Managing inventory effectively is vital for any growing eCommerce store. With 48,426 Shopify Plus stores in 2024, it’s clear that many large businesses trust this platform to help them handle their inventory needs and scale their operations smoothly.

Shopify Plus comes with various tools designed to help businesses manage their operations across multiple locations and sales channels. Accurate inventory data is crucial for managing stock levels and making informed business decisions. However, as eCommerce businesses expand and their inventory management needs increase, many wonder if Shopify Plus’s inventory system is enough to keep up. That’s why, in this blog, we’ll explore what Shopify Plus is, the features it offers and how to maximize its benefits for a better inventory management.

What is Shopify Plus? 🤔

Shopify Plus is Shopify’s enterprise-level eCommerce platform, designed to meet the needs of large, fast-growing businesses. It includes the same intuitive interface that Shopify users love, but with additional tools for customization, automation, integration, and scaling. With Shopify Plus, brands can manage everything from sales across multiple channels to complex back-end processes, including an inventory management system to streamline operations and enhance decision-making.

Who Uses Shopify Plus?👨‍💻

Many users who find Shopify’s features or functionality insufficient choose to use Shopify Plus. Who are they?

🏢 Large eCommerce Brands: These businesses have grown beyond Shopify’s basic plans and require more advanced features to handle high sales volumes and multi-channel operations.

🛍️ Retailers with Complex Needs: Businesses with multiple locations, sales channels, and fulfillment centers benefit from Shopify Plus’s enhanced control.

📈 High-Growth Companies: Companies experiencing rapid growth and needing scalability in their operations rely on Shopify Plus to manage increasing demand.

🌍 Global Businesses: Shopify Plus supports businesses selling internationally, offering multiple currency options, language support, and complex tax handling.

Shopify Plus serves a diverse range of businesses, and a shared characteristic among all these users is their expanding inventory management needs, particularly in efficiently managing inventory items. But what specific capabilities make it a preferred solution for them?

Shopify Plus Inventory Management: Key Features 📊

Shopify Plus offers several inventory management features that make inventory management more efficient for growing eCommerce businesses:

Inventory Management for Multiple Locations

Shopify Plus allows businesses to track inventory across multiple warehouses, fulfillment centers, and retail stores through a centralized system. This feature ensures you can manage stock efficiently across various locations while fulfilling orders from the most convenient point of sale. By having visibility into your inventory spread across multiple sites, you can reduce the risk of stockouts and ensure timely delivery to your customers.

🔹 Shopify Flow for Automation

Shopify Flow is Shopify’s built-in automation tool that enables businesses to automate tasks like inventory alerts and low-stock notifications. While it’s useful for basic automation, it might lack the advanced capabilities needed for larger operations that require robust inventory management software. However, this feature still helps save time and streamline workflows, allowing you to focus on more critical business aspects.

🔹 Inventory Transfers

The ability to transfer inventory between locations with an effective inventory system to manage helps businesses keep stock balanced across warehouses. This feature is particularly helpful for businesses operating in multiple regions or selling through different channels. Shopify Plus facilitates seamless inventory transfers and ensures that your stock levels are optimized and aligned with demand.

🔹 Multi-Channel Syncing

Shopify Plus automatically syncs your inventory data across multiple sales channels, including your Shopify store, social media, and marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. This ensures that you never oversell and your stock levels remain consistent across platforms. With real-time syncing, you can enhance customer satisfaction by providing accurate inventory information.

Comprehensive Reporting and Analytics

Shopify Plus provides comprehensive reporting and analytics, which help businesses track stock levels, view product performance, and plan restocks. However, these reports lack depth and advanced insights into stock turnover rates or future inventory needs. While they serve as a good starting point, businesses may require more comprehensive analytics for better decision-making.

With all these valuable features, Shopify Plus seems to meet the needs of many eCommerce stores up to a certain level. But is it enough for the increasing and diverse inventory management needs of growing stores?

Drawbacks of Using Only Shopify Plus for Inventory Management 📉

When we look at proper inventory management, we can break it down into three main parts: planning, purchasing, and managing. Shopify and Shopify Plus primarily focus on the managing aspect of this process. Their features are designed to help you oversee and balance your stock levels and track your inventory effectively. However, when it comes to planning and purchasing, they fall short.

