The Best CPG Software
CPG software can help you better manage and optimize your operations of every day consumed products, like beauty, food, health, and pet supplies. We reviewed the most popular software on the market and selected our favorite ERP, WMS, and MRP systems for manufacturers and distributors.
- Hundreds of third-party add-ons available
- Feature sets for multiple industries
- Highly customizable
- Competitive pricing; does not require a subscription
- Integrates with QuickBooks
- Can function as a light MRP system
- Open architecture for rapid integrations
- Multi-entity support
- Mobile accessibility
Consumer-packaged goods software gives complete inventory and supply chain visibility to ensure optimized production and efficient processes. We used our advanced review methodology to select the top options, including NetSuite, Fishbowl Inventory, and Acumatica.
- NetSuite: Best for Retailers
- Fishbowl Inventory: Best for Health and Beauty
- Acumatica: Best for Food and Beverage Distributors
- Dynamics 365 Business Central: Best for Household Goods
- Acctivate Inventory: Best for Pet Products
- Infoplus: Best for 3PLs
NetSuite - Best for Retailers
NetSuite’s multi-channel retail management feature can help you control operations, including inventory, orders, customer data, and financials across various sales outlets. The system integrates its ERP capabilities with its POS and eCommerce modules, enabling real-time data flow between online platforms, physical locations, and back-office systems.
For example, you specialize in haircare products and operate both physical stores and an online shop. A customer purchases a shampoo and conditioner duo set online. NetSuite will check inventory across all stores and warehouses to ensure the product is available, then reserve the items and update your stock levels.
The customer would like to do pickup at their nearest store, so the system will reroute the order to that location and notify your staff via the POS system. NetSuite also lets you look up customers’ purchase histories and send follow-up emails suggesting complementary products, like leave-in masks or heat protectants, to drive sales further.
However, NetSuite is our most expensive option, with prices ranging from $3,000 to $8,500, making it less suitable for smaller CPG companies. In those cases, you might want to consider Fishbowl Inventory, which starts at $150/user/month, or Dynamics 365 Business Central at $70/user/month.
Visit NetSuite’s review page for more information on the ERP.
Fishbowl Inventory - Best for Health and Beauty
Fishbowl Inventory’s recipe management feature is designed to handle formulations requiring precise ingredient measurements and processes. This can be highly beneficial in the health and beauty industry, where cosmetics, skincare, and personal care items rely on carefully crafted formulas to meet safety and quality standards.
For example, you’re a skincare manufacturer who produces various serums, scrubs, and facial creams. Currently, you’re creating an anti-aging retinol for sensitive skin. You can build recipes using pre-approved ingredients from Fishbowl’s database, reducing the risk of non-compliance with FDA and EU standards.
You can also track the availability of ingredients, such as rosehip oil, and the system will automatically notify your procurement team when inventory falls below your set threshold. The software will assign each serum batch a unique identifier, making tracking for quality control and compliance easy.
Months after your serum successfully joins the market, you create a larger size. Using Fishbowl’s recipe feature, your production team can seamlessly update ingredient quantities without manually recalculating anything. All recipes can be stored in Fishbowl with clear ingredient breakdowns, quantities, and step-by-step instructions. Your finance team can then utilize the feature to calculate the exact cost of producing each unit to set optimal pricing.
Fishbowl Inventory is one of our most affordable solutions, starting at around $150 - $200/user/month. However, because Fishbowl is only an inventory system, you will likely need to integrate it with accounting software like QuickBooks.
Fishbowl Inventory’s review page will provide you with more details, key features, pros, and cons.
Acumatica - Best for Food and Beverage Distributors
Acumatica’s expiration date management tool allows you to assign and monitor expiration dates for products from when you receive them until they are shipped to customers. This functionality can help you better utilize storage and prevent overstocking while ensuring you don’t have products going to waste.
