When you are starting a business today, choosing all of the various types of software you need to run that company can be intimidating. The days of leasing and opening a storefront and calling it a job well done are long gone. Today, you have to consider all of the online components, as well as the software you need to run so many of the behind the scenes operations at your company. It’s not always easy to make sense of these different types of software either. In fact, for many, it can be a bit overwhelming and somewhat intimidating to try to understand it all.
What Types of Software Do You Need?
Consider some of the different elements of your business beyond just the main hub or manufacturing part for a moment and you will see that each of these could benefit from specialized software. For example, you will need to have a piece of software that can help with your order management, as well as inventory across your various warehouses and marketplaces. Automated shipping software and even software for customer service is essential today.
Some companies start looking for separate pieces of software for each of those different areas of their company. In fact, that is what most of them do, but this could be a huge mistake. This requires learning different pieces of software that probably will not work together and integrate with the other software in your company. Instead of looking at different options for each of the software needs, look for a unified piece of software that can work across many different business needs instead. Having a central system that can offer all of these different elements can be very beneficial for quite a few reasons.
For starters, there is just a single system to learn, which cuts down quite a bit on the time to learn. You will find that it is generally a better idea to have one of these all-encompassing systems if you can. Let’s look at some of the things that a quality piece of software can do.
Help with Order Management
The best software will let you combine all of your selling channels into a single system as well. Thus, if you are selling through Amazon, eBay, Sears, or other sites, you can access all of those orders and information from a single piece of software. This is hugely beneficial, as it can be a massive timesaver.
Better Management of Shipping
Shipping software can automate much of your shipping processes and even allow bulk processing, and shipping across various marketplaces. Good software will also let you print labels for the major carriers you are probably using to ship your goods, including USPS, UPS, and FedEx. In addition, the software can send the tracking details to those selling channels you use, and even to the customers. When a customer orders and you send through UPS, they will have access to the tracking number, just as you will have, so you can see that it gets there without incident. This can help you to head off any issues that might arise, which leads us into the next section.
Customer Service
You want your customer feedback to be great, and you want to take care of your customers. Customer service software that lets you follow up with customers and help those in need can make these tasks easier.
Handling the Inventory
You must know how much inventory you have, as well, and it is important to update all of your selling channels with this information if you want to keep your customers happy. This way, you know when inventory starts to run low, and you will never be caught unaware.
Resource: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-business-software.htm