The Best Order Fulfillment Software for Your Business

ShipBob is a reputable US company founded in 2014. Over the years, it has helped more than 3,000 businesses set up shop, and it currently holds 37th place on the Y Combinator list of top companies in America. The Better Business Bureau gives it an A rating in accordance with hundreds of positive reviews on the web. So, how does this fulfillment company compare to the competition?

Right now, ShipBob has a total of 20 fulfillment centers – 16 located across the US, one in Canada, one in Ireland, one in the UK, and one in Australia. The company is no stranger to international shipping and encourages the concept of distributed inventory. If you send your items to various warehouses, you’ll cover more ground and benefit by saving on the shipping rates. With this many locations throughout the US, ShipBob can also offer the affordable two-day shipping option that many users single out as the company’s greatest value. The reason it costs less than what you’d expect from an expedited service is the fact that it’s done by land and not air.

The order fulfillment software dashboard features a user-friendly interface with many helpful functionalities. Tracking your orders is pretty simple thanks to various filtering options. The software does a great job in providing a complete timeline for each order that you can easily share with your customers at any point.

ShipBob also has an inventory management system with a basic integrated analytics tool. While the software works smoothly most of the time, some ShipBob internet reviews do mention slow loading times as one of the biggest issues. Obviously, it depends on the size of the business, but there can also be other reasons behind it.

Top fulfillment companies like this one understand the importance of transparency regarding the fees they charge. The ShipBob pricing page tells you how much each part of the shipping and fulfillment process will cost, with no hidden fees. Request a quote and fill out a form to get a custom pricing plan specifically created for your business.

Customer support staff respond promptly to any questions you might have regarding the software. The fastest way to get in touch with an agent is to log in through the software dashboard, but you can also fill a form on the internet or give them a call. If you are unsure what fulfillment solution you need, there is an extensive user guide and knowledge base with articles that explain everything about this service. You can quickly learn how billing and pricing work, which tools ShipBob integrates, and how to manage your account.

ShipMonk launched in 2014 and gradually became one of the most popular order fulfillment companies in the United States. It has a capacity of 10,000 orders per day with no minimum, which works well for small and medium-sized businesses. The software integrates with more than 150 shopping carts and marketplaces, including all the major players, such as Shopify, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce. The inventory management system is automated, reliable, and full of helpful features. You just set things up, kick back, and watch the orders come in.

The company is based in Florida, but it offers its warehouse fulfillment service in three locations: Fort Lauderdale (FL), Los Angeles (CA), and Pittston (PA). eCommerce fulfillment is ShipMonk’s flagship service, but the company can also help you with wholesale, crowdfunding, and subscription box fulfillment. If you opt for Amazon’s FBA, ShipMonk will ensure your items are packaged and prepared according to the company’s strict requirements.

Smaller companies will appreciate the fact that ShipMonk only charges for the number of products you ship. There are no extra expenses for unused services. In the same manner, you pay daily for storage but only while your item is stored. Thanks to the management’s special deals with various carriers, the company gets lower order fulfillment company shipping rates and can then pass those savings on to you.

The software uses automatic bundling to optimize the shipping process and make it more efficient. It can create as many bundle combinations as you want. It’s also possible to track your items on multiple channels via a single user-friendly dashboard. In addition to all this, ShipMonk can respond to numerous return requests and easily exchange products for a different color or size.

To ensure everything goes smoothly, the company assigns you a dedicated happiness engineer, which is basically a dedicated customer support employee. That person is there to answer your questions, provide advice and make sure your online order fulfillment software works as promised and without error.

The pricing page on the site gives you a full breakdown of the packages with a convenient fee calculator and a form for getting a custom, on-demand quote. Everything is transparent and user-friendly.

Finally, ShipMonk integrates with a broad range of other software products and tools. The company collaborates with the most popular eCommerce companies – Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, and many others. On its list of partners are also the world’s most crowded marketplaces, including eBay and Etsy, and various financial, banking, CRM and other solution providers – BlueVine, Brex, Salesforce, TradeGecko, and so on to help you with invoice and revenue tracking. It’s safe to say that ShipMonk is one of the best fulfillment services for startups since the software easily integrates with tools that facilitate a smooth and fast daily workflow. Moreover, ShipMonk encourages its clients to send their requests for new software products to be added to the list of integrations.

Fulfillment Bridge is a Hong Kong-based company founded in 2016 by Kais Khadhraoui. The company focuses on facilitating international shipping for online sellers via 20-plus warehouses in 17 countries all over the world. This web fulfillment center covers shipments in the US, Europe, Asia, Australia, and even Africa. Fulfillment Bridge is in partnership with numerous international carriers, such as DHL, UPS, USPS, and FedEx fulfillment.

The software integrates with more than 20 eCommerce shopping channels, including Prestashop and Shopify. If you have an eCommerce company supported by Shopify services, Fulfillment Bridge can help you grow and expand your business all over the world. Expect a smooth and reliable fulfillment process that will free up time for other aspects of your business that require your attention.

