If you’re one of the many businesses affected by the August 31, 2023 sunsetting of QuickBooks Commerce, which was initially TradeGecko but renamed after it was acquired in 2020, don’t worry – there’s a reliable alternative. Finale Inventory is an intuitive and cost-effective inventory management software that provides advanced inventory management features, robust reporting capabilities, and, perhaps best of all, excellent customer support.
Let’s look at why Finale Inventory is the perfect alternative to QuickBooks Commerce before its June sunset date.
Get Up and Running Transitioning from QuickBooks Commerce
One of the most significant concerns when switching IMS solutions is the length of time and level of difficulty it will require to get everything set up. From integrations to data connections to training the team and testing, there are many steps involved to not just go through each phase but also to ensure it’s done correctly.
Fortunately, at Finale Inventory, we’ve made our onboarding process as straightforward and quick as possible because we understand that a slow implementation translates to a missed sales opportunity. Don’t believe us? Start a free 14-day trial that includes hands-on training from our experienced US-based team. Finale is committed to helping you make the transition to our platform quick and easy, and completes most onboardings in less than four weeks.
During onboarding and even after, our team will work with you to customize your Finale Inventory account and personalize your workflows to meet your unique needs. The success team will then provide guided, hands-on training to ensure that you and your staff are comfortable with the platform and understand how to use it to its fullest potential. This training can be completed within a matter of weeks or even days so you can focus on what really matters: your business.
Know that our service is bar none. Our excellent customer support team completes the majority of our tickets within the same day they are submitted. Crazy, right? We’re pretty impressed with ourselves too.
Connecting Your Business With a QuickBooks Online Accounting Integration
If you’ve been using Intuit’s QuickBooks Commerce, it’s likely that it has been integrated with other software systems for sales channels, fulfillment, listings, etc. We understand that a smooth transition is important to any business, which is why we’ve built seamless integrations with QuickBooks, Shopify, ShipStation, Amazon, and so many more. These integrations can provide unparalleled visibility into your product listings, sales trends, order volume, and customer base. By leveraging these integrations, you’ll not only save valuable time but also achieve an unprecedented level of accuracy from managing your inventory and accounting in one place.
Basic vs. Superior Functionality
Making an informed decision requires understanding the key differences between these two software solutions. QuickBooks Commerce was primarily designed as an add-on tool to manage basic inventory management functionality within the QuickBooks ecosystem.
Finale Inventory is a robust inventory management software offering a wide range of features. Our software offers comparable features to QuickBooks Commerce, with the added advantage of expanded functionality to enhance your inventory management capabilities. Some of the additional features Finale offers include:
- Multi-location inventory tracking: You can accurately track movement of inventory between sites, conveniently check and update stock levels in different locations, and easily coordinate inventory shipments.
- Barcode scanning: You can reduce manual errors and improve accuracy, save time with efficient picking methods, and optimize just-in-time stock keeping.
- Serial number tracking: You can identify every item that leaves your warehouse, get a better look at your most popular items, prevent fraud, and simplify warranty returns.
- Robust reporting: You can make data-driven decisions, improve inventory accuracy, and automate reports.
Even better? The platform is made to be flexible and can be customized to meet the user’s preferences, including rearranging menus, toolbars, and adjusting the size of the various elements. No more trying to fit into a software’s preset mold. With Finale, we make our software all about you!
Finale Inventory is a Trusted and Reliable Inventory Management Solution
Reliability is crucial for any IMS solution, and it’s why we’ve built Finale Inventory with that in mind. Our platform is hosted on Amazon Web Services, ensuring maximum uptime and data security.
We also have a team of dedicated customer support professionals who are available to answer any questions you may have about our platform. Our team is committed to ensuring that you get the most out of Finale Inventory and that you’re always up and running.
Oh, and we aren’t going anywhere. We’ve been in business for over ten years and have helped thousands of customers grow their businesses along the way. Our company is one you can rely on to be there for you in the long run.
