Every organization needs to keep tabs on its inventory. Retailers and product companies need to track the stocks in their warehouse. A manufacturer will want to monitor its raw materials. And although a services company may not sell tangible goods, other things such as equipment, supplies, monetary instruments and even people count as inventory too. Regardless of the industry or field, every company or organization needs to have a tracking mechanism for their inventory. And to do that, it’s essential to find the right inventory management software.
Inventory management software
There’s no shortage of inventory management software out there right now. At the top of the market are full-blown Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software like SAP ERP. This software is pretty expensive because inventory management is just one of many modules that proprietary applications like SAP offer.
If your budget doesn’t stretch that far, you can go with mid-tier applications like Microsoft Dynamics or Zoho Inventory.And at the other end of the spectrum, there are free (but more basic) alternatives like Bitrix24, and opensource options like Odoo or ABC Inventory. As you can see, they come in all shapes and sizes. It all depends on what kind of business problem you are trying to solve.
Inventory for retail brands
If you’re a retailer, it might be worth investing in a specialized retail platform such as Veeqo. This one’s a complete inventory management system with over 40 different integrations including popular e-commerce platforms, marketplaces and logistics firms such as Shopify, Amazon and FedEx.
It takes care of everything from multichannel inventory and order management, to picking, packing and shipping.
Easier alternatives
Are there any simpler options available? Yes – spreadsheets! They are the best alternative to inventory management software. They are highly customizable, easy to use and require minimal training to operate. We can quickly configure them to suit our needs.
One of the challenges with spreadsheets of earlier days was that they were standalone applications with little means to sync data between users. With Google Sheets, that problem is completely eliminated. It is now the most real-time spreadsheet application on the planet. Users can operate Google Sheets from multiple warehouse locations to access and input relevant data.
You might think setting up an inventory workflow may take some effort. But you don’t have to be a tech expert to build one from scratch. There are several ready-made spreadsheet templates that you can use to hit the ground running. We’ll discuss some of the best options below:
1. Inventory by Sheetgo
The Sheetgo inventory solution is completely built on the workplace tools you already know and use. You can continue to use spreadsheets to manage stock, but benefit from advanced Sheetgo features and customization to build the perfect inventory management system for your business.
Some of these features are:
- Effortless data input: Record data accurately by using dynamic forms to register, check in, or check out items.
- Easy expansion: Add other workflows such as sales or finance to create an expansive data sharing system across the entire company.
- Scan and track items on any device: Use the Sheetgo barcode scanner to easily scan items and register their status from any device.
- Real-time updates: Visualize your inventory data in a dashboard to monitor your key metrics. With the smart automation schedule, Sheetgo transforms your raw data into actionable insights that are ready to share whenever you need them.
Learn more about the solution here: Inventory by Sheetgo
2. Vertex
This company develops useful templates that can be used for a variety of purposes. Traditionally they provided templates for Microsoft Office products, but Vertex42 has recently moved into the Google Sheets space as well.
However, unlike their Excel templates that are available for download, you need to install the Template Gallery for Docs add-on to be able to use their Inventory Control Template.
They have a whole bunch of template categories, and Business is one of them. Under this category, there are different types of templates that you can pick and start using.
2. TradeGecko
This company has a range of innovative product offerings aimed at reducing the operational complexity of small and medium sized businesses. TradeGecko has come up with a free spreadsheet template that is very easy to understand and use. You can access it from here – make your own copy and get busy!
3. Smartsheet
Like the other two companies we discussed above, Smartsheet also develops spreadsheet templates. They also offer an inventory management template that is extremely easy to use. If you are looking for the simplest and most basic template of all, give it a try!
The top 4 best alternative inventory management software of 2022
And there you have it! We’ve compiled a list of the best alternatives to inventory management software for your company.
We think Sheetgo is the strongest option for an all-encompassing and integrated sales template. When downloading Sheetgo, you not only get access to this template but can access tons of other templates and features to make your company more efficient. The Sheetgo template is also the only template that gives you a great overview of your inventory’s current and past status under the “Dashboard” tab.
Looking for more Google Sheets templates to help you manage your business? Take a look at our blog post on Top 5 free Google Sheets sales templates.
