Wordpress Inventory Management: Top 5 Plugins

There’s no better time to start or grow an eCommerce business, and WordPress makes it easy. Whether you’re an eCommerce pro or a newbie, you can turn any WordPress site into an online storefront thanks to the power of plugins.

Why use WordPress?

WordPress powers 34.5% of all the websites on the Internet. It’s free, open-source and always scalable, allowing your website to grow and change along with your business. Although WordPress is synonymous with blogging, it also dominates other markets like eCommerce.

What makes WordPress so appealing is that it allows users of all skill levels to build fully-functional online stores. All made possible by plugins, or bits of software that can be uploaded to extend and expand the functionality of any WordPress site.

There are tons of WordPress plugins available as free downloads. Others are offered as premium plugins (or paid), which come with additional features, priority support, documentation, and regular updates.

WordPress Inventory Management Essentials

The configuration of your WordPress eCommerce site will depend on your business goals, budget, technical skills and scope of your venture.

If you’re a merchant selling physical products, you will have to deal with inventory management.

The good news is that there are many great tools, particularly WordPress inventory plugins, that can help manage and control your stock efficiently.

Top 5 WordPress Inventory Management Plugins

1. WP Inventory Manager
2. QuickBooks Commerce
3. ATUM Inventory Management
4. WooCommerce Rapid Stock Manager
5. Z Inventory Manager

WP Inventory Manager

“Like a shopping cart without the complexity of a cart,” as stated on the plugin’s site. With an easy-to-use, drag and drop interface and fully customizable labels, eCommerce sellers with a WordPress site can display inventory exactly how you want it.

The free version provides you with basic tools you need, whether you’re displaying 5 or 5,000 items. But there are no limits to the number of items you can store and manage.

While the free plugin continues to garner positive reviews, many have opted to upgrade to a $15/year license, which allows for one year of customer support and robust add-ons if desired.

Key features:

1. Supports multiple categories.
2. Fully customizable labels.
3. Templating system makes customization easy.
4. Ability to set permissions for who can add or edit items.
5. Uses separate database tables for faster database access.
6. Developer-friendly with hooks, filters and utility functions.
7. Robust template override system, giving developers full control on how inventory is displayed on front-end.
8. Compatible with Mac Firefox, Mac Safari, Mac Chrome, PC Safari, PC Chrome, PC Firefox, iPhone Safari, iPad Safari and PC IE7. 

QuickBooks Commerce

QuickBooks Commerce syncs with WooCommerce, an open-source eCommerce plugin for WordPress. This powerful integration allows you to manage your entire commerce and supply chain ecosystem from one central, integrated system – from production through to fulfillment.

Integration between WooCommerce and QuickBooks Commerce creates a myriad of opportunities and possibilities for WooCommerce-powered stores. In particular, business owners who also sell to retailers, manage different warehouses and online stores now have an easier, and integrated, inventory management solution. This enables them to focus on running their business, rather than worrying about inventory.

Effectively the WooCommerce integration allows QuickBooks Commerce to pull orders, along with customer data, down and keep the retail price and stock levels up to date. It also pushes fulfillment details back up-to your WooCommerce orders.

Transform your WordPress website into a thoroughbred eCommerce store for free.

Key features:

1. 2-way sync to match inventory and customer contacts.
2. Automated order routing & logic by thru easy workflows.
3. Sync stock levels and have insight into multiple sales channels.
4. Integration with countless third-party apps, POS, 3PLs and Fulfillment by Amazon.
5. Multi-channel distribution and management.
6. Ability to accept digital payments on invoices.
7. Demand forecasting.
8. Unique storefronts, catalogs and price lists for each of your buyers and EDI integration.

ATUM Inventory Management

Billed as an advanced WooCommerce inventory management solution for serious shop owners. Beautifully carved into the WordPress interface, the system feels very familiar and user-friendly.

1. This free plugin provides you with full management of your online store stock, you can edit anything in your Woocommerce inventory, locations, SKUs, suppliers, weight, and prices quickly. The dashboard aims to become an “everyday screen” with a quick link to support, documentation and business stats.

Key features:

1. Stock control system - the heart of ATUM - gives full control of WooCommerce stock.
2. Friendly user interface: All products on one screen with a smooth mouse wheel or touchpad scrolling.
3. Image thumbnails for easier identification of inventory.
4. Editing purchase prices and SKUs directly from Stock Central page.
5. Advanced search with auto-fill feature and inventory / stock filters.
6. Weekly and Fortnightly Sales, Lost Sales and Inventory Level Indicators to help you with re-ordering plan.
7. Customising the visual appearance of Stock Central with the ability to add or remove any columns according to your business needs.
8. Inventory logs now allow you to increase or reduce WooCommerce stock.
9. Pairing products with suppliers for quick selling stock reordering.

WooCommerce Stock Manager

For simple and variable products, WooCommerce Stock Manager’s for you. This WordPress plugin allows you to manage stock, set stock status, set backorders, set stock, set price, set sale price and set weight for each product and variation. It’s time-saving customizability makes it very appealing.

Key features:

1. Friendly interface to update products without reloading page.
2. Low-stock email notifications and indicators.
3. Filter products by various criteria such as product type, category, stock status, etc.
4. Easy copy/paste to Excel, Google Spreadsheets, OSX Numbers, to allow further filtering and calculations
5. Color-coded user interface gives you a clear idea about stock status, and you can promptly take action on any critical status.
6. Allows you to link to your Amazon or eBay products to keep track and update inventory on other systems.
7. Product search by name or SKU.

Z Inventory Manager

A lightweight, easy to use plugin for WordPress that makes inventory management easier and more efficient. Organize your sales, purchase orders, shipments, receipts and more with a fast, simple WordPress plugin solution.

Key features:

1. Purchase orders: Help replenish inventory levels by ordering more stock. Keep track as your items arrive with purchase receipts.
2. Ship and track sales orders.
3. Monitor utilization for all your inventory at a glance or focus on specific items with reports.
4. Inventory management for companies of all shapes and sizes dealing with online sales, shipment, delivery, purchasing, transfers of inventory items.
5. Language translation ready.
6. Provide a solid inventory system installed on your own WordPress powered website.

Katana WooCommerce inventory plugin

As they state on their website "Katana’s WooCommerce inventory plugin has been specifically designed for the needs of modern manufacturers who want to scale."

The plugin is a great option for manufacturer, and enhances your online store by providing the tools to manage raw materials and schedule production. 

Key features:

1. Finished Goods & Material Availability
2. Bill of Materials (Product Recipes)
3. Priority-Based Production Planning
4. Manufacturing Floor-Level Control
5. Manufacturing Cost Calculations

Note: As with any open-source plugin, they are susceptible to cyberattacks. Some of the free plugins may not check privileges or permissions before files are uploaded. As a result, bad actors/hackers could upload – and then execute – malicious files. Make sure to make securing your WordPress eCommerce site a top business priority.

Competition is fierce. Figure out what your eCommerce business needs, and find solutions that will grow and scale with you. WordPress plugins give you the power of integration and automation that will enhance your eCommerce store and help you turn a profit ASAP.