Category: Ecommerce

Light Manufacturing Made Easy: Maximizing Efficiency with SKULabs

Posted on by Brad Baecker

In the world of eCommerce, flexibility and efficiency in managing inventory and production processes are crucial. For businesses engaged in light manufacturing, finding an efficient solution that integrates just-in-time kitting and phase based inventory manufacturing can be a game changer. SKULabs offers an innovative approach to light manufacturing through its robust kitting functionality and support for virtual/disconnected warehouses. This guide explores how you can leverage these features to optimize your manufacturing process.

Workers assembling products to be sold on eCommerce

The Power of Kitting in SKULabs

Kitting involves combining multiple items or components into a single product for sale. It’s a common practice in industries like electronics, auto parts, T-shirt manufacturing and appliances, where bundled products are not only popular, but necessary to represent a finished good. SKULabs’ kitting function allows you to create kits that represent all the individual component items that make up a single product, enabling you to manage inventory more efficiently while maintaining accurate stock counts both at the kit level as well as the component items.

Creating Kits in SKULabs

With SKULabs, you can easily create kits by defining a kit as a collection of specific inventory items. This approach allows you to:

  • Simplify Inventory Management: By creating kits, you can track bundled products as a single unit, reducing complexity in inventory tracking. Each kit will have its own SKU and barcode for representation. Inventory levels will be based on the amount of component items on hand that make up a single kit.
  • Ensure Accurate Stock Levels: SKULabs automatically adjusts stock levels for individual components when a kit is sold, ensuring accurate inventory counts and eliminating the logistics of keeping up with the component items. Kits are calculated automatically in the background and advertised as a whole on your sales channel.
  • Facilitate Order Fulfillment: Kits can be seamlessly integrated into your order processing workflow, streamlining fulfillment and reducing errors. This allows you to fulfill a group of items with a single scan of a barcode.

To create a kit, you simply name the Kit, assign a SKU and fill it with component items. SKULabs takes care of the rest, ensuring that each kit is accurately represented in your inventory system.

Virtual/Disconnected Warehouses: A New Approach to Manufacturing

One of the unique features of SKULabs is its support for virtual/disconnected warehouses. This feature allows you to represent different stages of the manufacturing process as separate warehouses, providing greater flexibility and control. Here’s how it works:

Virtual Warehouses?

A virtual warehouse can be used as a digital representation of the different stages of production in an inventory management system. These stages may include intake and housing of raw materials, assembly of products, items sent for quality control, and ultimately advertised inventory to your sales channels. The primary advantage of using virtual warehouses is the ability to track inventory levels and the flow of goods across different stages without the need for spreadsheets or other costly softwares. With the proper setup, virtual warehouses can streamline operations, improve visibility, and boost overall efficiency.

Virtual warehouses in stages 1-3 to represent manufacturing process

Setting Up Disconnected Warehouses

In SKULabs, disconnected warehouses are separate inventory locations not directly tied to a specific eCommerce sales channel. This feature is ideal for representing manufacturing stages, enabling you to track the progress of your products as they move through the production process and know what is on hand. By setting up disconnected warehouses, you can:

  • Define Manufacturing Stages: Create different warehouses to represent stages like “Intake”, “Assembly,” “Quality Control,” or “Packaging.”
  • Track Inventory Movement: Easily move inventory between warehouses to reflect the manufacturing process. This is a simple internal warehouse transfer which gives you granular control on how much stock is moved, and which phase of the process it should represent next.
  • Ensure Product Readiness: Once a product is complete, you can transfer it to your connected warehouse, making it available for sale on your e-commerce platforms.

Integrating Disconnected Warehouses with Kits

The combination of kitting and disconnected warehouses allows you to represent the entire manufacturing process within SKULabs. Here’s a simplified workflow:

  1. Define Kits: Create kits in SKULabs that represent the finished product, specifying all the components needed for assembly.
  2. Set Up Disconnected Warehouses: Create warehouses for each stage of the manufacturing process.
  3. Move Inventory Through Stages: As components are progressing into assembled kits, transfer them from one disconnected warehouse to the next to reflect the manufacturing progress or stages.
  4. Complete the Product: Once the kit is fully assembled and ready for sale, transfer the components to your connected warehouse, making it available for order fulfillment.
  5. Fulfill Orders: With the product in your connected warehouse, you can seamlessly fulfill customer orders and manage inventory levels across your eCommerce sales channels. This method also lets you sell and keep track of your component items individually!

