Tools and providers
Part of Inventory software checks for UK marketplace sellers
Inventory software checks for UK marketplace sellers
Use these inventory software checks to assess stock locations, reorder forecasts, VAT records, exports and contract terms before choosing a system.
What to take away
- The route the stock travels decides the features you needFBA units sit inside Amazon's network, while most eBay UK stock sits on your own shelves.
- Score tools on per-unit landed cost, supplier lead time, committed against available stock, and the record of every adjustment.
- Test the data export before you pay for the forecast.
- VAT records belong in the same stock file, not in a spreadsheet kept alongside it.
- Write the exit test, including a readable export, before you sign.
Start with where the stock sits
Inventory software can be a spreadsheet, a hosted system that holds purchasing and warehouse data in one record, or a stock module attached to an accounting suite. Examples to shortlist for a UK marketplace operation include Linnworks, Veeqo, StoreFeeder and Selro. Check each product and plan against your channels, stock locations and required fields, and test its export during a trial.
Where the stock sits
Amazon FBA UK
- Stock location
- Amazon fulfilment centre
- Who picks
- Amazon
- Basic need
- Inbound and reserved units
- SKU line
- Units at Amazon
- Shared field
- Units in transit
eBay UK own warehouse
- Stock location
- Your own unit
- Who picks
- You
- Basic need
- Bin locations and pick lists
- SKU line
- Units on your shelf
- Shared field
- Units in transit
Where the stock sits matters more than the brand. FBA units rest in Amazon's fulfilment centres, and Amazon runs the pick, pack and dispatch. eBay UK orders usually leave your own unit, so bin locations and pick lists are basic requirements there.
Sellers on both routes need one line per SKU showing units at Amazon, units on your own shelf and units in transit. Without that split, available is an opinion rather than a number.
Compare the fields that decide a reorder
Amazon FBA UK
- Stock position
- units at the fulfilment centre, inbound, reserved
- Reorder trigger
- supplier lead time plus Amazon's receiving queue
- Cost basis
- landed cost per unit, freight and duty included
- Adjustments
- reimbursements, removals, lost and damaged units
- Tax link
- marketplace-collected VAT on eligible sales
eBay UK, own warehouse
- Stock position
- units on shelf, picked, packed, awaiting courier
- Reorder trigger
- supplier lead time plus pick, pack and courier cut-off
- Cost basis
- landed cost plus storage and pick and pack labour
- Adjustments
- damage, loss, stocktake corrections, return restocking
- Tax link
- VAT you record on sales and purchases
A tool can score well in one column and badly in the other, so score each row on its own and reject any system that cannot show the split between the two routes.
Fields that decide a reorder
Amazon FBA UK
- Stock position
- Fulfilment centre, inbound, reserved
- Reorder trigger
- Lead time plus receiving queue
- Cost basis
- Landed cost, freight, duty
- Adjustments
- Reimbursements, removals, damage
- Tax link
- Marketplace-collected VAT
eBay UK own warehouse
- Stock position
- Shelf, picked, packed, courier
- Reorder trigger
- Lead time plus courier cut-off
- Cost basis
- Landed cost, storage, labour
- Adjustments
- Damage, loss, stocktake, returns
- Tax link
- VAT you record
Run the forecast on your own numbers
- Export twelve months of order lines per SKU from Seller Central and eBay UK, and keep the raw files.
- Add cost and lead time by supplier, including minimum order quantities.
- Split the history by route, because FBA and eBay sales carry different lead times and return rates.
- Test the reorder point against a month you already know, then compare suggested orders with what you actually bought.
- Decide in writing the error you will accept in a peak month before you trust a suggested order.
Repricing sits close to forecasting. If a repricer moves your price through the day, the sales history it creates is partly the tool's own work. A forecast trained on that history repeats the repricer's choices rather than the demand underneath.
Forecast on your own numbers
- Export twelve months of order lines per SKU
- Add cost and lead time by supplier
- Split history by route
- Test reorder point against a known month
- Decide the error you will accept
Keep the stock file and the VAT record together
HMRC's Making Tax Digital rules require digital records and digital links between systems. A stock tool that cannot feed your VAT return software cleanly leaves two sets of figures to reconcile each quarter. Check the connection to accounting software that handles MTD, such as Xero, QuickBooks or Sage, and confirm that the specific product, plan and connector support your VAT workflow.
For VAT, digital records include details of supplies made and received, such as the time of supply, value and VAT rate where applicable, as well as adjustments and VAT account totals. HMRC's VAT Notice 700/22 explains the digital record and digital link requirements, which sit in the Value Added Tax Regulations 1995.
VAT registration turns on turnover against the threshold, and GOV.UK's VAT registration page gives the current figure. Marketplaces collect VAT on some sales and not others, so fees, refunds and cross-border movements need a place in the stock record.
Set the exit test before you sign
Ask for a full export of products, stock movements, purchase orders and orders in a plain format, and open it before you commit. A file that needs the vendor's portal is not your data.
Check how the contract ends: the notice period and any exit charge, when access to the service stops, and how long the provider retains or will delete your data. Get these terms in writing and test the export before the notice period begins, including what happens to your data.
Set a return-on-investment baseline before you sign. Use the approach in marketplace software return on investment to compare measured savings with the system cost, rather than relying on a saving projected in a sales deck.
Set a review date twelve weeks after go-live and compare the reorder suggestions with the orders you actually placed.
Common questions
Use these answers to check whether your stock routes, channel connections and exit requirements fit the system you are considering.
Do Amazon FBA sellers need separate inventory software?
Not always. A seller with a handful of SKUs and steady demand can run stock from Seller Central reports. The reorder and cost view breaks once a second channel or a long supplier lead time arrives.
Can one tool manage both FBA and eBay UK stock?
Yes, if it holds units by location and channel rather than one total per SKU, and shows units at Amazon, units on your shelf and units in transit.
How should a small seller judge the price?
Ask what triggers a charge: per order, per SKU, per marketplace connection or per user. Then compare that with the hours the system removes each week.
What must the system export if we leave?
Products, stock movements, purchase orders, orders and cost history, in a format you can open without the vendor's software. Test the export during the trial, not at the end of the contract.
