Shopify Plus markets itself as an enterprise-level platform, with a price tag to match. But does its inventory management really live up to the hype?
In this blog, we'll examine whether the inventory management features accommodate enterprise with large number of SKUs, multi location inventory and complex inventory operations
Shopify Plus Inventory Management System Overview
As compared to Shopify's basic plan, Shopify Plus has much more to offer, making it well-suited for larger businesses with complex needs.
For example, it offers advanced location management features that enable businesses to efficiently manage inventory across multiple locations.
Key features include the likes of unlimited locations, smart allocation, transfer orders, and location-based pricing and availability. It also provides extensive access to APIs and Shopify Flow, that can be used to automate inventory tasks with custom workflows.
Here is a detailed overview of the Shopify's inventory management system in Shopify Plus:
1. Tracking Inventory
Shopify Plus's multi location inventory management helps you track stock levels across a vast network of warehouses, stores, and fulfillment centers.
It allows inventory transfer based on demand and shipping needs. This helps optimize stock levels, reduce shipping costs, and ensures smooth fulfillment for geographically dispersed customers, especially if you're using multiple warehouses and sales channels.
Unlike Shopify's basic plan which does not track inventory value, Shopify Plus Track makes an attempt to improve by displaying the cost price of your inventory items alongside the selling price.
This enables accurate profitability calculations and informed pricing strategies.
Shopify Plus also supports adjustments for reasons like damage, returns, shrinkage, or internal use, ensuring accurate inventory data.
2. Inventory Table/View
Shopify's inventory management system shows a unified view of all the SKUs along with the stock quantities of items that are "committed", "available", "unavailable", and "on-hand".
This simplistic but centralized view improves inventory visibility, as compared to the traditional methods that require manually tracking spreadsheets.
3. Purchase Orders
Shopify Plus enables businesses to set reorder points and minimum stock levels, automatically triggering purchase order creation for essential items.
This feature in the inventory management system minimizes stockouts and streamlines communication with suppliers.
You can easily track supplier information, purchase history, and performance analytics within Shopify Plus as well.
4. Reports
Shopify allows you to analyze sales trends, identify top-selling products, and pinpoint slow-moving inventory with its robust reporting features.
Shopify Plus plan additionally includes ABC analysis, which automatically categorizes items based on their value and sales velocity. This prioritizes focus on high-impact products and ensures efficient inventory management.
You can even customize reports tailored to your specific needs. Track inventory movement across locations, analyze supplier performance, and gain insights into key performance indicators (KPIs) for a comprehensive view of your inventory health.
Challenges of Using Only Shopify Plus Inventory Management
While Shopify Plus is designed for enterprise-level businesses, it can still face limitations when managing large inventories or complex operations. Here are some key challenges:
1. Manual Inventory Tracking
Despite its focus on tracking inventory across multiple channels and locations, Shopify Plus does little to automate the process. Tracking needs to be individually set up for all items. Relying solely on individual updates can be time-consuming and error-prone, especially for businesses with large inventories.
The alternative to this process is to import inventory data from CSV files, but due Shopify's inability to process large datasets, this process is prone to errors and inconsistencies.
2. Lack of Filters in Inventory Table
Another drawback of using Shopify Plus's inventory management system is the lack of filters to access products in certain categories, locations etc. You end up creating custom views of the inventory table through workflows. This can be cumbersome and time-consuming, especially for businesses with complex inventory management needs.
3. Lack of Integrations in Purchase Orders
While Shopify Plus offers integrations with third-party WMS (warehouse management system) tools, the process of setting up and managing these integrations can be complex and the integrations themselves are surface level and do not offer much.
While you can view all the purchase orders in Shopify Plus, you cannot communicate with vendors through the software and need to use other tools to carry out the purchase orders.
4. Lackluster Reports and Notifications
The biggest limitation of Shopify Plus's built-in reports, which may not provide the depth of insights required by large businesses, particularly those with complex inventory management needs.
The reports may only provide surface-level information like sell-through and month end inventory snapshot, putting the cognitive burden of identifying trends, patterns, or areas for improvement on your operations team.
Shopify Plus also does not provide timely notifications or alerts related to inventory levels, stockouts, or other critical inventory management issues. You need an external inventory management software that provides notifications and updates to your inbox.
Also read: Top 10 Inventory Reporting and Analytics Software for Shopify [2024]
Why Prediko is the Best Inventory Management Software for Shopify Plus?
Prediko is an AI-powered inventory management solution that anticipates your inventory needs much better than Shopify Plus's inbuilt features. Here’s the improvements it brings to your Shopify store.
Buying Table
Prediko's buying table provides a unified view of your inventory and shows the sales weekly history, days of cover, best order date, and lead time days. Each item displays a health bar, giving you immediate visibility into potential inventory issues.
With access to 100+ filters, which can be used individually or grouped together, you can build a custom view of your inventory according to location, category, quantity on-hand etc., providing increased visibility on SKUs across all locations.
Advanced Inventory Management
Prediko goes beyond basic inventory tracking, offering real-time visibility and intelligent forecasting. By analyzing your historical sales data, Prediko generates accurate demand forecasts, allowing you to anticipate future needs and avoid stockouts.
For instance, brands like We Are Jolies reduced stockout by 60% using Prediko.
Additionally, Prediko factors in lead times when suggesting purchase orders, ensuring you have the right amount of inventory on hand without overstocking.
This real-time tracking and proactive nudges empower you to make data-driven decisions and optimize your inventory levels for profitability.
Purchase Order Workflows
Prediko streamlines your entire purchase order workflow within a single platform. No more juggling spreadsheets or relying on manual updates.
Prediko automatically generates purchase orders based on your demand forecasts and real-time inventory levels, ensuring efficient ordering practices.
Additionally, Prediko's powerful integration with ShipHero, a leading WMS tool, allows for seamless synchronization and allocating units of stock from incoming purchase orders to be sold immediately.
Prediko also calculates recommended order quantities by factoring in anticipated sales and the impact of incoming purchase orders on inventory levels. This feature eliminates the need for manual data entry saving you valuable time and resources.
Advanced Reports
Prediko goes beyond basic inventory reports offered by Shopify Plus. It empowers you with proactive insights through daily email notifications to keep you informed about items at risk of stockout or those requiring immediate attention.
Additionally, Prediko delivers weekly updates that combine stock management with sales performance reports, providing a holistic view of your inventory health.
The platform also delves deeper with insightful analytics like net sales, net quantity sold and average order value to help you achieve your revenue goals.
Final Thoughts
While Shopify Plus offers robust inventory management features, growing enterprises require a more advanced solution to keep up with increasing operational complexities.
Prediko’s AI-powered inventory management system provides real-time visibility, intelligent forecasting, and seamless purchase order automation, making it the ideal tool for scaling businesses.
With proactive insights and data-driven decisions, Prediko helps you optimize inventory levels, reduce stockouts, and drive profitability.
Empower your Shopify Plus store with AI-powered inventory management.
Book a demo today and experience improved inventory management with Prediko's 14-day free trial!
