Without seamless inventory management, nothing works in ecommerce. Yet, dynamically managing stock levels, coordinating multiple sales channels and warehouse locations, and handling returns pose significant challenges for merchants. What if you could transform these obstacles into genuine competitive advantages with the right platform and tools? In this blog post, we delve into the complexities of modern inventory management and show you how Shopware’s features, together with tools from our partner Planet, can future-proof your inventory processes.
Contents
Shopware delivers automated inventory management out-of-the-box
Conclusion: Intelligent inventory management reduces errors, boosts accuracy, and delights customers
Challenges and pitfalls in inventory management
When scaling an ecommerce business, every merchant faces a crucial question: How can you ensure your inventory is synchronized across all current or planned sales channels, warehouse locations, and fulfillment systems? And how can this be fully automated to prevent manual corrections, errors, inaccurate stock levels, and unhappy customers?
Consider these common pitfalls when establishing efficient inventory management:
Multichannel sales: Offering products across multiple online channels – like marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay – increases the risk of transmitting incorrect stock levels, which can lead to overselling and subsequent order cancellations.
Multiple warehouse locations: Managing several warehouses adds complexity. Efficiently shipping products from the right location hinges on real-time inventory synchronization – a critical factor when coordinating stock across different facilities.
POS locations: If you combine online sales with physical stores, accurate on-site stock analysis is essential. This ensures timely reordering and keeps customers, who have gone out of their way to visit your store, satisfied.
Multi-system handling: An ecommerce ecosystem often comprises not only a shop system but also ERP platforms and marketing tools. Launching a discount promotion across all channels without knowing current stock levels is a recipe for disaster.
Now, imagine having to juggle all these aspects simultaneously – a common scenario as your ecommerce business grows and becomes increasingly complex.
Numerous studies reveal that many retailers face significant challenges in managing their inventory:
Stockouts result in missed revenue and dissatisfied customers, while excess inventory ties up capital, incurs storage costs, and often leads to write-offs. The financial impact of these issues is substantial.
Businesswire estimates that stockouts cost the retail industry approximately 634.1 billion USD in lost revenue each year¹.
A study by Procurement Tactics found that about 34% of retailers have experienced delayed deliveries because products were mistakenly marked as available².
Inefficient warehousing and inventory management processes further drive up costs and compromise delivery performance. Contributing factors include insufficient automation, inaccurate stock data, and time-consuming manual procedures.
Research shows that inventory accuracy in retail averages only around 63–65%³.
Another study estimates that inadequate internal processes and data inconsistencies together result in losses amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars annually – with non-integrated systems alone accounting for approximately 223 billion USD in losses each year⁴.
This is how you get your inventory management on track
Great news: efficient inventory management isn’t rocket science – as long as you build your ecommerce business on systems and tools that automate and streamline your warehouse operations.
So, which inventory management features are essential and should be prioritized when selecting your toolset? Here’s a quick overview:
Synchronized sales channels: To ensure smooth inventory management, it’s crucial to centrally manage all your sales channels through your ecommerce platform. Automatically synchronizing stock levels in real-time helps you avoid overselling and out-of-stock scenarios.
Multi-Inventory capability: Your platform should handle multiple warehouse locations seamlessly. Beyond simply setting up warehouses, continuous inventory reconciliation and the configuration of picking priorities are key to maintaining accuracy and efficiency.
Returns management: With average return rates of 16-18%⁵ in ecommerce, your shop system must enable quick and easy processing of returns. Additional tools, such as order routing and real-time tracking, can further enhance your returns management and customer experience.
Data exchange with third-party systems: Ensure your shop system offers robust integrations with other platforms, like warehouse management systems or ERP solutions, to maintain a unified, up-to-date overview of your inventory.
Shopware delivers automated inventory management out-of-the-box
Shopware provides a comprehensive solution for managing your inventory, sales channels, and warehouse locations.
