A multichannel retailer needs online and marketplace orders to draw from dependable stock records across locations. A wholesaler may care more about purchase orders, tiered pricing, and batch traceability across warehouse fulfilment. A manufacturer must also coordinate materials, bills of materials, and production schedules.
Those operations need different strengths from inventory software, even when each wants firmer control of stock and orders. The CRM Agency helps product-based Australian businesses compare Zoho Inventory with Unleashed, Katana, and Cin7. Its work continues through implementation, customisation, and integration around the way stock moves from purchasing or production to sale and fulfilment.
Start With the Way Your Stock Moves
Platform selection becomes more useful when it begins with an actual order. Consider where that order originates, which location fulfils it, and whether the product is purchased or manufactured. The answers reveal which inventory functions sit at the centre of your operation.
A multichannel retailer may need stock quantities shared across an e-commerce store, marketplaces, and physical locations. Wholesale operations often add negotiated pricing, bulk orders, purchasing controls, and business-to-business ordering. Manufacturing introduces raw materials, work in progress, production capacity, and finished goods.
Warehouse requirements also vary. One operation may only need stock transfers between locations, while another needs directed picking, barcode scanning, bin management, and connections with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider. The CRM Agency can map these stock movements before recommending how a platform should be configured.
When Orders Come From Several Sales Channels
Zoho Inventory is a practical candidate when your operation centres on multichannel order management and connected Zoho applications. It supports sales and purchase orders alongside multiple warehouses, transfer orders, picklists, packaging, and shipping processes.
The platform also provides serial and batch tracking, barcode scanning, composite items, and inventory adjustments. Its listed integrations cover marketplaces and e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Shopify, and WooCommerce. Accounting connections include Zoho Books, Xero, and QuickBooks Online.
This combination can suit a retailer or distributor that wants sales orders and stock records connected with accounting and customer relationship management (CRM) processes. The CRM Agency can customise workflows, order updates, and document templates while integrating Zoho Inventory with the applications used elsewhere in your operation.
When Wholesale and Production Share the Same Stock
Unleashed brings inventory, purchasing, sales, and production functions into one platform. It supports multichannel order management, sales quotes, account-specific pricing, and a business-to-business e-commerce portal. Those functions can serve wholesalers managing repeat orders and different commercial arrangements.
Warehouse capabilities include barcode scanning and stock movements across multiple locations and bins. Batch and serial number tracking can follow raw materials or finished products, while purchase receipting and landed costs support the flow of incoming stock.
Unleashed also includes bills of materials and assemblies for production management. Its advanced inventory planning capabilities can incorporate forecasts, expected sales, and production plans. Connections are available for platforms including Xero, Shopify, WooCommerce, and QuickBooks.
This operational range makes Unleashed relevant when wholesale, distribution, and production overlap. The CRM Agency can configure purchasing rules, reports, stock-reordering processes, and system connections around the way products enter and leave your operation.
When Production Planning Drives Availability
Katana places production planning and execution at the centre of inventory management. It connects materials, manufacturing orders, finished goods, and sales demand so production decisions can reflect current stock and incoming orders.
Its manufacturing capabilities include bills of materials (BOMs), subassemblies, capacity planning, task tracking, and production cost calculations. Katana also supports make-to-stock and make-to-order workflows, giving you different ways to prioritise production according to demand.
Shop-floor functions allow work to be assigned and progress recorded as production moves forward. Batch and serial tracking can add traceability across materials and finished products, while warehouse tools cover receiving, picking, packing, and barcode-enabled processes.
Katana can therefore suit a manufacturer whose main challenge is coordinating sales demand with material availability and shop-floor work. The CRM Agency can customise production workflows, order priorities, and BOM structures before connecting Katana with suitable e-commerce and accounting tools.
When Channel and Warehouse Complexity Expands
Cin7 covers inventory and order management across suppliers, warehouses, retail outlets, and online sales channels. Its product range includes Cin7 Core and Cin7 Omni, which address different levels of operational complexity.
Cin7 Core combines purchasing, sales, warehouse management, e-commerce connections, and light manufacturing capabilities. It also supports point-of-sale (POS) activity and business-to-business ordering, making it relevant when physical and online sales need to draw from connected inventory records.
Cin7 Omni is designed for more complex omnichannel operations. It can connect sales channels with suppliers, warehouses, fulfilment partners, and 3PL providers. Electronic data interchange (EDI) capabilities can also support structured order exchange with trading partners.
Cin7 warrants closer consideration when your operation spans several channels or fulfilment arrangements. The CRM Agency can assess whether Core or Omni better reflects your requirements, then customise sales workflows and integrate relevant warehouse, accounting, and e-commerce systems.
Match Traceability to Your Products
Batch tracking groups units produced or received together, which can support expiry management and product traceability. Serial tracking assigns a distinct identifier to an individual item, which is useful when warranty records or item-level histories form part of the workflow.
Zoho Inventory, Unleashed, and Katana all provide batch or serial tracking capabilities, although their surrounding production and warehouse functions differ. The useful comparison is how tracking data enters the system, follows stock movements, and remains available during fulfilment or reporting.
The CRM Agency can design those processes around the information your operation needs to retain. Barcode workflows, item records, warehouse movements, and production updates can then be configured as connected parts of the inventory process.
Plan Accounting and E-Commerce Connections
An inventory platform rarely operates alone. Your e-commerce tools may create orders, while an accounting platform records invoices and financial transactions. CRM software may hold account details, and a warehouse application may manage fulfilment activity.
Integration design should establish which system controls each record and when information moves. Product codes, quantities, order statuses, invoices, and payment updates may require different rules. Some connections use supported integrations, while others may require an application programming interface (API), middleware, or tailored data mapping.
The CRM Agency implements both platform configuration and system integration. This allows your inventory selection to account for the applications already in use, rather than treating connectivity as a decision to solve after implementation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which inventory platform suits multichannel retail?
Zoho Inventory and Cin7 both offer capabilities for managing inventory and orders across multiple sales channels. The CRM Agency compares channel volume, warehouse structure, retail requirements, and existing applications before recommending a suitable configuration.
How do Unleashed and Katana differ for manufacturing?
Unleashed combines inventory, wholesale order management, purchasing, and production functions, while Katana places greater emphasis on production planning and shop-floor execution. The CRM Agency can assess whether your operation is driven more by wholesale inventory control or active manufacturing schedules.
When should a business consider Cin7?
Cin7 is worth considering when inventory must connect multiple warehouses, sales channels, retail activity, B2B orders, or external fulfilment partners. The CRM Agency can evaluate Cin7 Core and Cin7 Omni against the structure and complexity of your operation.
How does The CRM Agency determine platform fit?
The CRM Agency reviews how products are purchased or made, where stock is stored, how orders arrive, and which systems need to exchange information. It then recommends, implements, customises, and integrates an inventory platform around those operating requirements.
Build the Inventory Workflow Around Your Operation
The right inventory system depends on how your products, orders, warehouses, and production activities work together. Book a consultation with The CRM Agency to discuss your current stock, order, warehouse, or production workflow and identify a platform suited to the way your operation runs.
