Cin7 Review

• Cin7 is inventory management software suitable for scaling and midsize businesses, as well as those selling on multiple channels or storing inventory in multiple locations.
• Cin7 is competitively priced, starting at $299 per month. The exact pricing depends on your business and the scope of services you choose.
• Cin7 is a cloud-based solution that provides multiple product tracking methods, order fulfillment tools and integrations with other key systems.
• This article is for entrepreneurs considering implementing Cin7 inventory management software.

Cin7 is our overall best pick for inventory management software because it includes all the features necessary to manage inventory for businesses large and small, offering several pricing tiers to suit businesses in different stages of growth. Like most software, it has a certain learning curve, but it offers valuable features and integrations for any type of business that needs to manage inventory.

Editor's note: Looking for inventory management software? Fill out the questionnaire below and our vendor partners will contact you with more information.

Pricing

Cin7 offers three pricing plans, each of which requires a quote from a sales representative to determine monthly subscription rates. These rates start at $299 per month at the lowest tier, varying by the number of orders your business receives, the amount of inventory you keep on hand, the number of locations you maintain, and the variety of channels on which you sell.

Here's a closer look at each pricing tier:

• Starter: The Cin7 Starter plan is designed for small businesses looking to grow to $2 million in annual revenue by boosting their customer base and adding new sales channels. It includes B2B e-commerce tools, customer relationship management (CRM) features, inventory tracking, order management and manufacturing features. It also has an integrated point-of-sale system, helping you to keep tabs on inventory levels in real time as transactions are made.
  
  
• Advanced: The Advanced tier expands on the Starter plan, adding warehouse management tools to the mix. It also automates order management, allowing the system to generate purchase orders automatically when stock is running low. It incorporates forecasting, allowing you to project future activity based on your historical sales data, which is useful in order planning.
  
  
• Momentum: The Momentum tier adds some useful features on top of the Advanced tier that make Cin7 even more effective for large, established businesses. This plan integrates electronic data interchange (EDI) to allow for seamless B2B communications, which is useful for working closely with suppliers and giving them visibility into your inventory to proactively fulfill orders. The Momentum tier also includes access to a full Amazon suite – a major boon to online sellers using the world's largest e-commerce platform.

To get an estimate of your monthly subscription rate, you'll need to contact Cin7's sales department and request a quote. After gathering basic information about your business, a sales representative should be able to give you a ballpark number. You can also schedule a web demonstration to see the software in action.

Key takeaway: Cin7 has three pricing tiers with varying rates. The Starter tier is fairly robust, but for features like warehouse management, you will need one of the more advanced plans.

Features

Cin7's slate of features makes it suitable for businesses of all sizes, types and scopes. Here are some of the features it offers:

Inventory tracking

Cin7 offers several inventory tracking tools, such as batch tracking, serial tracking and the FIFO costing method. It can cover inventory stored across multiple locations, updating in near-real time to give you constant visibility into your current inventory levels.

Order management

Using the information gathered by Cin7's inventory tracking tools, you can automate your order management or conduct it manually. Since Cin7 is a cloud-based system that updates inventory in multiple locations every few minutes, you can see precisely which items are running low and place orders with your suppliers accordingly. Those orders can be sent to separate locations based on need; this process can be automated at higher pricing tiers. You simply set reordering points for different items, and the system will send a purchase order to your suppliers addressed to the appropriate location.

You can also use Cin7 to ship items internally, such as from a centralized warehouse to one of your storefronts that are running low on stock. This is extremely useful for retailers operating multiple locations. These internal transfers can also be automated at higher pricing tiers, reducing the manual labor necessary.

Manufacturing

Every pricing tier includes some light manufacturing tools, enabling the tracking of raw materials and finished goods alike. The manufacturing features also generate bills of materials, letting you track which exact inputs you use for each finished product. This tool helps you keep tabs on waste and find opportunities to drive new efficiencies and cost savings in the production process.

Warehousing

The higher pricing tiers have a warehouse management function, which is key for any business operating a central storage facility. Warehouse management tools include a centralized inventory overview of all your locations, the establishment of internal branch transfers, and geographic order fulfillment.

Point of sale

Cin7 includes point-of-sale software that integrates with all your sales channels, including e-commerce. The POS module is useful because it automatically updates your inventory management software when a transaction occurs, helping you avoid overselling and giving you access to your historical sales data when reordering stock from suppliers. It also helps track your cost of goods sold (COGS), which is useful for not only financial planning, but maximizing your tax deductions.

Key takeaway: Cin7 offers all the major features we looked for in inventory management software, including multiple inventory tracking methods, branch transfers, automated order management, manufacturing tools and warehousing tools.

Integrations

Cin7 offers nearly 500 integrations to its own modules and third-party software. It focuses on integrations with software for accounting, e-commerce, payments, shipping, third-party logistics, and sales and marketing. These are some of the key integrations the platform supports:

• QuickBooks accounting software
• Xero inventory management
• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• Square
• Amazon
• Afterpay
• PayPal
• Salesforce
• Mailchimp

Key takeaway: Cin7 offers nearly 500 integrations across key categories like e-commerce, shipping, payment processing and marketing.

Editor's note: Looking for inventory management software? Fill out the questionnaire below and our vendor partners will contact you with more information.

Limitations

One of the biggest drawbacks to Cin7 is that the Starter tier does not include a warehouse management function. For smaller businesses operating a large storeroom or separate storage facility, the Starter plan might not be sufficient, which is a shame because it has the other main features they're likely to need. For a small business in need of warehouse management features, Cin7 offers no choice but to upgrade to the Advanced tier, which could be significantly more expensive.

It's not clear how much more expensive, though, because Cin7 does not have transparent pricing. While it is clear the platform starts at $299 per month, this rate is for the Starter plan and is dependent on your business's specific circumstances. To estimate what Cin7 will cost your business, you need to reach out to the company's sales department for a quote.

Also, there is a significant learning curve to master with Cin7. However, the company offers implementation support and training, which can reduce the time it takes to become proficient with the system.

To learn more about these inventory management systems, read our best picks page.

Key takeaway: You can expect a learning curve with Cin7, and you can't estimate what it's likely to cost your business without calling the company. Warehouse management is not available on the Starter plan.