All your orders will be streamlined through the company’s web portal for simple tracking and handling. This order fulfillment system gives you detailed information about the orders, as well as alerts, analytics, and reports. You can bundle up orders from various channels and save on shipping rates. The software is fully customizable and can be adjusted to fit each seller’s specific needs.

Items are processed within a day, and you immediately get an email notification. By default, all items are packed in standard shipping boxes, but the company also allows for custom packaging. Fulfillment Bridge can help with FBA prep, although this isn’t featured as a separate eCommerce order fulfillment service. Rather, it’s a special add-on for existing clients only.

Fulfillment Bridge is quite transparent with the cost of its services. You can use the shipping rates calculator on the site to find out exactly how much you’d have to pay in each of the warehouses. When you contact the customer support team for a custom quote, the company will provide you with a landed cost that combines insurance fees, shipping costs, customs duties, and any additional expenses that might come your way.

You can cancel the subscription to the web-based order fulfillment software at any time with no contract obligations or cancellation fees. All you need to do is give a 30-day notice.

Zoho Inventory provides an elegant yet efficient solution for managing inventory and sales across various platforms. This affordable software is your centralized hub for tracking the products you sell, both when they’re in your warehouse(s) and once they leave it to reach customers. The analytical reports generated by the Zoho Inventory program help you identify ways you can improve your business and streamline your processes. You can access this powerful tool from your mobile devices thanks to Zoho’s Android and iOS apps.

Ease of Use and Customer Support

Even though this small business inventory software manages complex inventory control and sales processes, it’s easy to set up and use. You need to input some personal and business information into the free signup form, then as soon as you confirm your email address you can get started.

Add products manually or import them from your website or Amazon. Create your first sales order. Add vendors. Connect with other apps you use for business.

If you encounter any issues, you can consult the page tips in the top-right-hand corner of each of these menus. Other resources from the Zoho website are also at your disposal, including FAQs and help documents with screenshots showing the steps you need to take to configure your account. You can also schedule a free demo of Zoho’s inventory and sales software or join the weekly webinar, which gives new users a guided tour of the program. For additional questions, customer support is available around the clock Monday through Friday via email and phone.

Product Categorization and Industry Compatibility

Since Zoho lets users create exhaustive product variants, it fits the needs of fashion retailers perfectly. Merchants of furniture, cosmetics, food and beverages, and sporting goods have also left positive Zoho inventory software reviews that focus on the product classification feature. For sellers who already have product listings, it’s simple to import that data into the software. Those just starting out can create products manually by adding prices, cost, SKUs, and availability. If the products you sell have specific attributes that are lacking in the program, you can custom make them yourself and adjust the software to your industry. When it comes time for special offers, you can rely on the kitting feature to bundle items together into irresistible sales units.

Inventory Control and Sales Order Fulfillment

Zoho is potentially the best warehouse inventory tracking software for small and medium-sized businesses. Not only does the program allow for product tracking according to serial numbers, batch, and expiry dates, but it also does it across multiple warehouse locations. If you have more than one warehouse, you’ll automatically dispatch orders from the closest one and save on shipping costs. Once the sales order is complete, the stock number will automatically drop. Need to transfer items from one storage unit to another? No problem – with Zoho Inventory you can track product movement by serial or batch number.

With automatic re-ordering and manual stock adjustment features, you’ll be able to keep your stock at an optimum level and present your customers with accurate, real-time information. The centralized dashboard of this cloud-based software makes it super easy to track the status of sales orders, while there are multiple integrations to improve the fulfillment process.

Third-Party Integrations

By integrating with nearly 30 shipping companies, Zoho Inventory offers the perfect solution for delivering goods from your warehouse to your customer’s doorstep. And, of course, it gives you an accurate view of your stock levels and shipment status.

When it comes to online marketplace compatibility, this platform works with Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. It falls a little short of Cin7, which also integrates with Walmart, but it still covers the most important bases. It meets the industry standard in terms of integrations with eCommerce websites (BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento, and a few others), and it even stands out by targeting the Latin American market with its Mercado Libre integration.

Naturally, the Zoho Inventory management solution fits Zoho CRM and Zoho Books like a glove, enabling users of the Zoho suite to build close relationships with customers and manage their finances. However, users of other popular solutions like QuickBooks and Xero won’t be able to integrate with Zoho.

Reporting and Scalability

You can use the data gathered by Zoho Inventory to advance your business. The FIFO tracking system, paired with purchase reports, means you can maintain optimum stock levels at all times. With sales reports, you’ll get insight into your best-selling products as well as customers’ preferred payment methods. You can see which vendors are reliable and which are not, thanks to the “purchase by vendor” report. All the reports this inventory app for small business creates are neatly packed into the reports dashboard.

As amazing as Zoho Inventory is for SMBs, it does not meet the needs of enterprise-level merchants. According to user reviews, the system can’t handle large daily orders from Amazon. It can definitely help you grow your business from a startup to a robust medium-sized operation, though.

Pricing

If you have just launched your sales business and are strapped for cash, you’ll love the fact that Zoho Inventory pricing includes a free plan. It is limited to one warehouse, two users, and 20 monthly orders, so hopefully your business will take off and outgrow it quickly.

