Why Choosing the Right Inventory Management System Matters 

Whether you are a Shopify seller, an Amazon seller, or an omnichannel consumer business, running a scaling consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand in the U.S. comes with unique challenges. You’re likely balancing multiple responsibilities: selling across marketplaces and DTC websites, managing inventory in your basement with the goal of eventually utilizing one or more warehouses or 3PL partners, keeping up with seasonal demand, and operating with tight budgets.

Without the right inventory management system (IMS), you risk:

• Stockouts and lost sales
• Overselling and damaging your brand’s credibility
• Manual errors in spreadsheets and calculations
• Mismanaged cash flow, making it hard to finance growth
• Lost time and sanity trying to get it right manually
• Messy books with big inventory and COGS adjustments that make it hard for you to raise equity or borrow
  

A modern IMS acts as a co-pilot for operations. For emerging U.S. consumer packaged goods brands, it should help you:

1. Track every SKU in real time across warehouses, online marketplaces, and DTC channels.
2. Have embedded payments to save time and money, and speed up month end closes.
3. Automate critical calculations, including COGS, landed costs, and inventory valuation.
4. Sync inventory automatically with platforms like Shopify.
5. Have extensive integrations with warehouse management and accounting partners.
6. Provide predictive insights for smarter, faster decision-making.
7. Be priced competitively especially for scaling businesses and not break the bank as you scale.

A robust IMS reduces errors, frees up hours per week, and ensures your team can focus on growth, retail execution, and building customer relationships.

Understanding Inventory Management System Costs: Upfront, Monthly, and Hidden Fees

For emerging businesses, cost efficiency is essential. The best inventory management system allows you to scale without sudden or hidden expenses. Here’s what to look out for:

Upfront Costs

• Implementation and onboarding fees: Many vendors charge hundreds or thousands of dollars for setup, training, and system configuration.
• Workflow customization: Some IMS platforms require paid customization for product catalogs, multi-warehouse setup, or integration with sales channels.
• Training time: Even an intuitive IMS will require staff to get up to speed, which is a hidden cost.

Monthly Costs

• Monthly fee: Most IMS packages will charge a monthly fee and have several different packages depending on the scale of the business. Watch out for hidden fee escalators in the fine print, see examples below.

Hidden Costs

• SKU count or Order volume fees: Some IMS vendors automatically bump you up to a higher priced package or add an incremental monthly charge based on SKU count or sales order volume. Look for solutions that don’t penalize you for growth.
• Add-ons and analytics: Reporting, AI demand forecasting, or warehouse integrations can come at additional monthly costs.
• Accounting integration fees: Many IMS platforms charge separately for connecting to QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, or Finaloop.
• User fees: Some IMS vendors increase charges as you add more users.
• Maintenance or premium support: Extra costs may apply for system updates, software maintenance, or priority support.

Pro tip: For scaling businesses, choose a system with free plans and no monthly fee escalators. Predictable costs let you scale confidently while minimizing financial risk.

Integrations That Make or Break Your Inventory Management System

A modern inventory management system is more than just software; it’s a central hub connecting your entire operations stack. For small ecommerce brands like a Shopify seller or Amazon seller, integrations are critical because they reduce manual effort and help scale faster.

Key Integrations for Small and Scaling CPG Businesses

Sales Channels

Your IMS should sync automatically with Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, TikTok, and DTC websites.  Sync should include syncing catalog items or SKUs (including kits, bundles and de-duplication), syncing of sales orders, syncing of landed costs and inventory quantities. 

Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)

Integration with WMS platforms like ShipBob, Stord, ShipMonk, ShipStation, and Extensiv allows businesses to manage multiple warehouses efficiently and maintain accurate inventory counts without manual updates. Best in class IMS solutions will have 50+ WMS integrations – giving you the freedom to work with almost any 3PL and still benefit from automation efficiency.

Accounting / ERP Platforms

QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, and Finaloop integration ensures your accounting is automated, accurate, and ready for tax filings. Linking your IMS to accounting software reduces errors, reconciles accounts faster, and helps with investor reporting.

Embedded Payments

Emerging businesses often struggle with cash flow. IMS platforms with embedded payments automate accounts payable (AP) and receivable (AR), speed up month-end closes, and reduce operational friction.

A system that combines warehouse, accounting, and sales channel integrations with embedded payments can save hours of work each week and prevent costly errors that small teams cannot afford.

COGS, Landed Costs, Inventory Valuation, and Automation

For scaling CPG brands, manually tracking cost of goods sold (COGS), landed costs, and inventory valuation in spreadsheets can quickly become overwhelming. Errors in calculations can lead to inaccurate margins, mispriced products, or financial reporting issues, which can affect investor confidence and cash flow planning. A modern inventory management system should handle:

• • COGS and Margins at SKU, Order and Company level: Accurately calculate product costs and margins for each item and also for each order and at the overall company level, ensuring your margins are precise and your pricing decisions are data-driven.
  • Landed costs, including freight, customs, and duties: Automatically add all relevant fees to product costs so you always know the true cost of goods delivered.
  • Inventory valuation across multiple warehouses and sales channels: Get a real-time snapshot of your stock’s value across every warehouse, fulfillment partner, and online marketplace.
  • Push Landed Costs back to key sales channels: You want accurate margins in your sales systems – best in class IMS’ sync accurate Landed Costs back to sales channels like Shopify in real-time.

