Ease of Use: What Does it Mean and How Do You Find it When Exploring Inventory Management Software?

Perhaps the most important thing to consider in any inventory management software is usability. If you are unable to effectively use the platform, you can’t hope to ever get a whole lot from it. It is more important than cost. It may even be more important than the list of features. It doesn’t matter of the program is free and it has every single feature you could ask for. If you don’t know how to use it, it might as well be an electronic brick.

How do you determine usability? Ease of use is a top thing you should look out for when selecting a platform. But usability is different for everyone.

Look Internally

What is your tech-savviness? Where are you coming from?

You will first want to determine a few things about your team to find inventory management most suitable to your needs. Think about the current level of software knowledge of your team and how that may impact usability. An extremely concise and streamlined platform may still be a sizable challenge to understand. Look at your own current knowledge and factor that into the decision.

Take the Time to Learn

Is there a willingness to learn the software?

This question has many different levels. For one, there may be an interest in learning, but there is a definite lack of time. As a leader, you may have to determine if you want to take the time and energy required to learn the platform. Is it worth it? You may find it more worthwhile to hire someone new or support another internally to take on the workload. All of this will inform your decision and help provide a basis for usability.

Streamlined

Usability will depend on some key software features. You will want to find a platform that encourages and promotes ease of use. We recommend three main places to look.

1. Explore the support system and its features
2. Find out what features you need. Don’t worry about a system that may be too big or too small for what you are doing
3. Find scalability. Can the software support you regardless of size, without you having to learn so many new things?

You want to purchase something you are confident you can handle. You aren’t going to buy a sports car to tend to the farm. You need software that can match your current business output and infrastructure.

Ultimately, you want a platform that can confidently provide you the backbone of support you need and the tools you require to excel. Nothing should be beyond your reach as far as learning the system. But you have to gauge the time commitment required and the cost-benefit to your business. Inventory management software can change the game. Learn about what you are getting into and embrace the process. You never know what kind of rewards you can reap by engaging with the softrware, building the team to tackle it, and improving your business.

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