Inventory management
Discussion
A friend of mine has set up a business selling products online. He received a recommendation to use some IMS software to help manage his inventory but he says it's too expensive for what he needs. It was going to cost £150 per month but he doesn't need most of its features.
Bing a software developer I've offered to help by writing him a simple solution that will suit his needs. Originally, I was going to write the software as a PC desktop application solely for his use. Now I'm thinking that if I write it as a publicly available web site, there could be an opportunity for me to make a small business out of it myself.
I'm trying to determine what features I'd need to provide in order to make the software appealing to a wider group of online sellers. The basic requirements to suit my friend are simply:
• Allow entry of his products into the system.
• List the products, and crucially, quantity on eBay and Amazon.
• When a sale is made on either eBay or Amazon, the quantity is reduced accordingly on both sites.
• Give a simple report of sales so he can see where he is selling more, how much stock he has etc.
It seems relatively straight forward to me, but obviously the software he was recommended to use does a lot more than this and I don't know which features are important and which aren't.
I'd love to hear from anyone operating in this space/using some kind of IMS software who can tell me what my new software would need to do as a minimum to make it a viable alternative.
I was thinking of a £30 per month price. What would it need to do to make that price appealing to you?
Bing a software developer I've offered to help by writing him a simple solution that will suit his needs. Originally, I was going to write the software as a PC desktop application solely for his use. Now I'm thinking that if I write it as a publicly available web site, there could be an opportunity for me to make a small business out of it myself.
I'm trying to determine what features I'd need to provide in order to make the software appealing to a wider group of online sellers. The basic requirements to suit my friend are simply:
• Allow entry of his products into the system.
• List the products, and crucially, quantity on eBay and Amazon.
• When a sale is made on either eBay or Amazon, the quantity is reduced accordingly on both sites.
• Give a simple report of sales so he can see where he is selling more, how much stock he has etc.
It seems relatively straight forward to me, but obviously the software he was recommended to use does a lot more than this and I don't know which features are important and which aren't.
I'd love to hear from anyone operating in this space/using some kind of IMS software who can tell me what my new software would need to do as a minimum to make it a viable alternative.
I was thinking of a £30 per month price. What would it need to do to make that price appealing to you?
I'm not exactly sure on number of "products".
His strategy has been to trying to bundle different products together, or offer multiple items of the same product to see what sells better. Seems a logical way to find out how to maximise his profits.
The problem this caused is that each 'bundle' is treat as a different product in the software and he's now hit a limit where he needs to start paying the £150 per month.
His strategy has been to trying to bundle different products together, or offer multiple items of the same product to see what sells better. Seems a logical way to find out how to maximise his profits.
The problem this caused is that each 'bundle' is treat as a different product in the software and he's now hit a limit where he needs to start paying the £150 per month.
Try this http://www.thecanvus.com/#homePage
It's free. I've been using it for nearly 3 years now and never had a problem with it. It's enough for my needs.
It's free. I've been using it for nearly 3 years now and never had a problem with it. It's enough for my needs.
Hi,
There is definitely a market for a low cost stock control management with a few simple functions but done well. I have used a few over the years and none are perfect, I only use about 20% of their features and feel that they all lack some basics.
There are a huge number of low volume eBay sellers which you could tap into.
I currently pay around £200 a month and use two programs to manage inventory, 2 sales channels, purchasing, then the second program deals with manual orders i.e. walk-in or over the phone, and also purchase orders from customers. The first can deal with what the second does, however the UI and speed at which it operates is hopeless.
I would be happy to invest some money and time into this assuming this is a serious project.
There is definitely a market for a low cost stock control management with a few simple functions but done well. I have used a few over the years and none are perfect, I only use about 20% of their features and feel that they all lack some basics.
There are a huge number of low volume eBay sellers which you could tap into.
I currently pay around £200 a month and use two programs to manage inventory, 2 sales channels, purchasing, then the second program deals with manual orders i.e. walk-in or over the phone, and also purchase orders from customers. The first can deal with what the second does, however the UI and speed at which it operates is hopeless.
I would be happy to invest some money and time into this assuming this is a serious project.
993AL said:
Try this http://www.thecanvus.com/#homePage
It's free. I've been using it for nearly 3 years now and never had a problem with it. It's enough for my needs.
I posted a thread on this recently, I tried almost every one I could find including PHP scripts for a DIY solution. None of them did what I wanted which was simple stock management, book in and out an produce a stock value report.It's free. I've been using it for nearly 3 years now and never had a problem with it. It's enough for my needs.
Nothing does that at a reasonable price level.
However I've just signed up on thecanvus, I did find it previously but their site is rubbish and I didn't create an account.
And it does EXACTLY what I wanted plus more, and I think the OP wants the same thing.
Simple stock taking, book in and out, it even records the booking in and out. Then you can print reports, you can even set multiple warehouses, manufacturers and more.
And it's free so even better. Will change over from my newly created spreadsheet.
Would be nice if it integrated with the sales channels, but to be honest it's not a £150/mo problem for us yet so would rather save the money.
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