Operational Efficiency & Time Savings

Repetitive tasks can quickly overwhelm small teams. A robust inventory management system automates:

• Purchase orders and receiving: Automatically create, track, and update purchase orders, ensuring your team always knows what stock is incoming and preventing delays or double orders.
• Vendor invoice reconciliation: Instantly match invoices with purchase orders and shipments, catching discrepancies quickly and freeing your team from hours of manual cross-checking.
• Shipment and PO tracking: Get real-time visibility into shipments and purchase order status across multiple warehouses and sales channels, reducing errors and keeping your fulfillment on schedule.
  Predictive stock management using AI or historical trends: Anticipate demand for products based on past sales, seasonal trends, and market insights, helping you avoid stockouts or overstock situations.

By automating these critical financial processes, your team can eliminate repetitive manual work, reduce costly errors, and save time. This frees small teams to focus on higher-value tasks such as marketing campaigns, retail outreach, and product launches. It also ensures that your financial reports are accurate, supporting better decisions, investor confidence, and sustainable growth.

Seasonal Planning & Demand Forecasting

Seasonal events like Prime Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and holiday promotions are pivotal for small U.S. CPG businesses. These peak periods can make or break revenue goals, so careful planning and data-driven decision-making are critical. A robust inventory management system allows brands to:

• Forecast demand using historical data and seasonal trends: Analyze past performance, including sales spikes and customer behavior, to anticipate product demand. Incorporate factors like rising tariffs, inflation, and shifts in consumer behavior to avoid overstock or stockouts.
• Integrate inventory financing to avoid cash flow issues: High-demand periods often require larger inventory purchases upfront. Financing solutions aligned with your IMS allow businesses to stock key products without tying up working capital, reducing stress.

Proper seasonal planning goes beyond just stocking products — it ensures small CPG teams can maintain operational efficiency, optimize cash flow, and execute promotions confidently. By leveraging automated forecasting, predictive dashboards, and financing tools, businesses can approach high-demand events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday with both agility and confidence, turning seasonal peaks into growth opportunities rather than operational stress.

Scalability & Flexibility

Your inventory management system should grow alongside your brand, adapting as order volume, SKUs, and operational complexity increase. Critical features to prioritize include:

• Support for multiple warehouses and sales channels: Easily manage inventory across your own warehouses, 3PL partners, and various online marketplaces without manually updating each platform.
• Ability to handle unlimited SKUs, users, and orders: Ensure your IMS can accommodate product expansion, team growth, and higher order volumes without triggering costly upgrades or system slowdowns.
• Customizable workflows to replace spreadsheets: Automate repetitive processes, tailor workflows to your brand’s operations, and eliminate time-consuming manual tasks that can slow down small teams.
• Built specifically for ecommerce and consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands: Avoid platforms designed for multiple industries that require expensive customizations to fit your ecommerce or CPG operations.

Scalability ensures your inventory management system can support growth from a small startup to larger retail distribution and online expansion. By choosing a flexible system early, your brand avoids operational bottlenecks, maintains accurate inventory, and ensures smooth order fulfillment as your business scales.

Customer & Technical Support

Small, scaling ecommerce and CPG businesses need responsive, reliable support to avoid operational issues that can slow growth or cause costly mistakes. The ideal inventory management system provides:

• US-based customer support for real-time problem-solving: Access a knowledgeable support team in your time zone to resolve issues quickly, whether it’s an inventory discrepancy, integration challenge, or order fulfillment question.
• White-glove onboarding and training: Get hands-on guidance to set up your IMS, integrate your sales channels and warehouses, and ensure your team knows how to use every feature effectively from day one.
• Fast troubleshooting during peak seasons or promotional campaigns: Receive immediate support during high-demand periods like Prime Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or seasonal product launches, when system downtime or errors can have the greatest impact on sales and customer satisfaction.

Strong customer support ensures emerging CPG brands can implement their inventory management system quickly, reduce operational errors, and scale confidently. It allows small teams to focus on growth, product launches, and retail expansion rather than spending hours troubleshooting software issues or waiting on delayed support from offshore teams.

