How to Choose an Inventory Management System

There are around 33 million small businesses making their homes in the US. Many, possibly even most, of these businesses must maintain a certain amount of inventory.

After all, unless your business deals in purely intellectual property, such as freelance writers, graphic artists, or software providers, you’re likely either servicing physical property or selling physical property. Even medical services maintain a stock of medices and supplies.

That means keeping an inventory of parts to use or an inventory or products to sell. Either way, you must keep track of those parts and products. Enter the inventory management system.

Not sure how to select the right software for managing inventory in your business? Keep reading for a breakdown of some key concerns.

Features

One of the most important aspects of picking a business inventory management system is the feature set. For example, if you have a retail outlet, will the system integrate with your point-of-sale system?

If your business has e-commerce options, will the inventory management software integrate with your e-commerce platform of choice?

Most businesses also want features like automated reordering and barcode scanning. Before you go looking at options and making decisions, sit down and make a list of the features that you need and want.

This list will help you narrow down the options that can meet your baseline needs.

Customization

Another consideration when choosing a system for managing inventory is customization. Most systems will allow for some level of customization. Even so, that doesn’t mean that the options will suit your business needs.

For example, inventory management for veterinarians is a very different animal than inventory management for a restaurant. For example, vets in many states must track their medications for reporting purposes.

Restaurants typically don’t report their lettuce purchases or use.

Depending on how specialized your business is, you may want to consider looking for an industry-specific choice.

Pricing

Every small business must monitor its expenses and cash flow. Granted, inventory management software isn’t the most expensive thing in the world. The software does usually operate on a subscription model.

That subscription gives the business a recurring cost for the software every month or every year, depending on how they pay for it. You should compare the cost of the software options that meet your needs.

You should also take a hard look at what you can easily afford, even if things get tight. Lowballing your own means a little may cost you a few nice-to-have options, but it won’t leave scrambling to pay for the software down the road.

Picking Your Inventory Management System

Picking your inventory management system calls for the same kind of decision-making process you apply to most services. You look for options that offer the features you want and need.

You consider how well you can customize the software to your specific business needs. Then, you evaluate the pricing based on your projected ability to pay in the future.

Looking for more business technology tips? Check out the posts in our Technology section.