You have many options when it comes to offering your products through an e-commerce platform. You’ve got eBay, Etsy, Big Cartel, Amazon Marketplace, your own site, and many other venues. It’s always good to avoid putting all of your eggs in one basket, but you also don’t want to drive yourself crazy attempting to manually handle inventory numbers. Thankfully, there are applications out there that take this headache away, and allow you to easily expand your online presence into multiple venues.
Choosing the Software
The first thing you have to determine is exactly what online marketplaces you wish to sell through, as well as any specific scripts you’re using on your own site. When you know exactly what platforms you’re interested in, you can choose the specific application that has support for all of your e-commerce sites. This may be a somewhat arduous task if you’re using smaller sites, custom software or not commonly used software.
Next you need to look at your budget. Some options are free, some are paid, and it could be worth your while to develop a completely custom solution. You can narrow down the options for e-commerce inventory management by having a good idea of exactly how much you want to spend on these products. They will save you a great deal of time, as well as giving you the option to expand your business flexibility.
Finally, run through the feature set. Some products may simply update your inventory numbers across all of your e-commerce platforms, while others allow you to make changes to your products, post new products, and perform other maintenance tasks from a centralized platform.
Limitations
If you’re having problems finding inventory management software that meets your needs, it’s possible that the e-commerce platforms that you’re using do not allow certain functions in their API, such as changing product information. Most large e-commerce platforms and scripts do allow this process through the API, however, and if you’re a large enough retailer or wholesaler you may want to move away from e-commerce platforms that don’t allow you to use inventory management software.
e-Commerce Inventory Management Software
Now that you know the process to begin searching for the perfect inventory management option, you should know what’s out there. Inventory management software comes in all shapes and sizes, and you may need to do some testing before you find the one that’s tailor made for your business. Here are a few applications to get your search started:
Export Your Store works with eBay and Amazon, and syncs your inventory between your eBay account and your Amazon account. All of the syncing is done automatically, as soon as an item is sold at either store. Bizelo is another option that syncs your items across multiple shopping channels. It supports CartKeeper, Etsy, Shopify, eBay, Vend, Magento, and 3D Cart. This software also has a ton of reporting and accounting options, and other features you can add to your e-commerce inventory management in an a la carte style.
No matter which type of e-commerce inventory management software you choose, you’ll be able to grow your business that much faster by not having to log in from site to site every time an item sells. That’s a pain for small time sellers; when you start getting into hundreds or thousands of pieces of inventory, it’s enough to drive you insane.
Ted Hosford is a business software consultant. He enjoys sharing his extensive experience on various business blogs. Learn more about shipping label solutions, visit the link.
