What are the most important inventory management features that potential software buyers are looking for? According to a survey conducted by research company Software Advice:
50 percent want basic inventory control features- 30 percent want barcoding and scanning
- 12 percent want reporting features to help them forecast buying trends
- 5 percent want QuickBooks integration
- 3 percent want lot tracking
- Another 3 percent want kitting
Starting Small
Most small businesses don’t need advanced inventory management features right this instant. They just want a solution that can handle the basics so they can move on to more important things, like selling products to customers and hiring new employees. But that doesn’t mean that advanced features aren’t important. In fact, choosing an inventory management solution based solely on a company’s immediate needs can be a major problem down the road. For example, the ability to create, print, and scan barcodes is often seen as a basic necessity by companies with a growing number of products. But if a small business purchases software that doesn’t have that functionality, they’ll eventually have to leave it behind in favor of a more complex solution. That’s a costlier proposition than simply purchasing a simple version of a more complex solution that they can add features to later on.Moving Up
Fishbowl Manufacturing and Fishbowl Warehouse are ideal for companies across a wide swath of industries and sizes. Fishbowl has features that correlate with all of the needs listed above:- Fishbowl has a complete suite of inventory control features
- Fishbowl Mobile is an add-on that gives companies barcoding and scanning functionality
- Fishbowl has extensive reporting capabilities
- All of its products integrate seamlessly with QuickBooks
- It has lot tracking and kitting features