Make the Switch to Finale Inventory
At Finale Inventory, our vision is to empower growing businesses by creating innovative solutions that optimize their operations, streamline their workflows, and fuel their success. We are passionate about collaborating with our customers to understand their unique needs and challenges, and using our expertise to craft customized solutions that help them achieve their goals.
We believe that by partnering with businesses and providing them with intuitive, user-friendly software, we can transform the way they operate and enable them to thrive in an ever-changing market.
Schedule a demo today and see for yourself why we’re the perfect alternative to QuickBooks Commerce.
What is the first thing I should fix if I want to scale operations?
Start with a unified view of inventory. The core of maturity starts with being able to accurately represent what you do have and make sure that you know where it’s located to get it to customers quickly. Without a unified view across your warehouses, 3PLs, and vendors, you cannot make the best decisions because you don’t have the best information at hand.
With Inventory Visibility, Businesses Can Make Smarter Allocation Decisions
Once inventory is centralized, businesses can move from reactive updates to intentional allocation. They can decide how much inventory to expose to each channel, when to use buffers, which marketplaces need extra protection, and how seasonality or campaign performance influence availability.
Once I know what inventory I have, how should I decide where to make it available?
Inventory allocation should reflect where orders are coming from, where marketing is working, and which channels carry the most risk. Once you know what you have and where it is located, you can think more strategically using centralized inventory to make prioritization happen automatically. One fertilizer company lost a little over 5,000 orders in one weekend because someone manually uploaded the wrong available inventory to Amazon.
Better Inventory Data Improves Planning, Purchasing, and Growth Bets
Better visibility turns inventory data into a planning tool. With insight into sales velocity, inventory levels, vendors, and channel performance, businesses can make more informed replenishment decisions, avoid overbuying, and test new product lines or vendor-supplied inventory without taking on unnecessary risk.
How does better inventory data help me make smarter buying decisions?
It lets you measure whether your plan is working before you commit more capital. A key question becomes: “Did my plan work? Am I overleveraged in one place or another?” Centralized systems can also help businesses test new product lines or vendor relationships by looking at sales velocity by channel, allowing them to take risks in a calculated and measured way.
Intelligent Order Routing Turns Inventory Complexity Into Automation
Once inventory and supplier data are reliable, businesses can automate fulfillment decisions. Orders can be routed based on cost, speed, margin, location, warehouse priority, vendor fallback, split-shipment rules, or customer expectations. This helps hybrid fulfillment scale because every order does not need a manual review.
How do I decide the best way to fulfill each order?
There is no single answer, which is why order routing needs to account for the context of each order. Intelligent order routing is not just sending an order to someone who has stock; it is taking each and every order and treating it like its own unique use case. Depending on the order, the business may prioritize speed, margin, an internal warehouse, vendor fallback, or preventing split shipments.
Supplier Inventory Sync Extends Inventory Beyond the Four Walls
For hybrid fulfillment to work, supplier inventory needs to become part of the operating model. Supplier sync does not always require advanced technology; it can happen through automated files, FTP, email, APIs, EDI, or ecommerce storefront integrations. The key is replacing manual updates with automated, reliable supplier data.
Can supplier inventory really be treated like part of my own inventory?
Yes, but the goal is not necessarily to force every supplier into a complex integration. Real-time supplier sync can be defined as any way to get an automated update from a supplier, such as Google Sheets, email, FTP, API, EDI, or ecommerce storefront connections. The key is that accurate supplier stock is foundational. If you don’t have an accurate view of what is in stock with your suppliers, you cannot tell your sales channel accurately what’s available.
Exception-Based Workflows Keep Humans Focused Where They Matter
Automation does not remove people from the process. Mature operations let technology handle the routine majority while humans focus on exceptions, such as high-value orders, fraud risk, compliance requirements, restricted products, export rules, or unusual fulfillment scenarios.
If my business has special cases, can automation still work?
