Warehouse management software (WMS) has become essential to manage inventory and fulfillment from warehouse to store/customer. However, finding top warehouse management software for small businesses can be challenging. To help you with your search, we’ve created this guide listing the top products in the market, along with their benefits and features.

Compare Top Warehouse Management Software Leaders

Table of Contents

• Best Warehouse Management Software for Small Business
  • Fishbowl Warehouse
  • QuickBooks Commerce
  • Cin7
  • Zoho Inventory
  • Veeqo
• What Is Warehouse Management Software?
• Essential Warehouse Processes
• Primary Benefits
• Key Features
• FAQs
• Next Steps

There are approximately 33.2 million small businesses in the U.S. Among them, those who thrive are adept at managing their operations efficiently while lowering costs. Let’s look at the top WMS for small businesses that can help you easily manage day-to-day processes.

Best Warehouse Management Software for Small Business

Our analysts have compiled a list of leading products to get you started. We’ve also included their top benefits, features and limitations to provide a holistic view.

Compare Top Warehouse Management Software Leaders

Fishbowl Warehouse

Fishbowl Warehouse supports both cloud-based and on-premise deployment strategies. Its features include order management, inventory management, shipping and more. It also integrates with other solutions like QuickBooks and Xero. The platform is ideal for manufacturers, retailers, wholesale distributors and government entities.

Fishbowl’s helpful dashboards give users quick visibility into core WMS processes. Source

Top Benefits

• Auto-Reorder Points: It helps manage overstocking and inventory shortages.
• Integrate with Existing Software: Connect the platform with accounting software such as Xero or QuickBooks.
• Get Free Trial: The solution offers a 14-day free trial so that users experience it before finalizing the purchase./li>
• Evaluate Salespersons: Users can identify the top salespersons using the reporting feature.
• Track Assets: A GPS tracking feature helps track when and where employees punch in and out. Use purchase orders, barcodes and other tools to choose, pack and ship products. It picks multiple orders to manage the order fulfillment process.

Key Features

• QuickBooks Integration: This integration helps eliminate double data entry by updating accounting records and inventory.
• Xero Integration: Track orders and update data to Xero. It transfers information about scrapped inventory, cycle counts and other adjustments to Xero.
• Multiple Locations: You can track inventory in multiple locations. It manages shortages by moving inventory from one place to another and generates sales trends for every location.
• Order Management: Create tickets, sales and purchase orders and other documents. It also generates in-depth reports of warehouse operations and allows users to receive products, track shipments and set up reorder points.
• Inventory Management: This feature helps businesses manage inventory by generating barcodes, managing warehouses and making auto-reorder points.
• Shipping: Users can easily integrate it with multiple shipping solutions to deliver finished goods to customers.
• Multi-Currency: The platform lets users receive and create purchase and sales orders in any currency. It then converts the amount into home currency. Assign currencies to customers and vendors and integrate currency preferences with QuickBooks.
• Reporting: Create reports related to inventory and sales data and forecast future inventory needs. Generate reports like turnover pie-charts or bar graphs, adjustment reports and best salesperson.
• Fishbowl Time: Fishbowl is a timekeeping system that lets employees clock in and out with PINs and QR codes. Employees can track their hours, tax status, paid time off, vacation, overtime and payroll. They can also clock in from authorized locations.
• Plugin Products: Add plugins to Fishbowl Warehouse. Fishbowl Anywhere lets users access the system from any device. Fishbowl Go performs cycle counts and scans barcodes. Fishbowl SalesPoint helps create a point-of-sale solution that accepts cash and cards. Fishbowl Commerce manages inventory across multiple eCommerce channels.

Limitations

• The platform doesn’t have a mobile application for Android.
• It provides only basic reports and doesn’t allow customization.

Compare Pricing for Warehouse Management Software Leaders

QuickBooks Commerce

QuickBooks Commerce’s cloud-based solution (formerly TradeGecko) has inventory management features that focus on online businesses. Top features include inventory management, reporting, warehouse management, shipping and price management.