Running Low on component items?

Now that we have simplified the logistics for maintaining accurate inventory levels for your products that are made up of various component items, how do you keep an eye out for that one component item that will keep you from completing these assembled goods? Take advantage of SKULabs’ built in inventory alert system. Right on your SKULabs dashboard, you will maintain visibility of all of the items that have hit or fallen below your assigned threshold of on-hand counts. Not always in front of your app or device? No problem, we can automate these stock alerts to be sent to your desired email address to keep you in-the-know while on-the-go!

Keep it Simple

SKULabs offers a comprehensive solution for light manufacturing by combining kitting functionality with the flexibility of virtual/disconnected warehouses. By utilizing these features, you can efficiently manage the production process, track inventory accurately, and ensure a smooth transition from manufacturing to order fulfillment. Whether you’re a small business or a larger eCommerce operation, SKULabs provides the tools to streamline your light manufacturing process and keep your customers satisfied!

Connect with SKULabs Today

Now is the perfect time to discuss how we can help you get prepared for taking your business to the next level!

Chat with one of our experts today. Schedule a meeting or give us a call at 1800-243-2986 to learn more.

Posted in Ecommerce, Inventory Management, Small Business, Warehouse ManagementTagged

Improving E-Commerce with SKULabs: Merging FBM and FBA SKUs for better inventory management

Posted on by Alex E

In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, managing inventory with precision is crucial for sellers to stay competitive and meet customer demands efficiently. This is particularly true for businesses using Seller Fulfilled Prime as well as Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) models to optimize their delivery times and control costs. Traditionally, managing these separate inventory streams has been a complex and time-consuming process. However, SKULabs provides simple but effective features to help sellers: the automatic merging of FBM and FBA SKUs. This functionality helps you easily monitor and manage inventory for the same physical products in one place, even for products sold as both an FBA or FBM listing. Having the tools to keep this process easier allows sellers to focus on other important objectives like operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

The Challenge of Managing Separate Inventories

The complexity of managing two separate inventories for FBA and FBM is not only time-consuming but also prone to many challenges and inefficiencies; inaccurate stock level reporting per channel, increased operational costs in both fulfillment or stocking decisions, and missed sales opportunities due to stockouts in one channel while surplus exists in another. These challenges can ultimately cause a poor experience for your customers and highlights the need for a more efficient approach to avoiding or overcoming them.

The SKULabs Solution: Simplified inventory with merged FBM and FBA listings

SKULabs helps sellers easily manage products by intelligently and automatically linking FBM and FBA listings for the same products together under the same inventory item. And while FBM and FBA listings are merged, SKULabs still maintains separate stock levels for both FBM and FBA, so we’ll never mistakenly push the stock you keep in your own warehouse to the stock in your FBA warehouse.

This brings several benefits:

Efficient inventory management

By consolidating FBM and FBA SKUs into a single inventory view, sellers can now manage their products more efficiently, ensuring accurate stock levels across all sales channels and fulfillment methods. Being able to accurately monitor stock levels on both methods in a single place easily allows businesses to optimize their fulfillment strategies, FBA inbound processes, and overall operational efficiency.

Better operational efficiency

Automatic merging of SKUs directly impacts operational efficiency. With a unified inventory, businesses can better allocate resources, optimize fulfillment processes, and make informed decisions about restocking and product distribution. This level of efficiency is critical for maintaining customer satisfaction and competitive edge. Moreover, it allows for more strategic planning and resource allocation, focusing efforts where they are most needed.

Data driven insights for growth

The consolidation of inventory data provides valuable insights that can drive strategic business decisions. Sellers can analyze trends across both FBM and FBA channels, identifying best-selling products, seasonal fluctuations, and potential areas for expansion or marketing. This data-driven approach allows for more accurate forecasting and strategic inventory distribution, ensuring that products are positioned to meet demand effectively.