Key Criteria Checklist for Choosing an IMS for Scaling U.S. Consumer Packaged Goods Businesses

Before selecting an inventory management system, ensure it offers:

• Real-time inventory tracking across all channels and warehouses
• Automated COGS, landed costs, and inventory valuation
• Embedded payments for AP/AR
• Accounting integrations (QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, Finaloop)
• Sales channel integrations (Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, TikTok)
• Extensive WMS integrations (ShipBob, Stord, ShipMonk, ShipStation, Extensiv)
• Free plan, free implementation, predictable pricing
• Scalability and flexible workflows
• US-based support and onboarding

Why Settle is the Best Inventory Management System for Small and Scaling U.S. Ecommerce and CPG Businesses

Settle is an all-in-one IMS built specifically for ecommerce, omnichannel, and CPG brands, unifying inventory tracking, purchase order management, procurement automation, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and inventory financing in a single platform. For small, emerging CPG businesses in the U.S., this means operational and financial workflows stay streamlined from start to finish — without needing spreadsheets or multiple tools.

Key Features:

• Real-time inventory tracking across all channels and warehouses
• Purchase order management and procurement automation
• Embedded payments for accounts payable and receivable
• Automated calculation of landed costs, COGS, and inventory valuation
• Automatic inventory sync with Shopify and other sales channels
• AI-powered demand forecasting and predictive insights
• Analytics dashboards for sales, stock levels, and cash flow
• Integrations with Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, TikTok, and 70+ warehouse management systems including ShipBob, Stord, ShipMonk, ShipStation, and Extensiv

Pricing & Access:

• Free Launch plan with no risk or upfront cost
• Paid plans start at $199/month with unlimited orders and users
• Free white-glove onboarding and implementation

Why Small and Scaling Ecommerce and CPG Businesses Love Settle:

• Saves 10-40 hours per month and up to $200k annually by automating routine operational and financial tasks
• Automates landed cost and COGS calculations
• Maintains real-time visibility on stock
• Eliminates spreadsheet chaos with embedded payments and full automation
• Built specifically for ecommerce and CPG — no costly customization needed
• Extensive integrations with warehouses, marketplaces, and accounting systems
• US-based customer support for real-time assistance
• Offers built-in PO financing

Settle gives small and scaling ecommerce and CPG brands in the U.S. operational control, financial confidence, and a scalable platform, so small teams can focus on selling products, building brand awareness, and expanding retail presence instead of spending hours on manual inventory and financial tasks.

Talk to a Settle product expert or get started for free today.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How do I calculate inventory management system monthly costs accurately?
   Include users, order volume, add-ons, and implementation fees. Watch for hidden fees as your brand scales. Look for IMS’ that have a free plan with no implementation fees and no user or order volume price escalators.
2. Which integrations matter most for emerging CPG businesses?
   Sales channels, WMS platforms and accounting software are critical for multi-channel operations. Watch out for IMS solutions that use a third party integration (like Stripe for example) for payments. Third party payments will tend to mean higher transaction fees, slower payment processing and more headaches in troubleshooting problems. Instead, look for solutions that natively embed payments inside the IMS rather than bolting on a third party solution.  
3. Why automate COGS and landed costs?
   Automation reduces errors, saves hours, and ensures accurate COGS and inventory calculations for investors and lenders. Large COGS or inventory adjustments (like when freight or tariff costs get added into landed costs after month end close) can reduce investor confidence in the quality of business. 
4. How can an IMS help with seasonal promotions?
   Forecast demand, allocate inventory efficiently, and automate procurement for peak sales periods.
5. Which IMS features support Amazon, Shopify, or multi-marketplace sellers?
   Real-time catalog, order, landed cost and inventory sync, automated orders, multi-location visibility, and predictive analytics.
6. Can an IMS help with cash flow management?
   Yes. Embedded AP/AR and automated invoicing free up cash and reduce back-office workload. Look for IMS solutions that also embed fast, founder-friendly financing to shorten cash conversion cycles.
7. What’s the difference between landed cost and COGS?
   Landed Cost = Unit cost you pay your vendor for the product plus the allocated share of the costs required to get the product from the vendor to your warehouse, ready to sell (e.g., freight, duties, insurance, testing, etc). Note that the landed cost does not include shipping costs from your warehouse to your end customer, those are fulfillment expenses. COGS = Direct costs incurred in producing or purchasing the goods that you sell during a specific period.
8. How do I evaluate IMS scalability?
   Check multi-warehouse support, number of sales channel integrations, number of WMS integrations and workflow automation for growth.
9. What support should I expect from an IMS vendor?
   US-based customer support, white-glove onboarding, and fast troubleshooting during peak periods.
10. Can an IMS grow with my brand from startup to enterprise?
    Yes, best in class IMS solutions have accessible, easy to onboard, free plans for startup ecommerce businesses and more sophisticated packages for scaling and enterprise omnichannel CPG brands.
11. How does an IMS improve operational efficiency?
    By automating repetitive tasks like purchase orders, vendor reconciliation, PO to invoice and PO to shipping receipt match, stock tracking, and reporting, small teams save hours each week.
12. Can an IMS help with regulatory compliance for CPG businesses?
    Yes, by tracking inventory accurately, providing audit trails, and syncing with accounting software, small and scaling brands can maintain compliance with U.S. regulations.

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