Best Inventory Management Apps: Streamline and Optimize Your Inventory Processes

As a customer, have you ever been frustrated that the item you wanted to purchase was out of stock? You might have just moved on to another shop where you could find this product. But as a business owner, this can be harmful, considering you are losing tons of customers just because the things they need are out of stock for an extended period.

 

It might be time to consider how to avoid such situations in the future. Having an excess inventory is costly, considering it needs ample space to store. It can increase the overhead costs of business. So is there a solution? Yes, there is. It is called inventory management software. The inventory management system is a lifesaver for many business owners working in the retail, warehouse, and manufacturing industries who deal with products daily. The software is also available in the form of mobile apps or are cloud-based.

 

Let's understand an inventory management app and how you can choose the best one for your business.

» What is an Inventory Management App?

Inventory Management app is a tool that helps in tracking inventory in the supply chain industries. Inventory management apps are valuable tools for managing warehouses, manufacturing, and retail inventory products. Moreover, it also helps find the sales trends to avoid excessive stocks or out-of-stock situations. An app is a handy tool for business owners who want to control their inventory from their smartphones' comfort.

» How To Choose the Best Inventory Management App?

Choosing the best inventory management app for your company can be a tough choice considering there are so many internet choices. However, instead of going after all in one inventory management app, find out your business's core areas that require improvements. This will help you shortlist the app most suitable according to your needs.

› Cost

Cost is one of the critical factors that need to be considered before investing in any inventory management app. Suppose, you are a small business whose order quantity is below 100 units per month, then the free inventory management apps can do a great job. Remember, free does not always mean that the product is cheap. Even a free product can be a valuable tool when used correctly. On the other hand, if your sales order surpasses more than 100 orders per month, then you might need to invest in a paid version of the inventory management app to fulfill your orders.

› Integration

Chances are you use various other apps for your business in daily life. For example, consider you are using Quickbooks for accounting purposes. Does the inventory management app you chose provide integration with this software? Having everything connected at the central place can reduce many problems.

› Ease of use

As a business owner, your job is to simplify complex processes and make your life easier. The inventory app you choose must be easy to use and should not have a long learning curve as it won't be easy for your employees to grasp the working of the app as quickly as possible.

› Analytics

Smart inventory management apps collect data and convert it into a usable form. For example, using the data collected might predict when the sales will go up or any product out of stock. These analytics can give valuable insights to improve your business operations.

› Support

Support is essential because many problems arise in inventory management. There can be lost orders, wrong barcode, and other such situations which can wreak havoc. Having dedicated support can save you from tons of headaches and frustrations and let you run your business smoothly.

› Multi channel or single channel inventory management

In the past few years, there has been a tremendous increase in multi-channel sales. If you sell on various eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, eBay at the same time, then It is essential to have a centralized solution that smoothly manages all the products at different locations.

› Android or iOS

There are many inventory management apps for iPhone, but you should check whether the company provides an Android app if you are an Android user. If you are looking for the top inventory management app, here you can find the list of top inventory management apps for your business. Please take a look...

» Top 12 Inventory Management Apps of 2024

1. Sortly

Sortly is a popular choice among many businesses. They pride themselves as being the most simple inventory app with barcode scanner. Adding the product into inventory is as simple as taking the product's photo with a phone app and adding other details. With Sortly, there is no need to have external barcode scanner hardware to scan the product.

 

The app converts itself into a barcode scanner for scanning the products with ease. Sortly works seamlessly from mobile, iPad, and computer. It is designed as a visual inventory management system for small and medium-sized businesses. Top brands like Hewlett Packard(HP), Yale, Honeywell, Pepsico, Lyft use Sortly for inventory management purposes.

› Key features

• Visual photos of inventory products
• Create and print QR label and barcode
• Custom tags and notes

› Pricing

• Free: Free plans allow up to 100 entries for a single user.
•Advanced: The plan starts at $39/month. Include 2000 entries/month with three user licenses.
• Ultra: The plan starts at $99/month. Includes unlimited entries with five user licenses.

 Download Sortly iOS and Android app.

2. Zoho Inventory

Zoho Inventory is a cloud-based inventory management app covering every aspect of inventory management, from item management, customer lifecycle to maintaining vendor relations and automating most of the tasks. Zoho is suitable for dropshippers, retailers, distributors, and other businesses that deal with products regularly.

 

Zoho Inventory follows FIFO(First In First Out) logic for inventory management and is not suitable for companies that follow other logic. Furthermore, Zoho Inventory software comes with basic functionalities and does not include forecasting features. Zoho also integrates with popular apps such as Zoho Books and Zoho CRM.