Improved Sales and Customer Satisfaction

One of the most significant benefits of merging FBA and FBM SKUs is the impact on sales and customer satisfaction. With a more accurate view of inventory, sellers can ensure that their products are always available to customers, regardless of the fulfillment method. This reliability can lead to increased sales, as customers are more likely to purchase from a seller who consistently has products in stock. Additionally, the seamless integration of FBM and FBA inventories means faster fulfillment times, contributing to higher customer satisfaction and repeat business. This consistency is key to creating a cohesive brand experience for customers, regardless of where they make their purchases.

Simplifying Complexities for Multichannel Sellers

For sellers operating across multiple platforms, managing separate inventories on each channel and fulfillment method can become exponentially more complicated. The automatic merging of FBM and FBA SKUs is particularly beneficial in these cases because it eliminates the confusion with multiple item inventories and the need to chase down stock levels in separate places. Reducing the complexity on these fronts can immediately lead to better operational alignment and a more cohesive sales strategy across all platforms. 

The Takeaway

Automatically merging of FBM and FBA SKUs in SKULabs is more than just a feature, it’s an effective strategy for optimizing not only how you think about products but also how you manage FBM and FBA inventory overall. As e-commerce continues to evolve, managing operations efficiently becomes increasingly important for maintaining a competitive edge. Having a unified view of accurate inventory in SKULabs across FBM and FBA is just one of the many solutions SKULabs offers to e-commerce sellers.

Connect with SKULabs Today

Now is the perfect time to discuss how we can help you get prepared for taking your business to the next level!

Chat with one of our experts today. Schedule a meeting or give us a call at 1800-243-2986 to learn more.

Posted in Ecommerce, Inventory Management, Multichannel

Small Business to Enterprise: A look at SKULabs and Veeqo

Posted on by Brad Baecker

Finding too many options to manage your eCommerce business’ orders and inventory? Yes, It can be quite challenging when it comes to choosing the right software solution for your online marketplace. Businesses are constantly on the lookout for software solutions that streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and drive growth. Arm yourself with knowing the right questions to ask when interviewing potential solutions. As mentioned in the previous blog, recently acquired software companies can be, but not always, a bit of a red flag. Due diligence is paramount when researching these candidates. Mark the timeline when they were acquired, and then check the user feedback from that date forward to see if you feel it is headed in the right direction or not.

Two standout platforms that have carved a niche in the realm of inventory and order management are SKULabs and Veeqo. Both tools offer features designed to aid businesses in managing their inventory, processing orders, and fulfilling customer demands effectively. This blog delves into a comparison of SKULabs and Veeqo, to illuminate their functionalities, strengths, and how they cater to different business needs.

SKULabs: An Overview
SKULabs is a comprehensive all-in-one inventory, order, and shipping management solution tailored for multi-channel retailers. Its capabilities are designed to help businesses streamline their operations by offering features such as barcode scanning for picking, order verification, batch shipping, and real-time inventory tracking across all sales channels. SKULabs positions itself as a premium solution for small to enterprise sized businesses that require detailed control over their inventory and fulfillment processes. It’s biggest strength is the capability to work with an extremely wide range of various pick pack and ship workflows without limiting you into their own pre-defined process as you will find with many other softwares. Additionally, SKULabs boasts the claim to connecting the most sales channels and shipping providers than any other eCommerce software.

SKULabs Supported Sales Channels

SKULabs Supported Carriers

Key Features:

  • Multi-channel inventory and order management
  • Real-Time Inventory Control & Sync
  • Dedicated Batch Shipping Interface
  • Barcode-based order verification
  • Detailed reporting and analytics
  • Cycle Counts
  • US based support


Veeqo: An Overview
Veeqo, on the other hand, is priced well enough (free) to give it a try to see if their pick, pack and ship methods align with yours. Scanning to pick items will require Veeqo’s dedicated scanner at $495.00 for this functionality. Additionally, In order to get the inventory tracking features, you will need to ship at least 50% of your packages from within Veeqo monthly, or lose the functionality. So, some caveats to overcome, but if you fall in that category it could be a good fit. It stands out for its user-friendly interface and the ability to manage orders from multiple channels in one platform. Both platforms offer Amazon Buy shipping and offer discounted shipping rates.

