Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software aims to simplify planning the sales cycles of your products and other inventory. This is especially where thousands of products may be involved, each generating multiple data points.
The software itself can be provided as a SaaS platform, making it accessible from mobile devices such as smartphones, meaning you can keep on top of inventories, orders, and suppliers on the go.
Additionally, good ERP software will allow for integration with different marketplaces, so that you can ensure stock is accurately accounted for across your own business website as well as partners, affiliates, and third parties such as Amazon Marketplace. It should also be able to automate repeat orders, or at least allow for that, when stock levels begin to run low.
While there are many types of software that aim to do this, the difficulty comes in being able to find a platform that can properly cater for a wide range of needs, without sacrificing in terms of quality or productivity.
Here then are the best in enterprise planning software providers, to help you properly manage your sales, inventory, and associated business processes.
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Veeqo has developed a comprehensive all-in-one planning and resource management platform for businesses in the retail industry.
Running an online store can be complicated, especially when it comes to managing orders and dispatching items. Veeqo automates this process. Available on both web and mobile, the service lets sellers track orders, inventories and finances.
It also offers a variety of helpful integrations. For instance, if you’re an online retailer selling items on platforms such as Amazon and eBay, you can combine all data from these sources in Veeqo. That way, you avoid the tedious process of having to manage separate reports for each store.
Pricing starts from $156 per month with the Accelerator plan and includes 17+ shipping integrations as well as 20+ marketplaces you can sync your inventory with. The next tier, the High Growth plan adds purchase forecasting, user permissions, and returns management, all for $202 a month, while the Premium plan adds digital picking, stock transfer, and wholesale support for $260 a year.
Do note that addons such as Amazon FBA will add $26 per month for up to 500 orders, and adds another $10 per month for each additional 500 orders. Although Veeqo’s pricing may initially look expensive, it’s one of the few companies to actually advertise flat-rate pricing, so you know how to budget for it.
Aptian offers a range of industry-specific ERP platforms, designed for importers, distributors and manufacturers to manage consumer goods. Available on Mac, Windows and Linux machines, Aptian ERP gives users a real-time, visible way of tracking all aspects of a business in order to make more informed decisions.
It provides companies with on-demand access to business performance data, financials, sales and profitability analysis, all of which aim to help transform business intelligence processes. More specific for manufacturers and retailers, the system can log and track scheduling, labor, costing and sales.
Aptian ERP is fully cloud-based, so data is always backed up. Like Veeqo, users can access some features via a mobile app. The firm has iOS and Android apps that provide easy access to product catalogs and sales data.
Unlike Veeqo, however, Aptian doesn’t publish flat-rate pricing and you will need to contact the company for a quote.
When looking for effective ERP software, there’s quite a bewildering choice, and one danger for smaller firms is that they could end up purchasing something that’s more targeted at big enterprises. If you happen to be in the small to medium-sized bracket of manufacturing businesses, Abas ERP could be for you.
It offers manufacturers a handful of services and features that are accessible through a modern web browser. Using the software, you can easily manage orders, requests and shipment information, planning and scheduling, and keep an eye on production processes. There’s also an integrated finance system to help monitor transactions and other fiscal concerns.
The system has a handy editor that allows for the creation of customizable workflows which can be linked to the main ERP solution. There isn’t much information on pricing, sadly, but you can approach the company for a free demo.
If you’re looking for a good, all-round ERP system, you should definitely consider SAP Business One. Highly scalable and powerful, it covers all aspects of a company and provides critical data to help managers make better business decisions.
The platform can collect data on customers, partners and suppliers. It’s also capable of handling financial areas such as general ledger, account maintenance, budgets and foreign currencies. Plus, it can organize product information, inventory levels and shipment data – and help create price quotes.
SAP Business One is also integrated with Microsoft Outlook, meaning you can exchange and share data quickly between the two. Finally, it offers very useful reports on all areas of your business.
Like SAP Business One, Aqxolt also covers a fair few different facets of your business. This highly customizable software provides up-to-date critical information to help companies plan and make more effective decisions at the same time.
The system has capabilities for streamlining supply chains, organizing shipping and order information, along with managing assets, maintenance and manufacturing – plus it can be used to implement HR and finance processes. This solution is targeted mainly at businesses with complex processes and growth plans, operating in industries such as health, retail, services, manufacturing and distribution.
Unlike some of the other systems here, Aqxolt offers a completely cloud-based ERP solution, increasing its accessibility for mobile use on the go.
Also consider these ERPs
The Enterprise Resource Market is competitive, which a large number of large and small vendors offering ERP solutions to manage inventory, shipping, and financials. All tend to offer different points of focus, with some weighted to better serve different areas that might include: accounts, sales and taxes; CRM and project management (PM); materials requirement processing (MRP) as well as supply chain management (SCM). Most will offer metrics and analytics for reporting and business intelligence (BI) purposes. Here we’ll list some of the other companies worth considering:
Oracle Netsuite ERP is another major ERP provider, with a cloud-based solution that should make it easy to scale as required. Netsuite’s ERP specifically covers areas such as order, production, and supply chain management, as well as warehouse and fulfillment management, along with financial planning and management tools. The business intelligence feature allows for data and analytics to be visualized through reporting, to provide actionable insights. No clear pricing structure is provided, however, so you’ll need to contact Netsuite for a consultation.
BrightPearl provides an ERP specifically targeted at retailers and wholesalers, covering a comprehensive suite of services such as sales and order management, inventory management and planning, shipping and warehouse fulfillment, purchasing and supplier management, as well as financial tools for POS, payments, and accounts. There are also a wide range of integrations available, such as for Amazon, eBay, Shopify, Magento, as well as for Xero and Quickbooks. No pricing structure is provided, so you’ll need to contact BrightPearl for a quote.
PilotERP has its focus on manufacturers, providing a platform to manage production, inventory, and productivity. It does this by covering sales and service order, lot and serial control of inventory, a whole range of manufacturing tasks covering materials, labor, and orders, on top of shop floor controls, as well as financial tools for purchasing, planning, and forecasting as part of its accounting suite. Pricing is clear and based on two specific models: either subscribing to the SaaS cloud model which costs from $99 per month; or the downloadable software for on-premises use, which costs from $1,995.
Global Shop Solutions provides a comprehensive all-in-one ERP that is available either as a cloud-solution or on-premises. The range of features is extensive, and as well as covering all of the normal bases such as sales, inventory, and supply management, also includes options for preventative maintenance, EDI, CAD, document control, messaging, RFID, as well as a range of online services for website and ecommerce to provide an online portal that fully integrates with the software platform. With that in mind there is the danger that Global Shop Solutions may spread itself a little too wide, but for business owners who simply want the assurance of having a solution to everything it could serve its purpose well.
