Zoho Inventory is an inventory management software that is part of the larger suite of Zoho products. It made our list of the best inventory management software, with a score of 4.49 out of 5. Zoho Inventory stood out for its suitability for managing warehouses and tracking perishable inventory, along with good multilocation capability and very strong reporting tools.
Zoho Inventory also comes with a free subscription option and can be set up on your desktop or mobile device within minutes.
Zoho Inventory Overview
Who Should Use Zoho Inventory
- Manufacturing and dropshipping businesses: Zoho Inventory offers features that specifically serve businesses with high-volume or high-movement inventory—inventory tracking, stock transfers, inventory adjustments, and quick barcode scanning.
- Businesses selling products with expiration dates: This software allows you to set up batch tracking, which includes information for manufacture dates and expiration dates.
- Businesses needing to manage warehouses: Zoho Inventory lets you register multiple warehouses, keep tabs on the inventory of each, and transfer items between warehouses. Note that Zoho Inventory’s free plan only allows for single warehouse management; to unlock multi-warehouse management, you’ll need to choose one of the paid subscriptions.
Who Should Use Zoho Inventory Alternatives
- Restaurants: While Zoho Inventory does have expiration date tracking, it doesn’t have ingredient-level inventory management or recipe costing. If you need these tools, read our review of MarketMan.
- Ecommerce-only businesses: Other systems have more specialized tools for ecommerce selling, and some users report experiencing glitches when connecting ecommerce platforms to Zoho Inventory. Consider Odoo for seamless ecommerce integration.
Looking for something else? Find more options in our roundup of leading inventory management software and free inventory management software for small businesses.
Zoho scored highly for pricing, as it offers an entirely free plan as well as five reasonably-priced subscriptions (with a 14-day free trial). All six plans include the following features:
- Composite items/kitting
- Multi-currency handling
- A portal that allows customers to view sales orders, invoices, and shipment status
- Ecommerce integrations
- At least one Shopify online store integration (although there are user reports of issues when integrating Shopify stores)
Here is a breakdown of each plan’s monthly and annual pricing, and some of the additional features:
Free | Standard | Professional | Premium | Elite | Ultimate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Monthly fee Billed monthly | $0 | $79 | $129 | $199 | $299 | $399 |
Monthly fee Billed annually | $59 | $99 | $159 | $239 | $329 | |
Orders per month | 50 | 1,500 | 7,500 | 15,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
Shipping labels per month | 50 | 1,500 | 7,500 | 15,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
After-shipping tracking per month | 50 | 1,500 | 7,500 | 15,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
Number of warehouses | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 15 |
Number of users | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 15 |
Beginning at the Professional subscription, you’ll start to unlock additional features as you opt for higher plans. Each plan includes all the features of lower plans, plus one or two new features.
These additional features include:
- A vendor portal
- Custom automated workflows
- Serial number and batch tracking
- Picklists for order fulfillment
- Advanced multi-currency handling
- Exportable custom reports and analytics
The Zoho Inventory pricing page goes into detail about which specific features are available for each subscription level.
A few add-ons are also available for small monthly fees, with the option to be billed annually:
- Additional users: $3 per user, per organization ($2.5 if annual billing)
- Additional warehouses: $10 per warehouse, per organization ($8 if annual billing)
- Additional sales orders: $6 for 50 orders per organization (can also be a one-time fee)
- Advanced receipt autoscan (multilingual): $10 for 50 scans per organization ($8 if annual billing)
Zoho Inventory achieved a high score of 4.63 out of 5 for its extensive and detailed inventory features. It offers real-time tracking, low-stock alerts, multilocation capability, and purchase ordering. It ranks high among the best inventory management systems we’ve reviewed.
Inventory Tracking
Zoho Inventory can track your items in real time, individually or by groups or variants. You can assign a serial number to each item in your inventory, making it easier to track its movement at all times, even with multichannel selling. Barcode scanning is available as well; just scan each item’s code to automatically populate invoices or purchase order (PO) fields, avoiding time-consuming and error-prone manual entry.
The dashboard lets you see all items and their associated information, such as SKU, manufacturer, the selling price you set, sales tax, and dimensions and weight. You can also view these products in a master list ordered by amount of stock on hand or the reorder level you previously set.
You can also make inventory adjustments directly from the inventory screen, without the need for an associated purchase order; you might choose to do this due to shrinkage or expiration.
When adding new items to your inventory, you can set your dashboard preferences to track these items by batch. This setting allows you to view additional information about these items, such as date of manufacture and expiration date. In the case of perishable inventory, this acts as a safeguard against selling your customers stock that has gone bad.
Finally, you can set the software to send you a warning if an item’s stock level drops below zero, or below the established reorder level. This helps you avoid stock-outs or situations where a customer is expecting a product or has already made payment, but you have run out of that product.