For example, if you want to understand demand to produce the right amount of product, Shopify Plus lacks a dedicated demand planning component. This means you’ll have to generate an inventory report and either upload it into a separate demand planning tool or manually calculate your needs on a spreadsheet. Additionally, exporting POs, syncing with other apps, and forecasting can be challenging. Without a proper planning interface, businesses may struggle to create effective inventory strategies.

As a result, many eCommerce users prefer to use an efficient third-party inventory management solution like Fabrikatör to fill these gaps and streamline their operations.

Why You Need Inventory Management System to Optimize your Shopify Plus Store?

For growing eCommerce brands, selecting the best inventory management software is crucial for advanced inventory planning and purchasing processes. Integrating Fabrikatör with Shopify Plus is an ideal way to meet the specific needs of these businesses. This combination addresses the challenges faced by expanding eCommerce stores and equips them with the right tools for effective inventory management at every stage.

Here are some of the features of Fabrikatör that enhance your Shopify Plus experience:

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Advanced Inventory Forecasting, Demand Forecasting, and Planning

When using Shopify Plus, accurate forecasting is crucial for maintaining balanced inventory levels. Fabrikatör enhances this process by analyzing past sales data, historical data, and seasonality, enabling you to predict demand effectively. This means you can avoid stockouts and overstock situations, and maximize revenue especially during peak shopping seasons like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

On the other hand, effective planning is what truly completes the Shopify Plus experience. Fabrikatör’s planning feature gives you the flexibility to make real-time adjustments based on your insights and market trends. You can easily modify your demand plan to focus on products tied to active campaigns. This adaptability helps you stay relevant and effective in your inventory strategy. Additionally, by running multiple demand scenarios, you can evaluate different growth assumptions, ensuring that your inventory management is as robust as possible. This combination of forecasting and planning with Fabrikatör empowers Shopify Plus users to optimize their inventory management and drive business growth.

🔸 Fast and Cost-efficient Purchasing Process

You can enhance the purchasing phase of your Shopify Plus inventory management process with Fabrikatör’s quick purchase order mechanism. This feature lets you create new purchase orders in seconds, share them with suppliers, and maintain smooth stock management through efficient inventory management systems. Plus, exporting your purchase orders with Fabrikatör is a breeze, making it easier to keep your inventory organized.

Additionally, with Fabrikatör’s freight planner, you can choose the fastest and most budget-friendly purchasing routes for your orders, ensuring you receive your stock on time without overspending.

🔸 Reliable Analytics and Reports

Fabrikatör’s reliable data and analytics tools provide clear insights into your inventory performance, sales trends, and key operational metrics. Inventory management systems help maintain customer satisfaction by ensuring product availability, accurate information about shipping times, and efficient order dispatch and returns management. This inventory visibility helps you make smart decisions to keep your stock levels balanced. You can easily track inventory performance, sales trends, and supplier relationships with essential reports and analytics. Plus, customizable reports and real-time data visualization helps you to optimize stock levels.

🔸 Efficient Use of Backorders

Fabrikatör simplifies the backorder process for Shopify Plus users by using an inventory management system and integrating with Klaviyo. This integration keeps your customers updated on their orders and stock availability, helping to minimize the effects of out-of-stock situations. By managing backorders effectively, you can enhance customer satisfaction while optimizing your inventory levels.

Seamlessly Integrate Inventory Management Software - Fabrikatör with Shopify Plus

Integrating Fabrikatör with Shopify Plus helps eCommerce store owners to efficiently forecast, plan, and manage their inventory by leveraging advanced warehouse management software. This seamless integration provides a real-time overview of sales and inventory, enabling informed decision-making.

Fabrikatör automatizes restocking with smart recommendations and offers custom reports for enhanced visibility into performance. Additionally, it helps prevent stockouts & overstock issues, ensuring optimal inventory levels, and enhances the overall inventory management experience for Shopify Plus users.

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Overall, by integrating Fabrikatör with Shopify Plus, users can significantly enhance their inventory management, reduce operational inefficiencies, and focus on scaling their business. Ready to elevate your inventory management with the Shopify Plus and Fabrikatör integration?

See Fabrikatör in action only in 30 minutes.

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