Do you want to instantly know the amount of inventory you have and where it is stored? Maybe you've been in the unenviable position of products being out of stock, with back orders piling up.
When your inventory management is done well, order fulfillment goes smoothly. But you can't achieve this if you're using antiquated methods like managing inventory using spreadsheets or closing down your operations for a stock count.
Here is where inventory plugins come in!
Inventory plugins are automated inventory management systems that help you keep an accurate count of your inventory and see your stock situation in real time. They help you manage all your stock from one place, especially if you have multiple storage locations or warehouses.
They also keep track of orders and help you see which products are selling well, which products are not, and how you can take that as an opportunity to promote products that are lagging behind.
On top of that, inventory plugins allow you to make the right decision because they help you see the relationship between stock and sales. For example, if one item is selling more than the other, is it because it is popular or is it because you have a lot of it in stock compared to another item?
Before we look at the plugins, let's explore the benefits of a monthly subscription to Envato Elements.
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WooCommerce Inventory and Stock Management Plugins on Envato Elements
Envato Elements gives you unlimited downloads of 54+ million creative assets (including the three WooCommerce plugins in this section) under one no-strings-attached subscription covered by a lifetime commercial license.
1. WooCommerce Out of Stock! Manager
WooCommerce Out of Stock! Manager is a powerful and flexible tool that lets the store admin assign custom low stock values to a set of products and/or categories. You can set custom levels for each product. An email is sent to the store admin if one or more of the items has reached a configured custom warning level.
You can also customize each product page to show messages like "in stock", "out of stock", "above custom stock level", or "under custom stock level".
2. WooCommerce Product Stats and Related!
This plugin is crucial for managing inventory for your store. It is the perfect planning tool because it gives you detailed stats of what products are selling well, related products customers buy together, and so on. It simplifies decision making: what to have in stock, what sells well together, and what to get rid of.
3. WooCommerce Pricing and Discounts!
This is another must-have  stock management plugin for small stores. It allows you to price stock items as well as discount stock products that are slow and you want to quickly get rid of them and make room for new products or those that sell well.
Bestselling Inventory Plugins for WooCommerce and WordPress on CodeCanyon
With a low-cost, one-time payment, you can purchase any of these high-quality inventory plugins for WooCommerce and WordPress and streamline how you manage your inventory.
Best WooCommerce Stock Inventory Plugins
These plugins are WooCommerce addons that will assist with your stock and inventory management.
4. Trending: WooCommerce Multi Locations Inventory Management
Do you ship products to customers from multiple warehouses? Does your business sell from multiple store locations? WooCommerce Multi Locations Inventory Management is the perfect plugin to manage your product stock from multiple locations.
The plugin automatically:
- detects the nearest product location
- shows the availability and pricing of products based on the location of a product
- allows visitors to choose their preferred location based on street address
Other features of this system include:
- supports multiple locations for simple as well as variable product types
- adds each location’s inventory to your default WooCommerce inventory
- assigns a delivery area for locations with a WooCommerce shipping zone
- visitors can see the selected warehouse location on the checkout and cart page
It is compatible with WooCommerce Shipping Pro for UPS and WooCommerce Shipping Pro for FedEx. The system integrates with Google Maps and third-party inventory tools with the WooCommerce Rest API.
5. WooCommerce Attribute Stock: Share Stock Between Products
Let's say you sell tea in packages of 25mg, 50mg, and 100mg. Or Metropolitan opera tickets priced according to seating sections in the theatre. Either way, you want buyers on the website to be able to see how many of each kind are remaining. The WooCommerce Attribute Stock plugin allows you to manage stock based on product attributes.
Products that share more than one attribute are tracked, and available quantities are displayed on the front-end to prevent overpurchasing. You can easily track and manage shared stock, variable stock, linked stock, product addons, product combos, parts, measurements, ingredients, and more!
From the admin page, you can manage the attributes of stock items by setting SKUs, internal notes, low stock thresholds, product filters, and more. You will receive alerts when stocks with particular attributes are running low or are finished. You can also keep track of your attribute stock with WooCommerce stock reports.
It is compatible with 99% of other plugins, such as variation swatches, POS systems, subscriptions, product bundles, cart stock reducer, WP-Lister, WPML, and more.
6. WooCommerce Quickbooks Connector
WooCommerce Quickbooks Connector automatically syncs your WooCommerce store orders, customers, inventory, products, payments, and bank deposits to QuickBooks Online. It offers real-time two-way syncing. Any updates you make on your QuickBooks Online automatically reflect on your WooCommerce store and vice versa.
7. Stock Synchronization for WooCommerce
Suppliers usually keep their inventory in a regularly updated file that you can sync to update your stock. With Stock Synchronization for WooCommerce, you can synchronize your stock quantities from an external CSV file, Google Spreadsheet, Google Drive, Dropbox, or FTP. You can also synchronize your product prices by simply updating your product prices from the same CSV file.
Other features:
- multi-vendor support
- daily, twice daily, or hourly updates
- compatible with variation products
8. Product Alerts for WooCommerce
You need a system to notify you when your stock levels are running low. It should be able to do so by sending low stock alerts via email, SMS, or notifications on your dashboard.