The three paid plans cost $39, $79, and $199 per month if billed annually. With the Basic plan, you can process 1,500 monthly orders online and the same number offline. It lets you create 150 shipping labels and it tracks 150 shipments per month. If the number of orders you receive monthly goes up to 10,000, you’ll need to upgrade to the Standard plan. On top of the features from the Basic plan, the Standard plan introduces serial number and batch tracking. With the Professional plan, you’ll be able to process as many as 30,000 orders a month and manage items across 10 warehouses.

Zoho Inventory: The Bottom Line

If you’re looking for an affordable option that will provide you with a centralized overview of your stock items and sales orders, Zoho Inventory is a great option for you. Its sleek interface is easy to navigate and the platform is compatible with all the major eCommerce platforms. Users of other Zoho programs are especially satisfied with this cloud-based product.

Despite having one of the strangest names on our list of web order fulfillment services, Boxzooka is actually a serious contender for the order fulfillment software throne. Founded in 2013, the company boldly pushed forward, focusing on several important elements, such as warehouse management, eCommerce 3PL, and international shipping.

Boxzooka has an exceptional cloud-based warehouse management system that lets you optimize your entire supply and shipping process. The software is fully customizable and scalable to fit your current needs and follow your ambitions. Thanks to its high-quality calculator, the landed costs of all your deliveries will be crystal clear, and you’ll get more precise financial reports. Fulfillment warehouse services can be integrated into almost any system quickly and painlessly with the help of Boxzooka’s technical support.

The company’s international shipping services are second to none, thanks to a large number of useful 3PL deals. Through third-party logistics, Boxzooka can cover every aspect of the order fulfillment process. It saves you a lot of time and effort in the long run.

What type of orders can Boxzooka handle? The 3PL services deal with retail, wholesale, and FBA distribution. You can create subscription boxes, which are all the rage nowadays, or bundle up your products through kitting. Boxzooka promises to connect you with the best fulfillment companies in the USA.

Like with any other high-end fulfillment company, you can control multiple points of sale through a single dashboard. The interface is remarkably easy to get the hang of. The orders are updated in real time, which is essential for customer satisfaction. Of course, the software also includes some basic analytics and can generate useful reports.

As far as pricing is concerned, Boxzooka doesn’t reveal any info on the site. It’s all quote-based, so you’ll need to fill out a form and wait for the order fulfillment service support team to get back to you. Some user reviews on the Internet mention that the minimum is $1,500 a month. Anyway, to fill out the form on the website, you’ll need to provide your personal information: your name, surname, email, and phone number. Also, you’ll be asked to provide the name of your company and the type of service you are interested in. Alternatively, if you feel like you need more information to decide, call the support team (973.315.8144), or send an email to [email protected] to inquire about Boxzooka’s website fulfillment services.

The main selling point for Fishbowl Warehouse is its integration with popular accounting software QuickBooks. The company’s marketing team obviously realized the importance of this integration and placed it at the very top of the list of benefits you get with Fishbowl Warehouse. But is that all there is to it? Do Fishbowl order fulfillment services have any other competitive edges? As a matter of fact, our research has shown that this is a robust software solution with numerous benefits for sellers.

First off, let’s start with the dashboard. Although it doesn’t look flashy or fancy in any way, it’s reliable, uncluttered, and yet, full of useful information. You can manage multiple selling channels and connect as many warehouses as you like. Keeping track of inventory levels and making necessary changes requires just a couple of clicks. It’s possible to automate many processes to increase efficiency.

Obviously, we can’t ignore the featured integration of this order fulfillment software with QuickBooks. The software connects to both desktop and online versions of QuickBooks. The two work really well together: The inventory gets instantly updated, and double entries are immediately removed. You can also connect the software to another popular accounting option – Xero. The integration process is fast and easy; it takes place completely within the software. Accounting is made easy by the fact that Fishbowl accepts multiple currencies that can be later converted within software to provide accurate financial reports.

If your product needs to be assembled within the warehouse before being shipped, you can keep track of all the individual parts from start to finish. With Fishbowl order fulfillment and shipping services, you’ll always know where you are in the process and how long it’ll take for the shipment to come through. Speaking of shipping, UPS is embedded in the interface, but the software can also be integrated with other major courier companies like USPS and FedEx.

There are numerous Fishbowl plugins that expand the functionality of the software. For example, to manage your orders on the go, you can install Fishbowl Anywhere, a handy plugin that works with any device, including mobile iOS and Android. Fishbowl Go lets you scan barcodes and performs various other tasks in the warehouse. Fishbowl SalesPoint turns this order fulfillment software into a point of sale where you can directly accept cash and credit card payments.

Before you decide whether or not this is the right option for you, try the 14-day free trial. It unlocks full functionality of the software, so you’ll know exactly what to expect. Clients are generally satisfied with the software and relatively easy integration with other apps. A few reviews highlight that the software is a bit complicated to set up, requiring a tech-savvy user or an IT professional to help in the beginning. Aside from those minor rough edges, this order fulfillment system is easy to use and manage. Besides, you can contact Fishbowl’s customer care at any time and ask for help. The support team is available via live chat, phone, and email.