Likelihood to Recommend No solution is perfect, but I would say that Thrive is a particularly robust and complex solution that's intended to tackle major demand management and inventory forecasting problems. Smaller companies simply won't need a solution that's so all-encompassing. I would recommend waiting unitl you know that you need it before moving forward with a solution like Thrive.
Read full review It's a basic system which does some things well but the things it does well are the basic things you would expect! Many other features that are a little beyond basic are just not available or you can get 90% of the way there but get stuck on the final 10% so you need to hire a developer who can try to get you through the last bit. An inventory management system with no bin locations pretty much sums it up. The reporting system is terrible. To get any real use you need to integrate it with Zoho Analytics but the problem there is it only syncs every 3 hours. The integrated shipping process is extremely cumbersome
Read full review Pros Cloud-based, accurate forecasting system saves lots of time and can tangibly boosts ROI Robust demand management down to the SKU level Optimized replenishment prevents too much money from being tied up in inventory Read full review It is simple to use. Does all the basics well. Is able to integrate with our CRM. Read full review Cons Although it's simpler than many alternatives, it's a highly complex system and at times we felt lost during the transition period. We didn't get the results we had imagined when looking at their case studies and marketing materials. I understand many factors go into those things, and their case studies are not necessarily indicative of typical results, but your mileage may vary. Inventory replenishment alerts about potential stockouts weren't always reliable. Read full review Templates within Zoho Inventory are very weak. You can't customize many including package slips, shipment docs, etc... When an order has multiple packages, it's next to impossible to find the item you are looking for. Scenario, a large order has many packages and a customer has cancelled one of the items. You must click through every package to find the item, edit the package and remove it before you can cancel the item. The reports within Inventory are extremely basic and many of them are useless The packing slip module is useless as it does not print out bin locations It's an inventory management system but it does not have bin locations The backorder system is useless. If you "backorder" something then the whole order is locked until the backorder arrives in. Scenario.... a client orders 20 items, 1 is on backorder. You "backorder" that one item but want to ship the other 19... not possible. The order gets completely locked. You can't print out RMA requests. There is just no option to do it, you have to do a screen shot Integration with Amazon or other 3rd party e-commerce providers is troublesome. Read full review Likelihood to Renew It is relatively easy to customise but the problem is sometimes it is not easy to see where this customisation is available. Also the integrations with external systems can prove problematic both during installation and ongoing development and maintenance. It's great for small companies with a simple inventory or even larger organisations with smaller product lines. And it is reasonably priced if you ar eprepared to put the time in.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Abas ERP was what we had used previously, and though it did its job adequately, it lacked the forecasting, demand management, and inventory replenishment sophistication of Thrive. We reached a point where we felt it was untenable to supplement the previous system on our own which necessitated the switch to Thrive.
Read full review The inventory management is better than QuickBooks however you give up an awful lot to get that benefit. The reporting in QuickBooks is far superior. The reporting in Inventory is terrible with every few options to customize the reports. For example, pulling in a salesperson report that factors in returns is not possible. You can't pull a report to see what items need to be picked for all open orders.
Read full review Return on Investment We were able to reduce the amount of resources tied up in inventory Forecasting tools meant significantly less time spent trying to wrangle spreadsheets The transition was painful, causing initial doubts, but it was certainly worth the growing pains Read full review We stopped using it as it was difficult to set up. Zoho offers a lot of features but the depth of its functionality proves limited as your demands increase. Read full review ScreenShots Zoho Inventory Screenshots