Before purchasing inventory software, you need to decide how much you are willing to spend on it and how much you expect to get in return for your money. How much money is good inventory management worth to you? Try to put a price tag on it. A lot is riding on your decision. If you choose an inadequate solution, you will most likely have to spend even more on the right solution after you figure it out and realize that something needs to change. It is much better to simply make the right choice the first time so you do not have to waste time and money on the wrong one.
Many factors go into purchasing inventory software, including software features, discounts, and return on investment. We are going to put our money where our mouth is as we discuss these three key factors and decide how best to decide what is the best price to pay for inventory management software.
Software features
The first thing you should do is figure out which features you need. These could include the ability to create and read barcodes, optimize warehouse layouts, set up automatic reorder points on all of your inventory items, track inventory levels, and more. How about integrating with all of your other business solutions, such as QuickBooks, Salesforce, Amazon, etc.? It is important to define all of these requirements. Once you know what you are looking for, you will be able to decide which software packages will be able to meet your needs and then compare their prices.
DISCOUNTS
Ask inventory software providers if they are willing to give you a discount on their software. Many of them offer periodic price discounts you can take advantage of. This strategy can help you afford inventory management software that you otherwise couldn’t. If you can afford to hold out for a deal, it could be to your advantage, but you don’t want to wait too long because doing so could present a big opportunity cost.
Retrun on investment
Within a year or possibly even within six months of buying and fully implementing inventory management software, you should have saved enough money to completely cover your purchase cost. With inventory software, you can cut storage costs, save a great deal of man-hours on menial tasks, possibly reduce the need for too many warehouse workers, and enjoy other money-saving benefits. See how quickly inventory management software will pay for itself by measuring your return on investment with an ROI calculator. This can give you a good estimate on what to expect after implementing the software of your choice.
You be the judge
How much should you pay for inventory management software? You are the best judge of that. The important thing is to get an affordable solution that meets all of your needs and pays for itself quickly. Make sure you save yourself extra expenses by choosing inventory software that you can keep using for many years as you grow, such as Fishbowl Manufacturing and Fishbowl Warehouse.
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TL;DR summary
The price you will pay for inventory management depends on three main factors:
- The size of your company and the software features you expect to use.
- Discounts available to you as an incentive to purchase the software.
- The return on investment you calculate you will receive by using the software.