› Key features:

• Manage backorders, purchase orders, and drop shipments from one central place.
• Customization of workflow and functions according to your business needs.
• Powerful integrations cover almost everything from CRM, accounting, shipping, and shopping carts, so you don't need to worry about not working with other apps.

› Pricing

• A 14 days free trial is available. Both iOS and Android apps are free to download with in-app purchases.

• Basic - Starts at $49/month. Includes 1500 online orders and 150 shipments.
• Standard- Starts at $99/month. Includes 10000 online and 1000 shipments per month.
• Professional - Starts at $249/month. Includes 30000 online orders and 3000 shipments per month.

Download Zoho Inventory iOS and Android apps.

3. inFlow Inventory

inFlow Inventory software offers inventory management app for Android and iOS users which is suitable for business of all types. It can be either deployed on-premise or hosted on the cloud. One of the main perks of inFlow Inventory is that it allows real-time tracking of payments, providing complete details of pending or paid transactions. However, customers have noticed that it does not offer integration with accounting software, and hence they need to export the payment details on third-party apps.

› Key features:

• Multi-channel management
• Transaction history
• Forecasting of stocks

› Pricing

• Light: Starts at $79/month. Includes100 sales orders/month for 2 users.
• Standard: Starts at $199/month. Includes1000 sales orders/month for 5 users
• Plus: Starts at $399/month. Includes 5000 sales orders/month for ten users.

Download inFlow Inventory iOS and Android app.

4. Inventory Now

Inventory Now is designed for retailers to track the inventory throughout their product cycle. Inventory Now is a simplified inventory management app for iOS for small and medium-sized businesses to manage inventory with ease. The app lets you track your product and see whether it needs shipping, what you have for selling, or what is delivered. Furthermore, it also allows you to charge customers from the Square point of sale directly. You don't need to use another payment system to charge your customers.

› Key features:

• Track products using product cycle
• Charge your customers directly from the app
• Multiple users syncs

› Pricing

• Free: Manage up to 20 items/month at no cost.
• Personal: Starts at $5/month billed annually or $7/month billed monthly. Includes unlimited items and syncs with three devices.
• Professional: Starts at $12/ month billed annually or $14/month billed monthly. Includes unlimited items and syncs with ten devices.
• Enterprise: Starts at $99/ month. Pricing depends on the customer's needs. It is tailored as per customer's needs—Syncs with more than ten devices.

Download Inventory Now iOS app for free. (Android version unavailable)

5. On Shelf

On Shelf is an inventory management app for iOS users. One of the main features of On-Shelf is reviewing the customer's purchase history. You can quickly check your customer's past purchases. It also allows you to email the customers regarding the purchase directly from the app.

› Key features:

• Current Sales trends
• Tracking items based on availability. For, e.g., currently in stock, out of stock.
• View customer purchase history.

› Pricing

• The iOS app requires one-time subscription fees of $4.99 to use the app. All the features are unlimited, and the updates are free.
• However, users need to pay the subscription cost of sync. It is free for one user in the first month, then after that, it charges at $2.99/month or $29.99 annually for single users.
• For multiple users price starts at $4.99/month or $49.99 annually.

Download the On-shelf iOS app here.

6. Veeqo

If you are running multiple stores such as an e-commerce store on Amazon, Shopify, you might know how complex it gets to handle the product orders and shipping. Veeqo is the best bet in such situations. Veeqo gives real-time visibility in your inventory and sales channels, making it easier to track orders across various stores. Furthermore, Veeqo provides integration with top shipping carriers such as USPS, FedEx to reduce the shipping burden on you. On the plus side, It also helps in automating the shipping process. Their clients include brands such as Brewdog, Dove, and Lovisa.

› Key features:

• Accuracy at its best. Never send the wrong order again.
• Integration with global shipping carriers
• Powerful forecasting features to know when the demands and sales are high.

› Pricing

• A free trial is available.
• Accelerator: Starts at $156/month paid annually.
• High growth: Starts at $202/month paid annually.
• Premium: Starts at $260/month paid annually.
• Enterprise: Unlimited users. Price is determined based on the customer's needs.

Download the Veeqo iOS and Android app.

7. Fishbowl

Fishbowl is one of the leading hybrid warehouses and manufacturing inventory management apps that integrates with popular third-party solutions such as Quickbooks and Xero. Get rid of double-entry or paper entry work every time new stocks come in or products are shipped out. Fishbowl is best suitable for small and medium-sized businesses who want to get rid of common inventory problems such as out-of-stock products, excess inventory, or dislocation of products and other such issues.