Veeqo Supported Sales Channels

Veeqo Supported Carriers

Key Features:

  • No monthly cost (as long as you are shipping 50% of your orders through them)
  • Shipping Discounts
  • Order management from multiple channels
  • Direct integrations with major shipping carriers
  • Inventory management can be added on to plan
  • Warehouse management features
  • UK based support


Pricing and Affordability:

SKULabs’ pricing starts at a higher threshold ($299), making it an up front investment for businesses. However, this reflects its extensive feature set and value it offers to larger companies that manage vast inventories and high order volumes with the need for more granular control of their operations.
Veeqo offers a lower starting price point, making it accessible for smaller businesses and scalable as they grow​​​​. You are giving up your shipping volume however which may make it difficult to get negotiated rates down the road.


Ideal Customer:

SKULabs is ideally suited for a broader market from small to enterprise sized businesses that require detailed operational control and efficiency in managing extensive inventories across multiple channels.


Veeqo serves a slightly smaller audience, including start-up businesses looking for growth to mid size operations while seeking to consolidate their order and inventory management processes.


User Experience and Support:

Both platforms provide robust support and training resources, ensuring businesses can maximize the utility of their features. SKULabs is particularly praised for its customer support and comprehensive training materials, making it easier for larger teams to adopt and utilize the platform effectively​​.
Both are designed to be easy to set up and integrate with existing sales channels, which is a plus for businesses at any scale.


Choosing between SKULabs and Veeqo hinges on a business’s specific needs, size, and growth trajectory. As the eCommerce landscape continues to evolve, the choice of inventory and order management software will play a pivotal role in a business’s ability to compete and thrive. Both SKULabs and Veeqo offer robust platforms that can adapt to the changing needs of modern retailers, making them worthy contenders for any business looking to optimize its operations.

Connect with SKULabs Today

Now is the perfect time to discuss how we can help you get prepared for taking your business to the next level!

Chat with one of our experts today. Schedule a meeting or give us a call at 1800-243-2986 to learn more.

Posted in Ecommerce, News & Announcements

Simplifying T-Shirt eCommerce through Virtual Warehousing

Posted on by Brad Baecker

The T-shirt business, like any other eCommerce venture, needs an efficient system to track inventory, monitor production stages, and fulfill orders in an accurate yet timely manner. SKULabs, an all-in-one inventory management and order fulfillment solution, has emerged as an invaluable tool for companies that sell T-shirts via eCommerce by using virtual warehouses to represent different stages of production. No matter what method you use to manufacture, whether it’s plastisol, ink / laser jet, or dye sublimation, there’s no need for costly manufacturing software that can be an overkill both on the wallet and functionality. 

Virtual Warehouses?

A virtual warehouse can be used as a digital representation of the different stages of production in an inventory management system. These stages may include intake and housing of raw materials, printing and production of the shirt, items sent for quality control, and ultimately advertised inventory to your sales channels. The primary advantage of using virtual warehouses is the ability to track inventory levels and the flow of goods across different stages without the need for spreadsheets or other costly softwares. With the proper setup, virtual warehouses can streamline operations, improve visibility, and boost overall efficiency.

Organizing Raw Materials

The journey of a printed T-shirt begins with your raw materials. This can include items such as blank T-shirts, dyes and prints, or actual raw materials such at cotton and threads depending on the level of manufacturing you choose to undertake. By utilizing SKULabs’ virtual warehouse workflow, eCommerce businesses can have a clear and organized view of their raw material inventory. This helps companies to maintain visibility on their production items, know how much they have in stock, where each one of them is in the production line, and even get automated reports when raw materials are running low in stock. This helps you maintain optimal stock levels, reduce waste, and prevent mismatches in quantities needed to create final products.

Tracking the Printing Process

The printing phase is where creativity comes to life as designs, logos, and other graphics are transferred onto the fabric. This process can occur in various locales – within your city, across your state, or even within distinct sections of your warehouse. Regardless of the location, SKULabs empowers eCommerce businesses to monitor the progress of the printing stage with ease. With this tool, companies can keep tabs on the quantity of printed T-shirts, the availability of different colors and sizes, and even gain real-time insights into items at various stages of production. As a result, businesses gain a transparent view of their production timeline, enabling them to better prioritize orders and optimally allocate resources.