The Multi-Inventory feature (available in Shopware Beyond) enables centralized control over multiple warehouse locations. Merchants can easily set up various warehouses and groups, maintain accurate stock levels at each location, and have inventory automatically updated with every order. With Shopware’s Rule Builder, you can define availability rules and set priorities to ensure that products are offered from all available warehouses – without any risk of overlap.
Complementing this is the Returns Management feature (available from Shopware Rise), which allows you to process returns directly within orders. You can record the number of returned items, add optional comments, and manually adjust the return status to reflect its current stage. A comprehensive returns history further simplifies tracking and analysis.
A standout example of effective, cross-location inventory management is provided by Beijer Ref. This wholesale company operates 35 instances in 28 countries, managing a catalog of 200,000 products centrally with Shopware. Notably, Beijer Ref synchronizes its inventory across 500 branches and multiple ERP systems using Shopware – demonstrating the power and scalability of the platform.
Shopware’s robust features establish a solid foundation for future-proof inventory management. Its API-first approach also facilitates seamless integration with specialized solutions. For technical support, retailers can rely on the Shopware Partner Network, which includes over 1,200 experts.
To further reduce complexity, you can use the Order Management System (OMS) from our partner Planet. Seamlessly integrating as an app into your Shopware 6 store, it extends our out-of-the-box capabilities with advanced features like Click & Collect, POS fulfillment, Endless-Aisle, and Queue-Busting.
Intuitive order management with Planet OMS
Managing inventory effectively goes beyond simply tracking stock levels – it requires a flexible and intelligent approach to order orchestration and fulfilment.
With Planet OMS, retailers gain access to advanced tools that help simplify daily processes, reduce operational friction, and deliver a more consistent customer experience.
Smarter order orchestration
Planet OMS gives retailers the ability to coordinate inventory across multiple locations, ensuring products are sourced and dispatched from the most appropriate location. Real-time Available to Promise (ATP) calculations offer accurate stock visibility, helping to prevent overselling and late deliveries.
Retailers can define fulfilment strategies by region, sales channel, and time of day, adapting to customer needs and logistical constraints.
A built-in orchestration simulator lets teams test different scenarios before making changes, reducing risk and keeping operations running smoothly.
To maintain control over Ship from Store activities, order capping per store helps avoid logistical bottlenecks and ensures teams aren't overstretched.
Fulfilment without friction
Planet OMS manages the entire order lifecycle – from purchase to delivery – keeping customers informed at every stage. Integrated notifications and tracking tools reduce uncertainty and increase transparency.
For in-store teams, a dedicated fulfillment app – available on Android devices and via web browser – guides staff through pick, pack, and dispatch steps.
Meanwhile, customer service teams can adjust orders, update delivery addresses, and handle queries efficiently, supporting a reliable post-purchase experience.
Supporting in-store service
Planet OMS strengthens the in-store experience with practical tools like Endless-Aisle and Queue-Busting.
Endless-Aisle enables store staff to offer products beyond what's available on-site, giving customers access to wider stock with flexible delivery options – including home delivery, collection from another branch, or relay point pickup.
Queue-Busting enables staff to process mobile checkouts anywhere on the shop floor, reducing wait times and improving the flow of foot traffic.
Conclusion: Intelligent inventory management reduces errors, boosts accuracy, and delights customers
Effective inventory management is a cornerstone of any ecommerce business – even though for many merchants it remains the proverbial elephant in the room. With a robust platform like Shopware and the right complementary tools, such as Planet OMS, you can not only overcome these challenges but also automate them. This means saying goodbye to tedious manual stock maintenance and unlocking new opportunities to expand into fresh markets, launch dedicated sales channels, and manage multiple warehouse locations effortlessly.
Experience the power of Shopware’s inventory management tools in our product demo.
¹ https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221017005081/en/Worldwide-Retail-Self-Checkout-Systems-Market-Report-2022 ² https://procurementtactics.com/e-commerce-statistics/ ³ https://risnews.com/why-inventory-accuracy-must-be-foundation-retail-success ⁴ https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220512005224/en/Worldwide-Inventory-Management-Software-Industry-to-2027 ⁵ https://de.statista.com/infografik/12181/retouren-im-e-commerce/
