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Today, many people are getting as much done on their phones as they would on a desktop. For small inventory-based businesses with workers constantly on the move, staying productive is everything. Mobile inventory management turns your smartphone into a scanner, tracking tool, and instant decision-making machine—all without the back-and-forth that slows you down.
In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about mobile inventory software:
- What is mobile inventory management?
- How does it work?
- Must-have mobile inventory features
- Why now is the right time to adopt it
- How to use iPhones and Androids for inventory control
What is mobile inventory management?
Mobile inventory management uses handheld devices and mobile applications to track, manage, and optimize inventory in real-time, directly from the field or warehouse.
But mobile isn’t flying solo here. The system works in tandem with a web platform that handles tasks like data imports, analytics, user management, and approvals. Think of the mobile app as the action hero in the field, and the web interface as mission control.
From checking stock levels, counting inventory, to receiving shipments, mobile apps tackle the tasks that are too clunky for desktops. This combination empowers teams to make faster decisions without being chained to an office chair.
How do mobile-based inventory management systems work?
Online syncing
Real-time syncing is the backbone of mobile inventory systems. It ensures that every scan, update, or transaction made on a mobile device is instantly pushed to the central database over the cloud. You can set syncing intervals or let it happen automatically in the background—either way, everyone stays in the loop.
Offline mode
The offline mode functionality allows employees to continue tracking inventory, scanning items, and making updates, even when internet access is unavailable. Once the mobile device reconnects to the internet, all changes are automatically synced with the central database, ensuring that no data is lost during periods of poor connectivity.
Tip: Not every mobile inventory app can store data locally, so check before you commit.
Barcoding
Barcoding is another crucial component of mobile inventory systems. Through barcode scanning technology, workers can quickly update inventory records by simply scanning a product’s barcode. This helps streamline stocktaking, receiving, and shipping processes, eliminating the need for manual data entry and reducing human error.
Barcoding provides real-time visibility into inventory levels, making it easier to track stock movements and reduce discrepancies. iOS and Android phones use specific portals to connect with dedicated barcode scanners. Alternatively, inventory apps have a built-in capability of scanning barcodes with a camera.
User roles and permissions
Mobile inventory apps often incorporate user roles and permissions, allowing businesses to control who can access and update specific inventory data. This feature ensures that only authorized personnel can make sensitive changes, such as adjusting stock counts or approving purchases.
What does mobile phone inventory management software offer feature-wise?
Mobile inventory tracking
To be fast and accurate, your warehouse operators need to have excessive paperwork and incessant manual data entry cut out of their workday. With mobile inventory tracking software, they can:
- Review, search for, view, and edit SKUs
- Record and assign barcodes to products
- Check the availability of products in real-time
- Carry out cycle counts and physical inventory expedited by barcoding
- Transfer inventory from one location to another
- Update stock quantities in real time
Mobile purchase management
The warehouse team can seamlessly receive incoming stock and make sure you’re not short-shipped. The purchase management capabilities include:
- Generate new purchase orders
- Track their status
- Receive stock against open purchase orders with barcode verification
- Send purchase orders via email.
With live inventory information at their fingertips, the purchasing division can better inform replenishment decisions.
Mobile order fulfillment
You can fulfill orders in the warehouse or on the road with mobile picking and packing.
Picking and packing is a two-step verification procedure designed to check outgoing orders before dispatch.Here’s what it looks like in a nutshell: pickers open a sales order or an invoice, follow the bin locations to locate SKUs, scan them twice (first pick, then pack), print out a packing slip, and send the order for shipping.
Mobile sales
The pocket-sized real-time mobile catalog of your products empowers your sales reps to respond to your customers’ queries right on the spot. While populating a new sales order, they can evaluate the current order fulfillment capabilities by checking the items’ availability across all inventory sites.
Working with customer information is also a no-brainer: you can review customer details, order history, balance, apply credit memos, make a call, or get directions for delivery.
Mobile invoicing adds speed to sales processes and lets you get paid faster. Getting your customer’s signature on an invoice and sending it to their email as a pdf would be another handy feature.
The ability to document payments on the go is key to not letting the revenue slip through the cracks, contributing to the financial transparency and accountability of your business.
Why adopt mobile inventory tracking now?
About 42% of small businesses take advantage of mobile apps to optimize their business workflows. And they’ve got more than one reason to do so:
1. It saves money
Mobile inventory control is a cost-effective alternative to otherwise pricey inventory management hardware. All-in-one handhelds start at $1800-2000 per device, and the price of the software goes on top of it. It’s a pretty substantial upfront investment, not to mention the time it takes to set everything up.
Mobile phones with minimal technical requirements can be effectively used in the field as barcode scanners, inventory tracking, purchasing, sales, and online payment tools from day one. It’s a lot less outlay for a small company on a tight budget.
2. It keeps data clean
Inventory data accuracy is greatly improved by centralizing it within one system but not limiting it to one platform. Updated inventory, purchasing, and shipping information can flow uninterrupted and seamlessly between mobile devices, laptops, and tablets wherever they are.
3. It supports real-time decision-making
With mobile inventory control, there is no delay between completing a transaction on the phone and the office-warehouse team knowing about it right away. Decisions on how inventory should be allocated, and whether or not to stock up or adjust pricing are based on live data.
4. You get a native mobile experience
Some tasks are better done from the web app, like data import/export, going over analytics, setting things up, granting access, etc. Scanning products in and out of the warehouse clearly belongs to the mobile platform.
Mobile capabilities like scanning barcodes, taking photos of products and customers’ signatures, and emailing documents on the go are something that mobile-optimized software can do with less efficiency than native apps.
5. It works without Wi-Fi
Being able to save your work locally in the event of a poor Wi-Fi signal or its absence is invaluable. This is not possible with Wi-Fi-dependent web-based inventory systems.
6. It’s often free
Most mobile apps come as free extensions to the desktop or online counterparts. Just make sure your devices are compatible and durable enough for warehouse conditions.
Mobile inventory software for iPhones and Androids
We at HandiFox have built native Android and iOS apps to extend the handiest business functionality and the best experience to your phones.
The apps cover the inventory, purchasing, order fulfillment, and sales modules of the HandiFox system adapted for mobile use by warehouse and field workers on the move. You can use your phone or tablet for mobile scanning or connect it to dedicated barcode scanning devices. Most mobile transactions are printable or can be emailed to suppliers and customers.
Mobile applications reduce warehouse personnel’s workload and maximize their time. Take a free trial to explore new ways to manage your stock.
