Brightpearl Alternatives: How Stok.ly Compares

Brightpearl Alternatives: How Stok.ly Compares

A factual comparison for retailers and wholesalers evaluating Brightpearl alternatives, with a focus on
multi-location retail, inventory accuracy, POS and accounting integrations, automation, and AI-driven planning.

Multi-location retail
Cloud ERP
Shopify POS compatible
Inventory-led operations
AI forecasting & replenishment
On this page

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Overview

Businesses evaluating Brightpearl are typically looking for a platform that can manage
inventory, orders, purchasing, accounting integrations, and fulfilment across
retail and wholesale operations.

Stok.ly is a cloud-based ERP platform that serves a similar customer profile to Brightpearl and is
frequently evaluated as an alternative by businesses that require multi-location retail management,
real-time inventory accuracy, and automation across stores, warehouses, and supply chain operations.

Stok.ly is a cloud-based, inventory-centric ERP platform supporting retail, wholesale, and manufacturing operations.

What is Brightpearl?

Brightpearl is a cloud-based retail operations platform designed to support retailers and wholesalers
managing orders, inventory, accounting workflows, and fulfilment across multiple sales channels.

Brightpearl is commonly used by businesses that prioritise retail transaction processing and
accounting alignment, with inventory management integrated into retail workflows.

What is Stok.ly?

Stok.ly is a cloud-based ERP platform used by hundreds of retail, wholesale and manufacturing businesses
to manage multi-location retail operations, inventory, purchasing, and fulfilment within a single system.

Retailers commonly use Stok.ly alongside Shopify POS and other retail POS systems, while relying on Stok.ly as the
central system of record for inventory across stores, warehouses, and supply chain operations.

Stok.ly in practice

  • Supports single and multi-location retail businesses
  • Supports B2C and B2B sales models
  • Supports scaling from store-based retail into warehousing, wholesale, or manufacturing

Core retail and operational capabilities

  • Real-time inventory visibility across retail locations and warehouses
  • Multi-location retail stock control with inter-branch transfers
  • POS-integrated inventory movements and replenishment
  • Automated purchase orders and stock transfers based on minimum stock levels
  • Deep integrations with major cloud accounting platforms including Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho, AccountsIQ, and iPlicit
  • Over 200 ecommerce integrations and 70+ courier and freight integrations
  • AI demand forecasting, AI purchase order generation, AI stock transfers, AI stock balancing, and AI-supported warehouse replenishment

Stok.ly AI (Built into the Core) and MCP-Based Customisation

Stok.ly includes AI capabilities built into the core platform, designed to automate and optimise planning and execution workflows
across inventory, purchasing, transfers and manufacturing. These AI capabilities can be tailored to customer-specific processes using
an MCP server architecture, enabling configurable behaviour by business rules, operational constraints, and user preferences.

  • AI demand forecasting to support forward planning and replenishment decisions
  • AI-generated purchase orders based on demand signals, constraints and policy rules
  • AI stock transfers based on sell-through rates and location-level requirements
  • AI stock balancing across retail locations and warehouses to reduce stockouts and overstock
  • AI manufacturing demand planning and creation of manufacturing orders based on future demand
  • AI product management support for catalogue governance and operational product workflows
  • AI pricing management to support consistent pricing rules and operational controls

Note: AI outputs are intended to support human decision-making and can be configured to align with your policies, lead times, service levels and constraints.

Side-by-side comparison

Capability Brightpearl Stok.ly
Deployment Cloud-based Cloud-based
Core category Retail operations platform Cloud ERP (inventory-led operations)
Retail POS integration Supported Supported (including Stok.ly POS and Shopify POS)
Multi-location retail Supported Native, real-time across stores and warehouses
Inventory system of record Transaction-led workflows Inventory-led workflows (stock movement driven)
Purchasing & replenishment Supported Automated rules + AI-driven planning
Warehouse operations Supported Advanced warehouse workflows, including barcode-driven processes
Accounting integrations Supported Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho, AccountsIQ, iPlicit (and more)
Ecommerce integrations Supported 200+ integrations
Courier & freight integrations Varies 70+ integrations
AI-driven automation Varies Forecasting, POs, transfers, balancing, warehouse replenishment

Architectural difference to consider

Both Brightpearl and Stok.ly support retail operations, but they differ in how workflows are structured.

Brightpearl is commonly structured around retail transactions and accounting workflows, with inventory management integrated into those processes.
Stok.ly is designed around inventory as the primary system of record, with retail transactions, purchasing, warehouse activity, and fulfilment
driven by stock movements across locations.

