Check that the solution is dynamic, offering regular updates and new features.
8. Which integrations are essential?
Accounting, e-commerce, CRM - a host of interconnectable applications can optimize your organization and working methods. For example, if you have a Shopify e-commerce site or accounting software like Quickbooks, you'll need to make sure they're compatible with your inventory management software.
9. Quality of support and after-sales service?
Check that technical support is rated highly by users.
Some software can be tested free of charge for one or two weeks, so don't hesitate! It's the best way to find out if the software is right for your business, and to make sure it stays with you for as long as possible.
10. Ease of installation and use?
Last but not least, the software's user-friendliness and ease of installation. For example, some solutions allow you to import your data quickly and directly. In just a few minutes, the software is up and running.
On the other hand, ease of use is essential, because you're not necessarily a technology expert and you don't want to waste time. The more intuitive the software, the more useful it will be. What's more, if you have other users on your team, you'll need to train them to get to grips with the features as quickly as possible.
You're now well on the way to choosing the right, high-performance inventory management software. Take the time to study several solutions, and once you've convinced yourself, you'll see just how much inventory management software can change your life, optimize your working methods and accelerate your growth.
Sponsored article. Expert contributors are authors independent of the appvizer editorial team. Their comments and positions are their own.
Article translated from French