Zoho Inventory vs ShipMonk

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Our analysts compared Zoho Inventory vs ShipMonk based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Inventory Management Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

ShipMonk Software Tool

Product Basics

Zoho Inventory, an inventory management software, empowers businesses to centralize and streamline stock tracking across locations, warehouses, and sales channels. This cloud-based solution caters primarily to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in retail, distribution, and manufacturing. Zoho Inventory shines in its core functionalities: real-time stock level monitoring, automated workflows for orders and invoices, insightful inventory performance reports, and multi-channel selling support. Popular features include barcode scanning, serial number tracking, and low-stock alerts, praised by users for their ease of use and affordability. Standing out from competitors, Zoho Inventory offers a free plan, ideal for businesses starting their inventory management journey. Paid plans, priced per user per month, cater to businesses with more complex needs, offering additional features and scalability. In conclusion, Zoho Inventory presents a compelling solution for SMBs seeking a user-friendly and cost-effective platform to gain control of their inventory operations and make data-driven decisions.

Pros
  • Free plan available
  • User-friendly interface
  • Scalable for growing businesses
  • Multi-channel selling support
  • Integrations with other Zoho apps
Cons
  • Limited reporting features in free plan
  • Lacks advanced features for complex needs
  • Customer support can be slow at times
  • Mobile app not as feature-rich as desktop version
  • May not be suitable for very large businesses
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ShipMonk is a cloud-based system that helps manage inventory and execute multichannel order fulfillment. It enables organizations to focus on product marketing and selling to improve growth, with backend logistics handled by multiple modules. Through its API integrations, users can synchronize data directly with an online shopping cart and automatically import all orders.

Its capabilities include e-commerce fulfillment, retail fulfillment, subscription box fulfillment, crowdfunding fulfillment, FBA prep services and more. A free trial is available to help users make an informed decision.
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$59 Monthly, Freemium
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Tailored to your specific needs
$250 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Product Assistance

