Tradegecko and Unleashed are both top-of-the line inventory management systems.
If you’re considering one of these programs to help manage your stock, you’re on the right track.
Both of these systems are cloud-based and available for a regular monthly fee. Both have friendly interfaces, helpful customer support, and lots of reporting and dashboards that can give managers valuable insights into how products move through the company.
That said, it can be overwhelming to sift through all of the features in order to find the best fit. These programs are powerful and can handle a lot.
In this post, we’ll discuss some of the things these two programs have in common, along with a few of the ways they’re a little different.
We’ll also discuss how you can get a better idea of which system will work for you.
Core Features
There are certain tasks that all inventory management software must be expected to handle well, and these programs are no exception. Here are a few of the things they can take care of:
Inventory Management
Let’s start with the basics: These programs let users keep track of products, including their variants, their images, and other details such as descriptions.
Users can find and sort products by criteria such as cost, location, supplier, or the current stock count. Reports make it easy to quickly see things like current stock levels, which products need to be reordered, and where certain products are located.
They let users batch related products together into groups or kits.
The systems can also calculate the various costs associated with each product, including landed costs. (Related post: Here’s Why (And How) to Find the True Costs of Your Retail Products)
Users can easily import new inventory or adjust the stock as necessary to account for things like new orders and shrinkage.
Both systems also leverage the power of barcode scanning to find relevant product information quickly.
Variant support
One of the key things to keep in mind when comparing these two systems is that Unleashed will treat variant products as individual products whereas TradeGecko will handle them as variants. Depending on your business needs, this can become a critical factor in choosing the right system.
Purchasing
Both systems let users quickly create and edit purchase orders, and add purchase-related costs to each. The systems can email purchase orders directly to suppliers, whose information is stored in the system.
Users can mark purchases as received or even partially received as they come in, which updates inventory levels automatically. Users can also return purchases to suppliers within the system as necessary.
Production and Manufacturing
Both systems allow users to create bills of materials or lists of the components it takes to assemble each product. As products are manufactured, the inventory of the components required to make them is updated in real-time. You can also track any additional costs, such as third-party logistics costs. Users can create kit sets and break them apart as necessary. They can also track inventory across multiple warehouses.
Ordering
Tradegecko and Unleashed both allow users to create and modify orders from customers and keep track of orders’ status. Inventory levels are updated automatically as items are purchased and shipped.
They both have B2B eCommerce stores that make it easy for wholesalers to sell their products online. Again, inventory is updated automatically as purchases are made from the online store. Users can track costs associated with fulfilling orders and the margins on each product, or view reports from all sales channels together.
Users can split orders and shipments and mark them as partially fulfilled, manage backorders and returns, and sell products even when they’re away from the office with mobile apps.
Other Features
Those are just the core features and not an exhaustive list of what these programs can do. Both programs have other really helpful features that can help inventory management run more smoothly.
For example, both have a document designer that allows users to create their own templates for things like invoices, purchase orders, and sales orders.
They are both ready for international use, allowing companies to track their inventory amid various warehouses, apply different tax rates and currencies.
They also make it much easier for companies to manually reconcile their stock. Manual stocktakes can be time-consuming headaches, but both of these systems’ barcode scanners and stocktake features make the process much easier. (Related post: Which of These Inventory Reconciliation Techniques is Right for Your Business?)
Integrations
The real power of any cloud-based inventory software is in the way it integrates with other specialized programs. These integrated programs come together to create powerful and comprehensive systems that can manage your entire business.
The first integrations that businesses tend to look for when it comes to inventory management software are those for accounting systems and point of sale.
Both Tradegecko and Unleashed integrate with Shopify and Vend. Unleashed boasts a “native integration” with Vend, while Tradegecko’s requires a third-party connector. Tradegecko also integrates with Lightspeed POS. These POS systems also have options that specialize in direct-to-consumer eCommerce.
Both programs integrate with Xero and Quickbooks accounting software as well.
They also have other options for other types of integrations. They integrate with customer relationship management software (CRM), shipping and fulfillment software, and software that provides enhanced reporting and analytics for inventory. They even can integrate directly with online marketplaces like Amazon so that you can sell directly through those sites and keep your inventory updated automatically.
Finally, they also both integrate with third-party connector apps like Zapier that make even more connections between programs possible. Because these SaaS programs continually make updates available to all paying customers, the future may hold many more integration possibilities, as well.
Industry Specialties
Both programs have a similar set of powerful features, and both actively market to the manufacturing and retail industries. However, generally speaking, Unleashed can be a better fit for companies focused on manufacturing, and Tradegecko can be a better fit for companies with a retail focus.
For example, Tradegecko has a longer list of integrations that are suited for retail-friendly applications (like allowing companies to sell their stock directly on sites like Etsy, Overstock, and Wayfair). Tradegecko markets directly to the fashion, electronics, and sports industries.
Unleashed offers a little more power in the way that users can control process manufacturing and production. These features may be very helpful for bigger manufacturers, but unnecessary for retailers or businesses with simpler needs.
Industries that manufacture food, beverages, and health supplements may find that their interests are represented equally well by both systems.
In Conclusion
As we’ve explored in this article, both options are very well equipped to handle many types of inventory management.
Thankfully, both also offer free trials so you can compare them firsthand.
Free trials are perhaps the most effective way to figure out which program will be the best for your company. During the free trial, you and your staff can test out not just the features and integrations but the customer support. You can work together to decide which user interfaces and processes you like the most.
Of course, testing out each program will still take plenty of time and effort and hours that could be used to run your business. If you want an expert partner working with you through the software selection process, we hope you consider working with us at Cloudscape Technologies.