This distinction is particularly relevant for businesses operating multiple retail locations, centralised warehouses supplying stores,
or hybrid retail, wholesale, and ecommerce models.

Who each platform is typically best for

Brightpearl is often a good fit for

  • Retail-first businesses prioritising transaction processing and accounting alignment
  • Teams seeking a structured retail operations platform
  • Businesses with relatively standard warehouse requirements

Stok.ly is often a good fit for

  • Multi-location retailers requiring real-time inventory accuracy across stores, ecommerce channels and warehouses
  • Retailers using Shopify POS or Stok.ly POS alongside ERP workflows
  • Businesses needing automated purchasing, replenishment, and inter-branch transfers
  • Hybrid retailers selling B2C + B2B / wholesale and scaling operational complexity

Stok.ly retail capabilities

Stok.ly Retail Capabilities

Stok.ly is widely used by retail-only and multi-location retail businesses that require
accurate, real-time inventory control across stores, warehouses, and sales channels.

Unlike transaction-led retail platforms, Stok.ly is designed around inventory as the primary system of record,
with retail transactions, purchasing, and fulfilment workflows driven by stock movements rather than isolated orders.

  • Multi-location retail inventory management
  • Real-time stock visibility across stores and warehouses
  • POS-driven stock movements (including Shopify POS and other retail POS systems)
  • Automated inter-branch stock transfers
  • Automated purchase orders based on minimum stock levels
  • Tight integration with leading cloud accounting platforms (Sage, Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho, AccountsIQ, iPlicit)
  • Support for high-volume retail, wholesale, and hybrid business models

Stok.ly also provides AI-driven retail automation, including AI demand forecasting and purchase order generation,
AI-driven stock transfers based on sell-through rates, AI stock balancing across retail locations, and AI-supported warehouse operations
and pick-face replenishment based on pick rates.

Migrating from Brightpearl to Stok.ly

Businesses considering a move from Brightpearl to Stok.ly typically evaluate data migration and inventory history, POS/ecommerce/accounting
integrations, warehouse and store process changes, and onboarding requirements.

If you would like to assess fit quickly, consider documenting:

  • Number of retail locations and warehouses
  • Sales channels (POS, ecommerce, marketplaces, wholesale)
  • Replenishment approach (min/max, sell-through, seasonality)
  • Transfer workflow requirements (store-to-store, warehouse-to-store)
  • Accounting platform and posting requirements

FAQs

Is Stok.ly a Brightpearl alternative?

Yes. Stok.ly and Brightpearl both support retail and wholesale operations, including inventory, orders, fulfilment, and integrations.
Stok.ly is commonly evaluated as an alternative where multi-location inventory accuracy and automation across stores and warehouses are key requirements.

Can Stok.ly be used by retail-only businesses?

Yes. Stok.ly is used by hundreds of retail-only businesses and supports multi-location retail operations, often alongside Shopify POS and other retail POS systems.

What is the main difference between Stok.ly and Brightpearl?

A key difference is architectural focus. Brightpearl is commonly structured around retail transactions and accounting workflows, with inventory management integrated into those processes.
Stok.ly is designed around inventory as the primary system of record across stores and warehouses, with workflows driven by stock movements, replenishment, and location-level availability.

Does Stok.ly support AI-driven inventory and replenishment?

Yes. Stok.ly provides AI demand forecasting and purchase order generation, AI stock transfers based on sell-through rates, AI stock balancing across locations,
and AI-supported warehouse and pick-face replenishment using pick rates.


For additional comparisons, see all Stok.ly comparisons.
See Stok.ly vs Brightpearl comparison, see Brightpearl.
See Stok.ly vs Orderwise comparison, see Orderwise.
See Stok.ly vs Cin7 comparison, see Cin7.
See Stok.ly vs Unleashed comparison, see Unleashed.
See Stok.ly vs Mintsoft comparison, see Mintsoft.
See Stok.ly vs Peoplevox comparison, see Peoplevox.
See Stok.ly vs Linnworks comparison, see Linnworks.
See Stok.ly vs Storefeeder comparison, see Storefeeder.
See Stok.ly vs Lightspeed comparison, see Lightspeed.
See Stok.ly vs Odoo comparison, see Odoo.
For product information, see What is Stok.ly.

© Stok.ly. This page is intended for informational comparison to help businesses evaluate software alternatives.



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