Yes. The point is not to automate every possible decision; it is to automate the routine work and surface the exceptions. Businesses should not have to look at every single order. Instead, technology can highlight high-value orders, risky locations, or compliance requirements. The goal is to take care of the 80% of workflows that are obvious while still allowing human review when specific exceptions arise.
The Right Inventory Technology Should Fit the Business, Not Overwhelm It
Software decisions should be based on business fit, not popularity, feature volume, or broad “all-in-one” promises. Growing ecommerce businesses should identify their highest-impact bottleneck, prioritize what matters now, and choose technology that is right-sized but flexible enough to support future phases of growth.
How should I choose software without overbuying or picking the wrong system?
Start with your priorities, not the biggest feature list. Avoid an all-in-one system that claims to “do everything under the sun” and look for a “best of breed approach” with systems that can scale as you add channels or vendors. The practical advice is to stack rank what matters now, make sure the system can support future phases, and choose technology that fits your business rather than overwhelming it.
How to Scale Ecommerce Operations Beyond Spreadsheets
For many growing ecommerce businesses, Finale and Flxpoint work together as a practical answer to these challenges. Finale helps centralize and manage internal inventory, purchasing, warehouse operations, and stock visibility, while Flxpoint helps connect vendor inventory, automate supplier sync, and route orders across hybrid fulfillment networks. Together, they give businesses a best-of-breed way to improve inventory accuracy, reduce spreadsheet work, and scale fulfillment without forcing every process into a one-size-fits-all system.
Ecommerce Fulfillment Operations FAQ
What Is Ecommerce Fulfillment Operations?
Ecommerce fulfillment operations are the processes that move an online order from purchase to delivery. This includes managing inventory, syncing product availability across channels, routing orders to the right warehouse, 3PL, supplier, or vendor, and making sure the customer receives the right product on time. As discussed in the webinar, fulfillment is no longer limited to “what’s in my warehouse these days”; growing businesses may rely on internal warehouses, 3PLs, marketplace fulfillment services, and supplier inventory at the same time.
What Are Ecommerce Fulfillment Operation Examples?
Examples of ecommerce fulfillment operations include updating inventory across Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, and other sales channels; allocating inventory to specific marketplaces; sending orders to an internal warehouse, 3PL, or vendor; syncing supplier inventory through files, APIs, EDI, email, or FTP; replenishing warehouse stock based on sales velocity; and flagging exceptions such as high-value orders, compliance requirements, or restricted products. In the webinar, the speakers also discussed hybrid fulfillment examples where a business may fulfill some products from its own warehouse and use vendors as a fallback or extension of available inventory.
How Can I Track My Inventory at an Ecommerce Fulfillment Center?
The best way to track inventory at an ecommerce fulfillment center is to create a unified inventory view that shows what is available, where it is located, and how that inventory connects to each sales channel. That means tracking inventory across internal warehouses, fulfillment centers, 3PLs, marketplace fulfillment programs, and supplier locations instead of relying on disconnected spreadsheets. The webinar emphasized that businesses need to “accurately represent” what they have and know where it is located so they can get products to customers quickly.
How Can I Connect My Inventory to My Supplier?
You can connect supplier inventory through several methods, depending on what the supplier supports. The webinar discussed low-tech and advanced options, including automated Excel or CSV files, Google Sheets, email updates, FTP servers, APIs, EDI, and direct connections to ecommerce storefronts such as Shopify, BigCommerce, or Magento. The key is to ask suppliers how they share inventory today, then use a system that can automate that data flow instead of manually copying supplier inventory into spreadsheets.
What Is Ecommerce Order Routing?
Ecommerce order routing is the process of deciding where an order is fulfilled from after a customer buys. In a simple operation, every order may go to one warehouse. In a more complex or hybrid fulfillment model, the best fulfillment source may depend on inventory availability, shipping speed, cost, margin, customer location, warehouse priority, vendor fallback rules, or whether the order should be split. The webinar described intelligent order routing as treating each order like its own use case, so businesses can automate the best fulfillment decision without manually reviewing every order.
