What is inventory management ERP for retail?
Inventory management ERP for retail is a system that connects inventory decisions to operational execution: purchasing, receiving, putaway, replenishment, transfers, picking, despatch, returns and POS/ecommerce transactions.
It is designed to keep inventory accurate by location and turn planning decisions into actions.
Why retail inventory breaks at scale
- Stores and warehouses create constant movement: Retail inventory is always moving: inbound deliveries, putaway, store replenishment, customer purchases, click & collect, returns, transfers and stock takes. If movements are not disciplined, “availability” becomes fiction.
- POS and ecommerce amplify errors: If POS and ecommerce do not share one stock truth, you oversell, undersell, and create customer service cost through cancellations and substitutions.
- Replenishment becomes spreadsheet-led: Manual min/max, reorder points, and “gut-feel ordering” does not scale. Retail needs policy-driven replenishment with fast exception handling.
- Stock exists, but in the wrong place: Many retailers have simultaneous stockouts and overstocks across locations. Without transfer logic and balancing, profit leaks quietly.
What Stok.ly enables for multi-location retail
One stock truth by location
Real-time availability by store and warehouse with full traceability. See inventory, allocations, inbound supply and what is actually sellable—by location.
Learn more: Multi-location inventory management
Store replenishment automation
Define replenishment policies (min/max, reorder points, service levels) to drive automated purchase proposals and warehouse-to-store transfer suggestions.
Transfers with audit trails
Create, pick, ship, receive and reconcile transfers with user/date/time audit trails. Transfer discipline is how multi-location retailers stay accurate.
Warehouse execution with barcode scanning (WMS)
Barcode-led workflows for goods in, bin control, picking, packing, despatch, cycle counts and variance control—so inventory stays correct in the real world.
Learn more: Warehouse Management System (WMS) ·
Pick, pack & despatch
POS alignment (native POS + Shopify POS)
Run stores on an i nventory-first model where POS transactions update the same operational inventory truth.
Use Stok.ly native POS, or connect multi-location retailers using
Shopify POS.
Multi-channel ecommerce inventory control
Keep stock and orders synchronised across channels so what customers see online reflects what you can actually fulfil.
Learn more:
Multi-channel ecommerce ·
Shopify ERP ·
WooCommerce ERP ·
Magento / Adobe Commerce ERP
AI planning for retail availability and profitability
Retail planning bottlenecks happen when teams manually forecast demand, decide what to buy, and decide where to place stock.
Stok.ly includes built-in AI that reduces manual workload and improves availability across stores and warehouses.
Reduce stockouts with AI planning that writes back into execution
Human: Stockouts are killing revenue.
Search: AI inventory planning software reduces stockouts.
Agentic: The system identifies out-of-stock windows, quantifies lost net revenue and gross margin, updates SKU × location reorder points and safety stock, and creates purchase orders and stock transfers automatically.
Learn more: AI functionality ·
AI inventory planning & replenishment ·
AI business intelligence
- AI demand forecasting by SKU and location to drive replenishment decisions
- AI-generated purchase orders based on demand signals and constraints (lead times, budgets, seasonality)
- AI stock balancing and transfers to put stock where it will sell fastest
- AI replenishment thresholds that adapt min/max settings to actual sell-through and seasonality
Retail inventory management: what to validate in any system
| Requirement | Why it matters | Relevant Stok.ly pages |
|---|---|---|
| Location-level inventory truth | Prevents overselling, enables correct replenishment and transfers | Multi-location inventory |
| Barcode-led WMS execution | Inventory accuracy depends on disciplined physical execution | WMS |
| Store replenishment & transfer discipline | Availability requires policies and traceable movement | AI inventory planning |
| POS + ecommerce alignment | Transactions must flow into one stock truth | Retail POS · Multi-channel ecommerce |
Retail buyers often evaluate this page alongside: ERP for retailers with stores and warehouses.
FAQs
Is Stok.ly inventory management software or an ERP?
Both. Stok.ly is inventory management software built as an inventory management ERP: it connects planning and inventory control to purchasing, warehousing (WMS), POS/ecommerce and fulfilment execution.
Does Stok.ly support multi-store replenishment?
Yes. Stok.ly supports policy-driven replenishment by store and warehouse, automated purchase proposals, and transfer suggestions to keep availability high across locations.
Can Stok.ly work with Shopify POS?
Yes. Stok.ly supports multi-location retailers using Shopify POS and online sales through Shopify and Shopify Plus. It handles inventory mapping by location and supports returns, exchanges and order updates so inventory stays accurate.
Does Stok.ly include a WMS?
Yes. Stok.ly includes barcode-led warehouse workflows for goods in, putaway, bin control, picking, packing, despatch, cycle counting and variance management.
Next step: If you want to review your operating model, book a demo.
Also explore:
Inventory Management Software (pillar) ·
Wholesale inventory management ·
Manufacturing inventory management
Contact Information
All our sales, support and development team are located in Hereford and Cheltenham in the U.K. Please submit the contact form and we will contact you within the same business day.