Tracking product stock levels, delivery timelines and warehouse flows remains imperative, yet manual processes rarely scale. As order volumes grow, brands need automated inventory management integrating real-time data across channels to ensure sufficient supply, accurate promised dates and minimized out of stocks.
BigCommerce offers several native and app solutions to enable automated inventory workflows between your physical locations, 3PLs and online storefront availability. This article will overview key capabilities to centrally orchestrate catalog inventory, locations and order fulfillment intelligently.
Benefits of Automated Inventory Management
First, let’s review five advantages automated inventory management delivers for merchants:
1. Improved Order Accuracy
Connecting physical and digital stock counts minimizes overselling units that don’t exist or scrambling to source last minute.
2. Optimized Cash Flow
Linking inventory data to supplier purchase orders and manufacturing schedules lets you carry optimal stock levels vs tying up excess capital.
3. Increased Operational Efficiency
Automating previously time-consuming manual lookups, spreadsheets and offline tracking creates substantial labor hour savings.
4. Enhanced Supply Chain Visibility
Centralized monitoring of inventory across every location, in-transit stage and sales channel enables smarter supply chain decisions.
5. Omnichannel Consistency
Maintaining a “single source of truth” for inventory availability prevents channel conflicts, ensures consistent customer experiences and protects brand reputation.
Native BigCommerce Inventory Management Capabilities
BigCommerce provides several native features for tracking and syncing catalog product availability:
Multi-Location Inventory
Link and manage items across unlimited physical stores, warehouses and 3PLs using location quantity settings per SKU.
Inventory Levels
Define par level thresholds for low stock alerts to prompt reorders along with expected lead times from suppliers.
Purchase Orders
Initiate and manage open supplier POs for goods with expected delivery dates and order tracking.
Product Availability
Dynamically display “in stock” or inventory count statuses per product page based on collective quantity across locations.
Channel Visibility
View inventory totals per sales channel like B&M, web, Amazon, eBay mapped to location sources.
While sufficient for many smaller merchants, large enterprises may require additional automation functionality.
Inventory Management Apps on BigCommerce
The open SaaS platform allows installing advanced inventory apps from the BigCommerce marketplace such as:
TradeGecko
Automates warehousing workflows with barcode scanning apps, batch receiving/processing and 3PL integrations.
inFlow Inventory
Manages wholesale order fulfillment, B2B customer portals and POS integration across unlimited locations.
Dear Systems
Ingests orders automatically from all sales channels and maps to fulfillment locations dynamically applying business logic. Provides pick/pack apps.
Skubana
Syncs inventory adjustments across sales channels offering real-time tracking of owned, inbound and backordered stock down to the SKU-location level.
Veeqo
Connects POS systems for visibility while optimizing logistics between locations/3PLs factoring in lead times, priorities and stock limits.
Which solutions make most sense depends on your operations maturity, order volumes and use of external fulfillment providers in the supply chain.
Inventory Management Implementation Partners
While BigCommerce supplies technology building blocks for inventory automation, configuring an optimal ecosystem tailored to your workflows, staff capabilities and growth requires specialized domain expertise most businesses lack. Attempting DIY integrations without experience risks operational disruptions.
Anchor Group brings proven inventory management implementation experience across diverse industries, warehouse configurations, order volumes and fulfillment models. Our team translates your requirements into a future-proof inventory automation strategy using the right mix of BigCommerce native capabilities and app extensions. With systems flexibility as business needs evolve.
We deliver tailored solutions encompassing:
- Multi-location inventory tracking
- Cross-channel visibility
- Automated workflows
- Scalable 3PL integrations
- Advanced analytics & reporting
Let our certified solution architects streamline and scale your inventory management workflows. Contact Anchor Group today to learn more!
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