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FAQ
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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
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24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Item Kitting Support: Bundle a group of items together to sell as a single unit. Update individual items and components as products are put together and sold. 
  • Barcode Scanning: Scan item barcodes to auto-populate fields every time an invoice, sales or purchase order is created. This streamlines and optimizes inventory management processes with quick access to vital product data. 
  • Enhanced Tracking: Identify each item in stock with a code and track its movement from the point of purchase to sale. Track different batches of items and monitor their expiry dates. 
  • Improved Packaging and Shipping: Create packages, print package slips and find real-time shipping rates for 30 different shipping services. Monitor the movement of packages post-shipment and keep customers updated with the item’s location. 
  • Helpful Dashboards: Get quick, central access to details like orders pending, invoiced, packaged and shipped. Provides an overview of all sales orders as well. 
  • Drop Shipping: Create a drop shipment when there is no stock left to fulfill the next order and ship packages directly to clients. 
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  • Shipping Discounts: Save money by leveraging shipping discounts through integration with most major carriers. 
  • Customer Experience: Build brand value and create memorable customer experiences with custom packaging, specialty packing material, gift messaging, promotional inserts and stickers. 
  • Easy to Use: A simple, intuitive interface helps view and manage all inventory and sales data from a single dashboard. 
  • Multiple Channel Integrations: Save time and effort spent on manual order input through integration with more than 70 shopping carts and retailers, all free of charge. Syncs with Shopify, PayPal, eBay, Walmart, Yahoo and more. 
  • Transparent Billing: Control budgets more effectively via a precise cost breakdown in the billing portal. 
  • Multiple Warehouse Shipping: View and manage multiple warehouses through one dashboard, and ship from warehouses spread across different locations. 
  • Date-Driven Clarity: Make better decisions with access to extensive data insights. Reporting tools offer a complete breakdown and real-time view of revenue data, shipping location and destinations, inventory levels, fulfillment statuses, total items, orders shipped and low stock alerts. 
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  • Inventory Control:  
    •  Offers centralized inventory that automatically updates inventory quantities across all selling channels whenever a sale is made. 
    •  Features include product listing, item kitting, re-ordering, stock adjustments and more. 
    •  Verify and approve transactions created before they’re reflected in accounts and reports. 
    •  Set an approval workflow for transfer orders, sales transactions and purchase transactions. 
  • Order Management:  
    •  Helps manage sales and purchase orders. Shares delivery updates from a single-source order management system. 
    •  Supports online order management and movement of packages post-shipment through a single platform. 
    •  Integrates with Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Shopify. 
    • Safety Stock and Reorder: Calculate reorder points and maintain safety stock in the business to prevent running out of stock. Set reorder points and get updates on vital stock-level information. Also optimizes holding costs and reduces the probability of overstocking. 
    • Reports:  
      •  Helps monitor purchases, study sales trends and identify top performing items using inventory reporting options. 
      •  Includes inventory reports, sales and customer reports, purchase and payment reports, and activity logs. 
      •  Enables finding the item volumes shipped in and out from each warehouse. 
    • Warehouse Management: Supports multiple warehouse environments and the transfer of stock between them. Leverage actionable insights provided by warehousing reports. Set the closest warehouse for customers when preparing sales orders to get products to their destinations as quickly as possible. 
    • Multichannel Selling: Manages, controls, measures and fulfills multi-channel selling with the help of a single inventory management application. Supports multiple currencies and uses multiple payment gateways to ensure quick and correct payments. Also shares insights for performance of multiple sales channels. 
    • Order Fulfillment: Manages workflows and fulfills orders. Offers a common dashboard, an overview of orders, automatic packing slips, over 40 integrated shipping carriers and more. Create shipping labels and find real-time shipping expenses for each order before dispatch. Make drop shipments and let vendors ship directly to the client. 
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  • E-Commerce Fulfillment: Map SKUs across all sales channels by leveraging API integrations, high bandwidth that supports up to 10,000 orders per day, automated mapping and item bundling. Includes strategic inventory system designing, with designated storage areas, return management and custom packing options. 
  • Amazon FBA Services: Provides access to FBA services, which include free shipping offers, along with Prime membership order fulfilling entitlements through Amazon. 
  • Warehouse Automation: Helps increase efficiency, experience quicker fulfillment, boost picking accuracy, reduce fulfillment costs and receive secure storage. 
  • Freight Management: Facilitates importing and managing inventory, as well as enables freight coordination, by guiding users through essential documentation. 
  • User Permission: Supports adding other users to client accounts and selecting the data permissions that each user can access. Such permissions can be added, edited and omitted any time. 
  • Data Security: Ensures enterprise-grade data security and exercises all necessary measures to protect user privacy. 
  • Actionable Reports: Provides access to cost reviews, orders and breakdowns of shipment units, including the destination where orders are sent most frequently, all through a single dashboard. 
  • Special Projects: Tasks such as labeling, counting, repacking and quality control of goods that may fall outside fulfillment tasks are categorized as special projects and can be executed through the platform. 
  • Returns Management: Create shipping labels from the dashboard and receive alerts when returns reach the warehouse. Manage multiple types of product returns such as exchanges for a different color or size, quality control, sorting, product assessment and testing. 
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Product Ranking

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Zoho Inventory
ShipMonk
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Dashboards And Reports Inventory Control Inventory Valuation, Counts And Alerts Mobile Order Fulfillment Platform Capabilities Purchasing Returns Management 73 88 59 60 84 71 87 81 0 25 50 75 100
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User Sentiment Summary

Excellent User Sentiment 387 reviews
Great User Sentiment 201 reviews
90%
of users recommend this product

Zoho Inventory has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 90% when considering 387 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

84%
of users recommend this product

ShipMonk has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 84% when considering 201 user reviews from 3 recognized software review sites.