Using Product Alerts for WooCommerce, you can enable or disable this alert for individual products, set the low stock quantity, and set the message subject, heading, and types of message you would like to receive: HTML, plain text, or multipart.
9. WooCommerce Product Stock Manager
WooCommerce Product Stock Manager makes it easy for you to manage stock for your products. On the admin interface, you can add products by product name and ID, status, weight, SKU, title, and much more. You can also search for products by name within the same page, and even edit and update information.
You can manage the sale price of all products in the same window. You can also do bulk edits and updates for variation products. Variations will include attributes like SKU, sale price, regular price, stock status, and more. There is color labeling of low and full stock.
Free Inventory Plugins for WooCommerce and WordPress
WooCommerce Stock Manager
With this free WooCommerce stock plugin, you can set up products by SKU, display a product thumbnail image, and filter products by type, category, stock managed, or stock status. You can also manage stock, stock status, and back orders.
Z Inventory Manager: Inventory Tracking and Management Plugin
Z Inventory Manager lets you manage your inventory and check stock levels in real time. You can act on low inventory and generate purchase orders to fill your stock, and then keep track as your items arrive with purchase receipts. Reports allow you to monitor all your inventory at a glance and focus on specific items.
WooCommerce POS Inventory Count
If you want to conduct a physical inventory check by scanning QR codes and importing and updating the quantities in an electronic system, try WooCommerce POS Inventory Count. It's a simple, free WooCommerce plugin that makes it easy to keep track of physical inventory.
Importance of Inventory Management
Inventory done right means happy customers, which translates to return customers.
Inventory management means planning, forecasting, and being aware of different seasons of the year because some products perform better in particular seasons. It also means that if products are left over at the end of the season, instead of letting them fill up space, you can offer them at a discounted price in the next season to get rid of them and open up space for newer products.
Inventory Management Best Practices
Choosing the right inventory management plugin is only one aspect of inventory management.
When inventory management is not done right, some problems you will come across include:
- overstock
- out of stock
- back orders
- no idea what location a product is housed in
- mis-picks
- mis-shipment
- defective products shipped
Let's look at some inventory management best practices that will help you avoid these problems.
Proper Training of Inventory Staff
Nearly every aspect of your business is dependent on a proper inventory count. When the inventory shows an item is available and this turns out to be wrong, it puts salespeople in the uncomfortable position of explaining to customers why they sold something that wasn't available. Train your staff on how to manage inventory and how to use the in-house inventory management system.
Investing in Counting Cycles
How many inventory counts do you want to have each year? Do you want to have a continuous or periodic count? Categorize which products to give priority in each count? Do you want to order yearly or periodically?
Connect Your Inventory System to Your Sales System
Every item that is sold should be automatically deducted from the inventory so you can see what your true stock levels are. Yes, you'll still need to count your stock when the time comes in order to smooth out discrepancies.
Understand Your Best Customers
What your best customers buy can often be a reflection of a market trend, and you can promote it to customers that fit a similar profile. Knowing what they want helps you have it in stock. Don't disappoint your return customers!
Prioritize Quality Control
Do your products meet the quality standards that customers expect? Defects in products mean loss of sales as a result of returns and customer dissatisfaction. This is where quality control comes in.
- Implement a system for detecting defective products. Look out for defects such as tears, breakages, leakages, color discrepancies, or faulty descriptions on labels.
- Count damaged or defective products separately. Many defective products indicate poor storage conditions, bad quality control by manufacturers, or a flawed transportation process. Of course, return damaged goods to manufacturers for a refund or replacement.
- Storage conditions can also affect the quality of your products. Think about what storage conditions are ideal for your inventory. Consider the effect that light, heat, or humidity can have on your products.
Take Advantage of Surplus Stock
Surplus stock creates an opportunity for sales and promotions. This can be a source of easy money. Donate what you can't sell and get a tax write-off instead of dumping it.
What Should You Look for in an Inventory Management Plugin?
Here are some things you should consider when choosing an inventory management system:
Compatibility and Customization
In addition to being able to customize it to the specific needs of your company, an inventory system should be compatible with your existing software and hardware.
Variants and Composite Products
Same products can come in different colors or alternative feature sets. The system must be capable of accommodating variants. And if you want to create new product packages by combining existing products, then the system should accommodate composite products.
Scalability
An inventory management system should be capable of growing and expanding with your business. Looking for a new system years down the road will cause unwanted distraction.
Offline Access and Synchronization
An inventory management system should allow you to access your files both online and offline, so you can provide uninterrupted service to your customers. It should also be capable of offline-to-online synchronization so you don't need to worry about losing any information.
Mobile Access
You may need to be able to manage your inventory anytime, anywhere, from your smartphone or tablet, and even create purchase orders automatically from your mobile.
Integration With Third-Party Services
Compatibility with other plugins, including third-party services like payment gateways, marketing gateways, etc., should be a no-brainer.
Security, Technical Support, Regular Updates
The safety of your customers' personal and financial information should be a high priority.
Manage Your Inventory With an Inventory Plugin from CodeCanyon!
Streamline your inventory management using inventory management plugins from CodeCanyon.
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