Purchase Ordering
You can create POs directly from the Zoho Inventory dashboard. When creating a new order, you’ll be asked to fill in standard information such as the vendor name, delivery address, reference numbers, expected delivery date, and item details.
You can also create vendors and record or import expenses, operating costs, and bills for delayed payment. It’s possible to attach files to purchase orders, in case you need to send any supporting documents to customers or vendors.
These purchase orders can be created manually or from online sales. The system can also generate shipping labels and provide shipping updates if necessary. You can even create a purchase order from one of your contacts if you prefer to do it this way.
Aside from creating new purchase orders, you have the option of importing existing orders; this is useful if you had been using a different inventory management platform before switching to Zoho Inventory, and you have previous purchase orders that you want to record in Zoho. You can import these as a CSV or XLS file.
Warehouse Management
Multi-warehouse management is one of Zoho Inventory’s standout features, though the free subscription only allows for a single warehouse. If you want to manage multiple warehouses without paying higher monthly fees, consider Odoo, which gives you this option in a free plan.
When viewing a particular inventory item, you’ll be able to see the quantities stored at each warehouse you register in the system.
You can also initiate a stock transfer between your warehouses using the Transfer Order option in the dashboard. You’ll just need to specify a transfer order number, source and destination warehouses, and which items you’ll be transferring.
Anytime you create purchase orders, you’ll also be able to specify to which of your warehouses you want the new stock delivered. The same is true for adjusting inventory levels.
Multichannel Selling & Order Fulfillment
Zoho Inventory allows you to manage orders and synchronize inventory and sales for multiple ecommerce platforms including Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Shopify. The free subscription allows you one Shopify online store integration, with more becoming available as you pay for higher-level plans (up to five stores).
Order monitoring and fulfillment are centralized; you can manage and sell products across all channels from the Zoho dashboard, as well as monitor inventory across channels in real time, avoiding stock-outs. You will be able to transact in multiple currencies, and convert these to your home currency if you choose to; the software can perform this action automatically.
The dashboard also lets you know which sales orders have already been shipped or fulfilled, and which are still in progress.
As you confirm each sales order, you can convert it into a packing slip directly from the dashboard. A packing slip is a summary of the order plus any package details. You can send the packing slip to the customer via email, or print it.
Shipping labels can be generated from packing slips; these labels compile all information relevant to shipping the product, such as the destination address, sales order number, shipping rates, and a tracking ID barcode. You can choose to ship a product manually, via an integrated carrier service, or by direct shipping from vendor to client.
Reporting
Zoho Inventory offers a huge number of highly detailed reports, including sales by customer, item, or channel; inventory valuations and age; batch reports; warehouse reports; summaries of payables and receivables; and expenses. Custom reports are available as well, and you can export all reports to CSV, XLS, or PDF files.
These reports allow you to pinpoint your bestselling products, most dependable customers, and most lucrative sales channels, giving you a picture of your overall business health as well as the best direction to go. You’ll also be able to keep track of outstanding payments, which helps you avoid fees, delays, and other headaches while keeping your inventory well-stocked.
Mobile App
A Zoho Inventory mobile app is available for Android and Apple users. The mobile app is completely free and contains nearly the same level of functionality as the desktop program: tracking, adjustments, and transfers for inventory; a customer information database, real-time sales order management, purchase ordering, and invoices.
However, I was unable to find any reporting features on the Android mobile app, so you may need to use the desktop software if you want to access reports.
The app dashboard gives you at-a-glance information about packages that need to be shipped or delivered, and quantities that need to be packed or invoiced. You’ll also see a quick inventory on hand and inventory to be received.
Integrations
Zoho Inventory integrates with many external platforms for ecommerce, shipping, and accounting. Integrations include:
- Shopify
- Amazon
- eBay
- Etsy
- Aftership
- UPS
- USPS
- Amazon Services (integration via Easypost)
- DHL Express (integration via Easypost)
- FedEx (integration via Easypost)
- QuickBooks
- Stripe
- PayPal
Of course, Zoho Inventory also integrates with Zoho apps such as Books, Analytics, and CRM.
Zoho provides a comprehensive overview and setup guide for the various available integrations.
Zoho Inventory is quite easy to use; both the desktop and mobile versions of the software can be set up within minutes, and the functions are intuitive enough to grasp without needing to refer to help documentation much.
Zoho Inventory has three different levels of customer support offered under each plan. The Basic and Classic levels are free and offer phone support during business hours, while the Premium level will cost you $49 per month but has 24-hour support (though still only five days per week). All levels include access to a community forum and a database of help documentation, but only the higher levels get you remote assistance and onboarding. Note that only the Basic support level is available if you are using the free subscription of Zoho Inventory.