QuickBooks Commerce helps keep users organized with visually digestible information lists. Source

Top Benefits

• Avoid Product Expiration: QuickBooks uses the First In, First Out (FIFO) logic and sells products in the order of their manufacturing.
• Limit Access to Data: It allows users to manage employee access to the stock management system.
• Get Free Trial: Offers a no credit card required 14-day risk-free trial.
• Set Price Breaks: You can set lower prices for bulk orders.
• Integrate With Ecommerce Platforms: The platform integrates with solutions like WooCommerce, Amazon, Magento and Shopify.
• Upload Inventory: Users can upload their inventory with a click on all eCommerce platforms.

Key Features

• Warehouse Management: The product allows you to manage multiple warehouses using a single platform. Users can move goods between warehouses, receive and fulfill orders, and manage the warehouse. They can customize employee access to the stock management system.
• Order Management: This feature helps users manage orders from creation to fulfillment. It syncs orders with inventory, manages sales order workflow, brings sales orders from all sales channels, creates real-time sales reports and partially fulfills orders.
• Multi-Channel Sales: It provides a central dashboard to manage inventory and sales orders for all sales channels. Users can avoid stock-outs and sell internationally in multiple currencies. They can also upload their entire catalog on all eCommerce platforms in a single click.
• Price List Management: You can change inventory and individual prices for specific customers. Set special rates for customers buying in bulk. It also shows price lists on the QuickBooks Commerce mobile application.
• Reporting: Users can generate sales history reports highlighting metrics like the top-performing product, customer, sales channel, salesperson and more. Build reports like stock in hand, inventory location and stock reorder.

Limitations

• The system offers mobile apps only for iOS devices.
• It doesn’t let you edit or change sales orders after you’ve created them.

Compare Pricing for Warehouse Management Software Leaders

Cin7

Cin7 is cloud-based software for small and large businesses alike. Its primary features are inventory management, warehouse management, points of sale, reporting, production management, forecasting, B2B selling and more.

It centralizes order workflows, sales channels, inventory and stock locations in a single platform, connecting customers to products. Perfect for organizations with basic workflow requirements, it streamlines orders across all sales channels and allows location assignments.

Get order fulfillment tracking capabilities with the Cin7 dashboard. Source

Top Benefits

• Execute Extensive Integrations: Supports 450+ integrations and connects users to services, platforms, sales channels and more.
• Get Built-in EDI: Users can manage orders with built-in electronic data interchange technology. Receive, send and automate time-critical transactions and manage chargebacks.

Key Features

• Inventory Management: Cin7 helps users optimize their stock by handling costing, inventory recognition, inventory planning and required inventory. Users can calculate the actual cost of their in-house stock.
• Point of Sales: It features a built-in point-of-sale inclusion that processes transactions, manages store inventory, ships orders and transfers orders to other locations. Users will also have multi-location, real-time stock visibility and searchable online orders.
• Warehouse Management: The software automates packing and order routing while streamlining picking, stocktaking and packing. It keeps customers informed about order status and real-time availability.
• Reporting: Supports customizable pivot table reports on cash flow, available inventory, COGS and forecasting based on sales data. Users can view operations and sales in real time across every sale, channel, customer and location.
• Production Management: It tracks costs related to production and helps create production jobs from purchase orders, sales orders and quotes.

Limitations

• It doesn’t read information sourced from websites connected to Shopify, so users have to adjust inventory for sales that are not from specific websites.
• The platform doesn’t automate orders that are pushed to the ship station. Users have to manually enter data for certain sales orders.

Compare Pricing for Warehouse Management Software Leaders

Zoho Inventory

Zoho Inventory is cloud-based software for businesses of all sizes. It includes warehouse management, order management, inventory control, order fulfillment, reporting and multi-channel selling. You can implement the platform on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Easily keep track of transfer orders on the inventory dashboard. Source

Top Benefits

• Track Stock: Use the First In, First Out (FIFO) method to value stock and automatically sell and clear old stock first to avoid inventory expiration.
• Access Common Dashboard: Zoho gives users a bird’s eye view of sales orders and checks the number of orders invoiced, pending, packaged and delivered.
• Integrate Payment Accounts: You can set up customer accounts and integrate them with payment accounts to facilitate online payments.
• Dispatch Orders From the Nearest Warehouse: It lets you manage transportation costs by choosing locations closest to the customer location to fulfill their orders.
• Track Serial Numbers: Label items in inventory with a tracking code to manage it from purchase to sale.