› Key features:

• Warehouse Management
• Material Resource Planning
• Order management system

› Pricing

• Fishbowl charges one-time fees of $4,395 for the inventory management software for windows. The software requires Annual renewal for updates and supports.

Download the Fishbowl iOS and Android app for free.

8. Stock Control

Stock Control is yet another free inventory management app for iPhone to manage inventory. Along with optimal functions such as filtering and sorting, this app allows users to track individual products based on their storage location. For example, you want to know which particular food items are refrigerated. You can do so with Stock Control. The same goes for objects in other categories such as dry, stored in cabinets, and other locations.

› Key features:

• Item sorting
• Location control
• Storage alerts

› Pricing

• Free, offers in-app purchases.

Download Stock Control iOS app.

9. SOS Inventory

SOS Inventory is an inventory mobile application specifically built to work with Quickbooks online. Quickbooks create this application to increase additional functionalities to Quickbooks online. One of the best SOS Inventory features is that it allows food traceability and helps manage lots and batches. SOS Inventory is best suitable for small and medium-sized businesses such as food processors, pharmaceuticals, resellers, and distributors.

› Key features:

• Automated order processing
• Vendor item catalog
• Return merchandise authorization and returns

› Pricing:

• Companion: Starts at $39.95/month.
• Plus: It starts at $79.95/month.
• Pro: Starts at $119.95/month.

Download the SOS Inventory iOS app for free.

10. Boxstorm

Boxstorm is a cloud-based free inventory management system for Android and iPhone users. Boxstorm integrates with Quickbooks, Shopify, BigCommerce, Stripe. One of the best features of Boxstorm is its ability to set stock alerts. They can range from text or email stock alerts. Set up a minimum and maximum quantity of products. Boxstorm updates the interface in real-time, meaning if you make changes from a mobile app, it is automatically updated on the desktop platform.

› Key features:

• Automatic purchasing for the product below the minimum quantity.
• Integrations with Quickbooks, Shopify, and other platforms
• Transfer product from one location to another with ease.

› Pricing

• Free: Allows up to 25 items and 100 transactions. For single users only.
• Pro: Starts at $79/month. Includes unlimited items and transactions—charges an additional $9 for extra users.

Download Boxstorm iOS and Android app for free.

11. Odoo

Odoo is an open-source enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. But you can use its inventory management module as a standalone feature for free of cost. Odoo provides options for dropshippers to ship products directly from suppliers to your customers. Odoo's customer portal lets users track their order statuses, such as shipping, buying, and returns. Furthermore, the Odoo app integrates with various shipping apps such as UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc. Nothing is lost in Odoo because of its double-entry inventory system. Odoo also provides inventory forecasting to predict sales orders. Users need to pay for additional functionalities such as sales, CRM, and project management.

› Key features:

• Expiration date tracker
• Smart schedulers to start operations automatically
• Multiple warehouse management from a single interface

› Pricing:

• The inventory management app for computers is entirely free. However, Users need to pay for other products such as CRM and Sales management.

Download Odoo iOS and Android app for free.

12. SalesBinder

Based in Vancouver, Canada, Salesbinder started as a mission to simplify the complex inventory management processes. Today it serves business owners in more than 130+ countries. SalesBinder is a free inventory management app for iOS users. It also lets you tag each product according to size, color, location for easy operating. Furthermore, SalesBinder integrates with other third-party apps such as Quickbooks, Zapier, Woocommerce, and Xero.

› Key features:

• Customized invoices
• A complete overview of inventory at one place
• Salebinder offers a custom CRM to help you manage your customer relationships.

› Pricing

• Forever Free: This plan includes 100 entries/month for a single user.
• Starter: Starts at $9/ month. Includes up to 2500 product entries for single users.
• Bronze: Starts at $19/month. Includes up to 5000 product records for five users
• Silver: It starts at $49/month. Includes up to 25000 product records for five users.
• Gold: Starts at $99/month. Includes 100,000 product records for fifty users. Comes with unlimited third-party integration.

Download SalesBinder iOS app for free.

» Conclusion

To sum it up, Inventory mobile applications provide various benefits for business owners. From handling barcode scanning, accounting, adding products, and forecasting, these apps can help you optimize your supply chain management. They can also help you automate most of the tasks, which can save you precious time. However, while choosing an inventory management app for your business, you must weigh its pros and cons. Use the above-listed criteria to find the best fit for your business and take control of your inventory today!