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Effective jewelry inventory management helps minimize the errors, especially if you have more than 10 stocks, but implementing an approach that works is easier said than done for so many reasons. Organizing takes forever, training staff to do it right is laborious, data entry is time-consuming, and calculating numbers could be a struggle. Thankfully, there are jewelry inventory software and cloud library out there that make this job less of a burden.
If you are currently looking for jewelry inventory solutions, here are five (5) factors to consider when choosing a jewelry inventory software.
1. Cost
Before deciding to invest in jewelry inventory software, you need to assess your level of preparedness. Ask yourself if you have the budget to carry on and whether it is the best time for you to invest in one.
A cloud-based inventory management software has many benefits such as scalability, accessibility of data anytime and anywhere you are, and insightful data reports and analytics. It is also perfect for small-business enterprises and jewelry owners with low budgets as it is more affordable than the traditional approaches.
However, the cost is still dependent on what you need. For instance, there are low-priced jewelry inventory software out there, but if it does not carry the features you need to manage your inventory effectively, this is a bad investment. Hence, before investing, check out the features available and decide, based on your business plan and model, whether those features are worth paying for. Know your business needs and go towards the option that eliminate the pain points of managing your jewelry inventory.
2. Ease of use
The ease of use of a jewelry inventory software is tied up to cost. For instance, while it could be affordable, do you consider it easy to use? The usability of the software you will choose to invest in is one of the most critical factors to consider. This is because usability can help you save time, effort, and money.
Perhaps one of the most neglected question in choosing a jewelry inventory software pertains to the level of technical preparedness — how tech-savvy are you and your team?
The usability of the software you will choose determines the effectiveness and overall efficiency of the implementation. If it takes hours or days for your team to learn the technical ins and outs of the software, it’s not worth your time and definitely not worth buying.
Always lean towards a user-friendly solution — a software that does not involve a steep learning curve and immediately usable right after implementation.
3. Customization
Knowing your business needs means knowing the level of customization you require to operate your business according to its specific needs; therefore, make sure that you assess whether the options you have on the table meet your needs on this level.
There are many customization features for you to choose from. For instance, other software allows multi-user access but gives you the freedom to configure the assigned roles to securely control which user has access to select features. There are also those that enable you to add custom fields, while others go beyond the basic customization features. For example, iDiamondCloud, a jewelry management software for diamond and jewelry business, has an iGem Cloud service that lets users print customized labels for various gems and RFID.
A jewelry inventory software that allows a high degree of customization has numerous benefits. Among these are the ability to produce customized reports, flexibility as you do not have to bend your business process to match the capability of the software, and an improved business performance, among many others.
4. Integration
According to the Okta Study, almost 10% of businesses use more than 200 apps, so chances are that you are also using multiple apps to run your business. As such, integration is an essential factor to consider when investing in jewelry inventory software.
Integrating your inventory software with other systems has a lot of benefits. For instance, if managing your inventory levels involves close contact with your suppliers then, it is imperative that your system could be integrated with the system of your supply chain partners to guarantee product availability at their warehouse.
Another benefit of integration is financial integrity. The ability to integrate all your inventory-related transactions with your back office financial accounts ensures an accurate report and taxation.
There’s a lot of jewelry inventory software that currently offers a one-stop solution for all your business needs. The iDiamondCloud, for example, takes care of jewelry businesses’ orders, billing and purchases, returns, inventory management, and accounting. Other integrations you may be interested to consider are e-commerce and shipping.
Overall, go for inventory software that eliminates obstacles in your workflow because a good integration offering can ultimately increase your productivity and improve the overall quality of your business operation including customer satisfaction.
5. Support
Even if you and your team are tech-savvy, you wouldn’t want to be left out in the cold after purchasing jewelry inventory software, so consider the level of support the provider gives to users before fully investing in it.
A good jewelry inventory software provider offers quality customer support like 24/7 assistance, live telephone calls even on holidays, training, and even warranty. This is an assurance that you should not neglect. You don’t want any prolonged business interruption in case there’s an emergency just because there’s not an available support to address the issue.
Overall, looking for jewelry inventory software that perfectly suits your business needs is not an easy task, but knowing the features to look for and having a deep understanding of your operation will make you equipped in deciding which option works best in your business environment. Always be strategic and never rush.
What other factors did you consider when you first invested in inventory management software? Let us know in the comment section below!
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