Key Features

• Warehouse Management: It automatically manages multiple warehouses at multiple locations, dispatches orders, tracks orders and generates reports.
• Inventory Control: The solution updates inventory quantities across all selling channels when a purchase or sale happens. It tracks batches of products and monitors expiry dates. Users can determine reorder points and choose preferred vendors.
• Multi-Channel Selling: Sell products via multiple channels and trade in other currencies. Users can also measure every channel’s performance.
• Order Fulfillment: The platform supports auto-generated packing slips, shipping labels, real-time rates and post-shipment updates to help with the order fulfillment process.
• Reporting: It helps businesses make decisions by generating purchase and sales reports that provide product, payment, customer and stock details.

Limitations

• Reporting capability does not help users with forecasting.
• It lets you accept products from a single purchase order at a time. You can’t receive multiple orders together.
• The platform doesn’t let you use existing batch ID numbers while adding stock. You have to create new ID numbers.

Compare Pricing for Warehouse Management Software Leaders

Veeqo

Veeqo’s cloud-based software is designed for omni-channel retailers. It manages shipping, orders, warehouse and multi-channel inventory. Its top capabilities include detailed sales reports, confirmed packing, multi-channel orders and warehouse automation. The solution is perfect for small and medium-sized businesses.

Manage product stocks, availability and allocation with the dashboard. Source

Top Benefits

• Get Free Trial: Veeqo offers a risk-free no credit card required 14-day trial.
• Support Mobile Application: It also supports a mobile application for both iOS and Android.
• Automate Warehouse Management: Filter orders, arrange them in batches and chalk out the shortest warehouse route.

Key Features

• Multi-Warehouse Routing: It connects different sales channels to users’ warehouses. Users can choose alternative warehouses, and it switches inventory whenever stock becomes low.
• Inventory Sync: The platform features syncing across multiple marketplaces, warehouses and stores in real time. It automatically adjusts inventory levels after a purchase or sale.
• Forecasting: The solution forecasts how much inventory a business should purchase based on past sales and trends. It automatically reorders inventory from suppliers.
• Order Management: Veeqo streamlines orders across all selling channels, automates bulk orders and facilitates returns management.
• Reporting: Users can make decisions by generating detailed reports to analyze products. It creates sales reports and breaks the data down by product, channel, order status, store, category and team members.

Limitations

• The Enterprise plan is the only plan that generates custom reports.
• It doesn’t support the scan-to-ship module, making shipping an item take longer.

What Is Warehouse Management Software?

Warehouse management software is a comprehensive platform that helps businesses manage the supply chain from the distribution and/or fulfillment center to the store or customer. It gives business owners and facility managers end-to-end inventory visibility via apps and the web. This enables them to maximize space, enhance labor utilization and effectively manage equipment.

WMS helps manage all aspects of supply chain operations, such as manufacturing, distribution, service and asset-intensive businesses.

Cloud-based WMS aligns supply chains, fulfillment and inventory with digital transactions. They increase efficiency in day-to-day operations and help create a better customer experience. When a business is just starting, it’s acceptable to maintain inventory with spreadsheets.

But, as a business grows, maintaining spreadsheets, even with fewer users and smaller inventories, can get clumsy and tedious. It’s more critical than ever to identify opportunities for growth while cutting costs. To decide the right system, you must determine which features will benefit your business the most.

Essential Warehouse Processes

Let’s understand the various processes involved in warehouse management.

Receiving

The steps to controlling the timely delivery of the right quantity and quality of product to your warehouse include:

• Placing an order.
• Allocating space.
• Automated or manual unloading.
• Checking quantities.
• Updating the database.

Putaway

After receiving the order, the next step is to put it in the allocated space. Next, you verify its various SKUs and transfer them to the right place. Space management and slotting are crucial here.

Picking

Once you receive an order, you need to identify and pick the right product. Voice systems and barcoding devices help reduce process time and human errors. You may also use methods such as wave picking, zone picking and cluster picking.

Packing

Next, collect the order items, check for quality and ready the product(s) for shipment. Automatic wrappers can reduce packing time, but you should also know the type of packaging material you need and its cost.

Shipping

Sending products to the customer should be done with the help of tracking systems, scheduling and labor management to ensure timely delivery and happy customers.