5.0 (15)
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4.4 (48)
4.6 (14)
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4.09 (114)
4.5 (321)
4.3 (73)
4.0 (3)
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Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Zoho Inventory and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Integration and Extensibility. Zoho Inventory stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award
Integration and Extensibility Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

User-friendly interface: Intuitive design and easy navigation make it simple to learn and use, even for those without extensive inventory management experience.
Real-time inventory visibility: Track stock levels across multiple locations and channels in real-time, ensuring accurate data for informed decision-making.
Automated workflows: Streamline tasks like purchase orders, sales orders, and invoicing to save time and reduce manual errors.
Customizable reporting: Generate detailed reports on inventory levels, sales performance, and other key metrics to gain insights and make data-driven decisions.
Multi-channel selling support: Manage inventory seamlessly across online stores, marketplaces, and physical outlets, preventing overselling and ensuring accurate stock levels.
Mobile app for on-the-go access: Manage inventory, track orders, and fulfill shipments from anywhere using the Zoho Inventory mobile app.
Integration with other Zoho apps: Connect with Zoho Books, Zoho CRM, and other Zoho apps for a unified business ecosystem and streamlined workflows.
Affordable pricing: Free plan for small businesses and affordable paid plans for growing businesses, making it a cost-effective solution.
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Customer Support: More than 95% of reviews on support indicate that the service team is always friendly, responsive and willing to help resolve any issues that users may come across.
Easy to Use: Its simple and intuitive UI is easy to use, according to 100% of reviews on ease of use.
Comprehensive Capabilities: It handles inventory management and order fulfillment end to end, note all reviews on this topic.
Accurate Tracking and Billing: Every review on this aspect indicates that it delivers accurate and error-free order tracking and billing details.
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Limited features in free plan: The free plan lacks advanced features like batch tracking, demand forecasting, and integration with third-party platforms.
Customization challenges: Some users find it challenging to customize certain aspects of the software, such as reports and workflows, to fit their specific needs.
Mobile app limitations: The mobile app lacks some features available in the desktop version, and some users report occasional glitches and slow performance.
Customer support variability: While Zoho Inventory offers various support options, response times and quality can vary, with some users reporting slow or unhelpful support experiences.
Scalability concerns: Very large businesses with complex inventory needs might find Zoho Inventory's features and scalability limited, requiring a more robust solution.
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Mobile App: According to 100% of reviews on this topic, there’s no mobile app and it’s cumbersome to navigate and use the browser site on a mobile device.
Upload Speed: It’s sometimes quite slow to upload, according to all reviews on this aspect.
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Zoho Inventory garners positive reviews for its user-friendly interface, real-time inventory tracking, and affordability, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Many appreciate its intuitive design, even for those new to inventory management, and its free plan, which caters to businesses starting out. Streamlined workflows and multi-channel selling support are frequently lauded, helping users automate tasks and manage inventory across various sales channels efficiently. However, some users find the free plan's feature set limiting, lacking advanced functionalities like demand forecasting and integrations with popular third-party platforms. Customization also presents challenges for some, desiring more flexibility in tailoring reports and workflows. While a mobile app exists, it occasionally encounters glitches and lacks the full feature range of the desktop version. Zoho Inventory stands out compared to competitors for its free plan and cost-effectiveness, attracting budget-conscious businesses. Users often praise its ease of use and intuitive interface, making it a suitable choice for those less tech-savvy. However, if extensive features, high customization, and robust mobile functionality are crucial, competitors like Square Online Store Inventory or Xero Inventory might be better suited for complex needs. Ultimately, Zoho Inventory shines for its user-friendliness, affordability, and core inventory management functionalities. While it may not cater to every business need, its strengths resonate with budget-conscious SMBs seeking a user-friendly platform to streamline their inventory operations.

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ShipMonk is extremely easy to use and navigate as most client reviews suggest. The customer support team is responsive and helpful in resolving challenges. Another benefit is that it provides accurate tracking and billing, which are quite detailed in nature. On the flip side, the lack of a mobile app is limiting and slow load speeds make it challenging to use, according to reviews. However, it offers a comprehensive set of capabilities, thus users need not invest in any other software for handling inventory and orders. This, coupled with its other strengths, make it a solid choice for inventory management software.

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