Perishable items such as milk can only last a few weeks before spoiling. Using Acumatica, you can record the expiration date of each batch during production and implement First Expired, First Out (FEFO) picking logic in the warehouse to ensure that the oldest stock is used first.
The software also enables you to set up automated alerts notifying any warehouse manager when a batch is nearing the end of its shelf life. This allows you to take proactive steps to ensure profit, such as adjusting your price or running a promotion to move older stock.
Acumatica is a suitable system for both manufacturers and distributors. It maintains complete visibility and traceability of expiration dates, ensuring you meet regulatory requirements and can quickly address any quality control issue or recall. The system also has an intuitive and modern user interface, making setting up and managing expiration dates easy. Though competitors like Dynamics 365 Business Central also offer shelf life management, its interface can feel overwhelming to small to mid-sized businesses.
For more information on Acumatica, visit our product review page.
Dynamics 365 Business Central - Best for Household Goods
Dynamics 365 Business Central’s demand forecasting feature uses historical data, predictive analytics, and AI to predict future needs based on factors like seasonal fluctuations and sales trends. This functionality integrates with inventory, production, and sales management, enabling you to anticipate market needs and align your operations accordingly. For instance, if you produce cleaning supplies, it may be challenging to maintain optimal inventory levels with fluctuating seasonal demand and promotions.
As cold and flu season approaches, Dynamics 365 Business Central analyzes your historical data and identifies a 20% increase in demand. The forecasting feature suggests increasing the production of specific high-demand SKUs, such as disinfectant sprays, and stocking additional raw materials to meet the forecasted demand.
Your sales team can use the forecast to create a promotion, knowing you have plenty of inventory to support the expected increase. The system will monitor the real-time sales data during your promo and refine its forecast, ensuring accurate reordering for a sustained supply.
Dynamics 365 Business Central is our most affordable pick, with prices starting as low as $70/user/month. The software also comes with a free 30-day trial to test the system before purchasing. However, keep in mind that Dynamics 365 Business Central has implementation costs that you will need to account for in addition to the subscription price.
Read our full Dynamics 365 Business Central review for more details and pricing information.
Acctivate Inventory - Best for Pet Products
Acctivate Inventory’s eCommerce integration helps you manage your inventory, orders, and customer data across various channels, such as Shopify, Amazon, and WooCommerce, from a single interface.
This eCommerce integration lets you connect these platforms to the software via pre-built APIs or connectors. Whenever a customer orders on your platforms, like dog food on Amazon, order details, customer information, and shipping preferences will automatically sync into Acctivate.
After logging the order, the software updates your inventory across all channels, reflecting accurate stock levels. This ensures that other customers can see the correct availability, helping prevent overselling during a high-demand period. Your warehouse team will receive order pick lists from Acctivate, and integrated carriers like UPS or FedEx will automatically create your shipping labels and send out tracking numbers to your customers.
At the end of the week, your sales team can review performance data in Acctivate’s reporting module. If a specific dog food or bone is a best-seller, you can plan to increase inventory to ensure enough stock to meet the increasing demand.
Acctivate’s system shines when you handle high-volume sales. However, Acctivate only works with QuickBooks, so if you’re not a QB user, you can’t use the system.
Learn more about Acctivate Inventory through our review page.
Infoplus - Best for 3PLs
Infoplus’ real-time stock visibility provides up-to-the-minute inventory access across all warehouses and distribution centers. This functionality ensures that your supply levels are continuously updated, allowing you to track the status and make better stock replenishment and order fulfillment decisions.
The system tracks inventory using a combination of barcoding, RFID technology, and data synchronization. Whenever team members scan an item, the software updates its status and location in the database. These updates are accessible to all stakeholders, ensuring transparency.
For instance, you manage inventory for a CPG brand that sells beauty products online and through retail partners through its multiple warehouses. When a team member picks and ships a product, Infoplus updates stock levels to reflect the change. The system can also detect when popular products are nearing their reorder point.