Returns

Returns are an important part of eCommerce, and you should prepare for them. Managing pickups and refunds requires identifying, re-stocking, discarding or repairing returns.

Let’s now take a look at the primary benefits of WMS for small businesses.

Primary Benefits

Warehouse management software for small businesses, whether vendors offer it as part of a supply chain management, enterprise resource planning suite or as a standalone module, can streamline business operations. Most solutions help:

• Save Money: Tools like vendor-managed inventory, demand reporting and forecasting ensure you don’t waste products. They help manage floor space and reduce search times. Applying material rotation using rules like FIFO, LIFO or FEFO can streamline the process.
• Reduce Human Error: Features like barcoding reduce human error and make warehouse operations like sorting, picking, counting and receiving smoother.
• Serve Customers: The platform reduces the time taken to pick, pack and ship products, resulting in customers receiving their orders sooner. It can pick products and lets managers batch, zone and wave picking, providing holdups and other issues.
• Increase Transparency: Reporting capabilities give a broader view of inventory. It increases transparency and reduces miscommunication between you, your vendors and your customers.
• Improve Visibility: WMS provides real-time insights into inventory so you can avoid backorders and estimate supplies. Some tools like support scanning and RFIDs ensure transparency and help track down items. Boosting visibility reduces the loss and misplacement of inventory.

Compare Top Warehouse Management Software Leaders

Key Features

Let’s have a look at the key features of warehouse management software for small business:

Inbound and Outbound Operations

Without solid inbound and outbound capabilities, the rest of your warehouse functions will focus on playing catch-up. Having a strong system in place for quick check-in and fast and accurate put-away will help you avoid mistakes later on.

On the same note, having a robust outbound system can help prevent returns, increase customer satisfaction and lessen the load on your inbound resources.

Inventory Management

You may have a smaller setup, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to manage your inventory. Big operations like Amazon and Walmart have set expectations so high that customers no longer expect (or forgive) mistakes. A clear and comprehensive view of your stock is the only way to keep up and minimize errors.

Integrations

Whenever you invest in a new system, you want to be sure it’s usable alongside your current software. Luckily, warehouse management software can come in different types, such as a standalone product, part of a larger SCM module or part of an ERP. You’re pretty much guaranteed a way to make it fit your existing solutions, just choose wisely!

Labor Management

This capability can help reduce human error during labor planning. It may be an asset if you have many redundancies in your warehouses, such as the repetition of the picking or putaway process.

Analytics and Reporting

Business intelligence is a significant component of any successful endeavor and the more places you can access it from, the better. As described above, there are many situations where it’s impossible to know the cause or extent of an issue without precise analytics.

Additionally, most systems today offer cloud deployment. The real-time visibility that you can only get with the cloud makes any analytics and reporting more viable. With up-to-the-minute data, you can make more informed decisions and more accurate predictions.

Get our Warehouse Management Software Requirements Template

FAQs

What’s the best way to manage small warehouse inventory?

The best practices for managing small warehouse inventories include:

• Automating most of the process and minimizing manual inputs.
• Performing cycle counts to ensure proper availability of essential products.
• Ensuring that your most popular products are always easy to find.
• Having an organized floor plan.
• Using a suitable warehouse management system for small businesses.

Does QuickBooks have inventory management?

Yes, QuickBooks Commerce offers a comprehensive inventory management system.

Can I use MS Excel to manage my warehouse inventory?

You can use Excel spreadsheets as a cost-effective method to manage your warehouse inventory. While that can be an alternative to solutions like inventory management and warehouse management, we recommend using the latter if you have the budget. The software offers better automation and streamlines the entire process, which Excel simply can’t.

What are the most common picking systems in warehouse management?

Most warehouses use three order picking systems, either independently or in combination — wave picking, zone picking and batch picking.

Compare Top Warehouse Management Software Leaders

Next Steps

While there aren’t many differences between warehouse management software for small businesses and regular solutions, the former offers exclusive pricing, features and deployment options. These solutions can align with your organizational requirements and help streamline warehouse operations within your software budget.

If you need additional help in selecting the perfect fit, check out our free comparison report on top business leaders for best features, actionable insights and product reviews.

How did you choose warehouse management software for your business, and what challenges did you face? Let us know with a comment below!