Custom multichannel inventory sync app development
Appfront builds apps for retailers, wholesalers and online sellers who sell through their own webshop, online marketplaces and a physical shop, and who already synchronise their stock centrally. The app brings that synchronisation to the shop floor: scanning and seeing what is in stock per channel, corrections after a stock count or breakage that go straight to all channels, reserving items for a customer in store, and an alert when an item is about to be sold that is no longer available. We describe the synchronisation itself on our page on stock synchronisation software; this page is about the app for the people in the shop and the warehouse.
What is a multichannel stock synchronisation app?
If you sell through your own webshop, online marketplaces and a shop, you have one stock across several channels. Many businesses synchronise that centrally, so that a sale in one channel reduces the stock in the others. But stock also changes on the shop floor: a stock count that does not match, an item that gets damaged, a customer in store who asks for something to be set aside. An app feeds those changes directly into the synchronisation.
Without an app, a member of staff notes a discrepancy and someone in the office enters it later. In the meantime, the webshop sells an item that is no longer there. A customer in store has a product reserved, but it is still on sale online. And anyone who wants to know how much stock there is per channel has to sit down at a computer.
We build custom solutions because the app needs to fit your synchronisation and your shop: which software synchronises your stock, which channels and locations you have, how you count and correct, how reservations work, and which scanners or phones your staff use. Synchronisation is the heart; the app ensures that whatever happens on the shop floor enters it immediately.
Stock per channel
Scan an item and see what is available centrally, per location and per channel, with buffers and reservations.
Corrections instantly everywhere
A stock count, breakage or return on the shop floor goes straight to central stock and all channels.
Reserving in store
Set an item aside for a customer so it is no longer sold online.
How we build your multichannel stock synchronisation app
We start on the shop floor: how are discrepancies currently reported, how long does it take before they appear in the channels, and how often was something sold that was not in stock?
Your synchronisation software, channels and locations, stock counting, correction and reservation, and the devices.
Scanning with stock per channel and location, with buffers and reservations visible.
Corrections for stock counts, breakage and returns, reservations for customers, and transfers.
Alerts for impending overselling, integration with the till and WMS, and ongoing management.
What a multichannel stock synchronisation app does in practice
The components below come up in almost every multichannel retailer. Which ones you need depends on your channels.
Scanning
Scanning items with a camera or scanner, with stock per channel and location.
Corrections
Stock counts, breakage and returns as corrections, sent straight to all channels.
Reserving
Reserving an item for a customer from the stock available online.
Transferring
Moving stock from warehouse to shop or between shops, processed immediately.
Notifications
An alert when overselling is imminent, stock is running low, or a count shows a discrepancy.
Stocktakes
Counts per shelf or product group, with discrepancies processed immediately.
Who we build a multichannel stock synchronisation app for
The app is designed for businesses with a shop or warehouse alongside online channels.
Shopkeepers with an online store
Shop and webshop from the same stock. Reservations and corrections are the core.
Wholesalers on marketplaces
Many channels and a warehouse. Corrections and alerts matter most.
Online stores with a showroom
Customers who buy in the showroom. Reservations are what you need.
Chains with multiple shops
Stock spread across shops. Transfers and stock per location are the core.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about the app for the shop floor. For the synchronisation itself, see our page on stock synchronisation software; for integrations with marketplaces, see our page on marketplace integration; and for stock management in general, see our page on a stock management web app. You can read about how we work under custom software development.
If you want to pack orders on a handheld and print labels, take a look at our app for shipping labels and carriers.
Why choose Appfront for your multichannel stock synchronisation app?
An item sold online just after it has broken costs you a customer. That is what we build around: changes on the shop floor that take effect everywhere at once, and staff who can see what is in stock.
Less overselling
Corrections go straight to all channels, not at the end of the day.
Customers helped in store
A reservation removes the item from online stock immediately.
Stock under control
Staff see stock per channel without walking to a computer.
Security and privacy for a multichannel stock synchronisation app
The app holds stock, product data and, for reservations, sometimes customer details. Access is set by role: shop staff correct and reserve, the warehouse counts and transfers, and management sees everything. Every correction is logged with name and time.
The app runs on phones and scanners, including in warehouses with patchy signal. The data sits in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily backups.
Frequently asked questions about a multichannel stock synchronisation app
Questions shop owners and online stores ask before getting started.
It shows staff on the shop floor the stock per channel for each item, passes corrections from stocktakes, breakage and returns straight to all channels, reserves items for customers, transfers stock, and sends alerts when overselling is imminent.
The software synchronises stock centrally across your webshop, marketplaces and shop. The app brings that synchronisation to the shop floor, so changes made by staff are processed immediately.
Yes, provided that software has an interface. We'll look at which software you use in the first step. If you don't have any synchronisation in place yet, that can be built first.
Yes, on a phone with a camera or on a scanner used in the warehouse.
A member of staff reserves an item for a customer, and it is immediately removed from the stock available to the online channels.
When an item's stock drops below its buffer, or a correction affects an order already sold, a member of staff receives an alert to check it.
Ask that first. A point-of-sale system handles sales in the shop, and sometimes corrections too. Custom development makes sense when corrections and reservations need to reach all channels directly, or when the warehouse and several shops need to work in the same app.
Floor changes straight through to every channel?
Tell us which channels you run, how you currently synchronise, and how corrections are handled on the shop floor. We'll show you what scanning, corrections and reservations look like.