Whenever a customer orders online, the database communicates with the brand’s eCommerce platform to confirm product availability and reserve stock for the order. Using the system’s location tracking, warehouse workers can quickly find the item in the warehouse, pick it up, and scan it. Immediately, the software will update inventory counts and prepare shipping documentation.
Infoplus is designed with 3PLs, offering real-time stock visibility and multi-client inventory management. This makes it an ideal solution for small to mid-sized 3PLs managing multiple warehouses.
What is CPG Software?
Consumer packaged goods software is designed to automate or help with manufacturing and distribution tasks, such as order fulfillment, inventory management, and supply chain management. It aims to simplify production by helping businesses manage their products through every step of the supply chain.
CPG companies commonly use complete ERP systems, which combine financial and inventory management into one package. However, smaller CPG companies often use MRP software and integrate an existing accounting system, like QuickBooks or Xero. This combination lets businesses use real-time data to view trends and plan budgets.
Key Features
| Key Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Inventory Management | Tracks inventory on every level of the supply chain in real time. It also controls all aspects of the warehouse, including picking, packing, shipping, and reordering, in one place. |
| Order Fulfillment | This automates order processing, ensuring accuracy by eliminating manual entries. All orders are stored in a database for easy reference and documentation. |
| Data Management | Keep your company’s data organized in the software. |
| Compliance | Stay compliant with all regulations and laws for your business, especially those in the food and beverage industry, which have strict rules to adhere to. Lot and batch tracking help make recalls and traceability easy and efficient. |
| Financial Management | Run reports and financial analysis using real-time data from the software. Visualize profits, expenses, and cash flow. |
| CRM | Manage accounts, contacts, and sales teams to enhance customer relationships. |
| Sales | Streamline different sales channels such as eCommerce, B2B, and wholesale for fast data consolidation. Manage all revenue streams directly from the system. |
| Demand Forecasting | Create budgets and demand plans based on your business’s real-time and historical data. |
Primary Benefits
There are several advantages to implementing CPG software for your manufacturing or distribution business. Some of the most impactful include:
Efficient Product Development
Producing consumer goods can be complex, with many variables susceptible to causing delays, such as recalls and incorrect orders. The software aims to manage every aspect of the manufacturing and distribution process for various products. This helps make companies more efficient because managing the product lifecycle is much easier with oversight of every process.
Enhanced Traceability
Businesses can use these systems to track every product that gets packaged and shipped, making it easier to trace the product and where it gets shipped and delivered. Features like lot and batch tracking enable businesses to locate products and trace them back to their source. This is useful during product recalls, as companies must identify all the products involved.
Customer Management
Maintaining strong customer relationships is essential for CPG distributors. Systems can help businesses retain clients by housing detailed customer information to give each a personalized experience. Track shipments to specific customers to ensure deliveries are made on time and products are not damaged to keep customers happy.
Organized Production Data
Supply chain management and visibility are critical for all CPG manufacturers and distributors. These systems allow total supply chain control from procurement to the final sale, enabling businesses to enhance daily processes, automate tasks, and identify market shifts and trends.
Pricing
CPG systems can vary in price, from Dynamics 365 Business Central, which costs $70/user/month, to NetSuite, which can be upwards of $8,500, depending on your needs. The price depends significantly on your business size, the features you require, and whether your system is a WMS or MRP that integrates with your current software or a full ERP replacement. Most systems use a tiered system, where the price increases as more features are added.
| Software | Best For | Deployment Options | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
| NetSuite | Retailers | Cloud | $3,000 - $8,500/month |
| Fishbowl Inventory | Health + Beauty | Cloud or On-Premise | 150 - $200/user/month for WMS |
| Acumatica | Food + Beverage | Cloud or On-Premise | $2,800 - $6,500/month |
| Dynamics 365 Business Central | Household Goods | Cloud or On-Premise | $70 - $100/user/month |
| Acctivate | Pet Products | Cloud or On-Premise | $400/month |
| Infoplus | 3PLs | Cloud or On-Premise | $495/month |