The inventory management software is also cloud-based and has good offline functionality; even without an internet connection, you can record transactions and change inventory information. Once you get your connection back, all data will automatically be synced.
Zoho Inventory did lose a few points for lack of native integration with some popular point-of-sale systems. If you want to connect to these, you’ll need to use an API.
Zoho Inventory achieved just over 4 out of 5 in this category in which we consider the quality of the software’s features, its overall value for money, and its popularity among users.
Zoho Inventory boasts a good set of features: detailed inventory management, real-time and multilocation tracking, multichannel options, complete vendor management, and a well-designed mobile app. The software also provides a wide range of pricing options with its different subscriptions, not to mention the free plan.
Having said that, the platform does have its share of points for improvement, including consistent customer support. The quality of support you receive can vary a lot depending on the specific representative that answers. Its limitations on each plan level (such as for order volume and number of users) also cost Zoho some points.
What Users Say in Zoho Inventory Reviews
Zoho Inventory is highly rated on both the Google’s Play store (4.5 out of 5 stars based on nearly 2,000 reviews) and The Apple App Store (4.7 out of 5 stars based on more than 350 reviews).
At the time of publication, Zoho Inventory achieved the following scores on these review sites:
- G2: 4.3 out of 5 stars based on more than 80 reviews
- Capterra: 4.4 out of 5 stars based on more than 370 reviews
- Software Advice: 4.5 out of 5 stars based on over 370 reviews
Users frequently mention the following positive and negative feedback when reviewing this software:
Users Like | Users Don’t Like |
---|---|
Lots of features and APIs available at good pricing | Problems integrating with other software and Shopify stores |
All information is centralized on one page | Support and online knowledge base aren’t as good as other software |
Strong reporting and analytics tools | Some parts of the interface are too complex or clunky |
Easy management of inventory, sales, and invoices | Setup can be difficult or unintuitive at first |
Methodology: How We Evaluated Zoho Inventory
When evaluating Zoho Inventory, we considered several factors. We began by looking at the different pricing plans, noting whether there were options for a free subscription or at least free trials. We also checked how many users and inventory items the system allowed for. We examined the quality of crucial inventory features such as real-time tracking, multilocation and multi-warehouse capability, vendor management, and of course the granularity of the inventory management itself.
We looked at how easy the software is to use, factoring in customer service hours and available software integrations. Finally, we took a broad look at Zoho Inventory’s feature set, value for money, feedback from hundreds of users, and our own experiences testing the product firsthand.
Click through the tabs below to see the full evaluation criteria:
20% of Overall Score
We checked whether the software offers a free plan or at least a free trial. We also looked at pricing for the paid plans (awarding more points for subscriptions under $100 per month) as well as the maximum number of possible users and inventory items that software could handle. Zoho Inventory scored very well here, only missing out on a few points due to lower maximum numbers in its free plan.
50% of Overall Score
We examined the quality of the inventory features that every inventory management software should have: granular management, real-time syncing, multichannel syncing, inventory counts, purchase ordering, and reporting. More options and customizability mean a higher score for each criterion. Zoho Inventory again performed excellently here, as it has high-level functionality for all these crucial features.
15% of Overall Score
Here we looked at the availability and quality of customer support and online documentation. We also checked whether the system can integrate with frequently used external software for accounting, ecommerce, and point of sale. Zoho Inventory scored fairly well here but lost some points due to less-than-stellar support availability, and lack of integration with some POS systems.
15% of Overall Score
We took a big-picture look at Zoho Inventory’s breadth and quality of features and popularity among users. The software got a moderately good score here as it has good features, reasonable value for money, and a lot of good feedback; but users also reported several common pain points.
Zoho Inventory Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Expand the sections below for insights on commonly asked questions about Zoho Inventory.
Inventory management software is used not just for keeping an eye on your business inventory, but also managing stock transfers, coordinating multiple locations or store branches, making purchase orders when necessary, and handling packing and shipping to customers. The best software options should be able to fulfill all these functions.
Zoho Inventory has granular inventory management, low-stock alerts based on reorder points that you set, multilocation tracking, strong customizable reporting tools, multichannel management from a single dashboard, vendor management, and integration with accounting and ecommerce software.
Zoho Inventory is quick to install on desktop and mobile, and the user interface is moderately intuitive and very detailed. However, some users report that setup can be difficult and some of the software functions and third-party integrations are clunky, unreliable, or do not sync properly.
Bottom Line
Zoho Inventory is a well-designed, feature-rich, cloud-based inventory management system that can handle the operations of any manufacturing, dropshipping, or warehouse-based business. It also works fairly well for ecommerce and general retail. Real-time inventory updating, warehouse management, solid reporting, and a variety of available integrations help round out this software. Sign up for Zoho Inventory’s free plan, or begin a 14-day free trial for its paid subscriptions.