Monitoring Quality Control

After the printing stage, T-shirts undergo quality control to ensure that they meet the required standards. With SKULabs’ virtual warehouse feature, eCommerce businesses can track the number of items currently in the quality control stage and ensure that only high-quality products reach the customers. This not only helps in maintaining a positive brand image but also reduces returns and exchanges due to quality issues.

Managing Advertised Inventory

Once the T-shirts pass quality control, they are ready for sale. SKULabs, with an ever evolving product, allows eCommerce businesses to manage their finished products across multiple sales channels with granular control of advertised stock through highly customizable stock rules. By using virtual warehouses in combination with sales channel connected warehouses, businesses can have a unified view of their production cycle as well as their available and advertised stock to avoid overselling or underselling. This helps in meeting customer expectations, reducing cancellations or costly returns, and improving overall customer satisfaction.

Seamless Order Fulfillment

SKULabs delivers a seamless order fulfillment process that can transform the operational landscape for your T-shirt printing business. By navigating its user-friendly interface, companies can easily track the entire order journey from initiation to delivery, ensuring a smooth and efficient workflow. SKULabs’ powerful system automatically updates inventory counts, mitigating the risk of errors and inventory discrepancies. This leads not only to swifter order processing but also to reduced costs related to inventory management and handling. Embracing SKULabs’ highly customizable platform allows eCommerce businesses to heighten customer satisfaction, increase operational efficiency, and ultimately propel sales growth.

Connect with SKULabs Today

Don’t get monkeyed’ out of your hard earned cash by overpaying for processes that you do not need!

Chat with one of our experts today

Schedule a meeting or give us a call at 1800-243-2986 to learn more.

Posted in Ecommerce, Inventory Management, Small Business

The Fine Line: Customer Service or Customer Support

Posted on by Brad Baecker

Finding the right software solution for your eCommerce business can be a daunting endeavor. Every business has its unique challenges and requirements, and finding a platform that meets expectations is challenging enough in itself. At the top of the list, and a common denominator for every search is always access to support. Its not only about the amount of support, but the quality of support from your software of choice that are key factors in making your decision and final commitment. When shopping for a new IMS / OMS software, don’t be afraid to ask questions. What can I expect for support on this quoted plan? Are there additional fee’s for support or onboarding? Is it same day support, or most importantly… Is it outsourced?

Recognizing this, SKULabs‘ in-house support has meticulously crafted its approach to prioritize customized customer service over traditional customer support. Rather than offering a generic solution, SKULabs delves deep into the intricacies of each account and it’s individual settings to not only get the right answer, but the right answer for you.

This granular attention ensures that users aren’t just given standard answers, but receive guidance tailored to their particular setup. The result? Solutions that truly resonate with the distinct needs of every client. By honing in on the specifics of each account, SKULabs guarantees more precise, efficient, and effective assistance, elevating your overall user experience. Dive into the SKULabs support module and witness a nuanced approach to customer interaction that truly understands your business. Along side of this unique approach, we have partnered with some of the best B2B support interfaces available today. Don’t just settle for email based support most platforms offer, when SKULabs offers some of the most advanced and highly rated support tools in the industry!

Unlike most of our competitors, we do not charge any extra fee’s for our support or onboarding, and all customers have access to live chat support, email support, phone support and emergency line support, no matter what plan you sign up for!

Top Rated Support Interface

Integrating powerful messaging and automation for self serve and live chat provides a SKULabs direct channel of engagement for customers across support, onboarding, and consultation. SKULabs works with great passion to provide knowledge, tools, experience, and a winning solution for warehouse management processes.

Intercom, an integral partner in our support services, recently announced their biggest ever launch with more than 20 new features built to ensure providing prompt & personal support. Ranging from artificial intelligence organizational tools, to new and robust ticketing systems to facilitate an efficient and easy to use support module. Partnering with solutions that are constantly implementing the latest technology and striving to stay ahead of the curve gives SKULabs the competitive advantage over the other contenders, and the reason why our support is highly praised on big platforms such as Shopify!

Improved Support Experience

When SKULabs clients engage with our support specialists via our messenger-based chat platform, they are privy to tailored responses that align with their company’s unique organizational and warehousing workflows, ensuring a response that is both relevant and in tune with the current operations. This method is a marked improvement over conventional email-based ticketing mechanisms. Rather than attempting to summarize an entire process challenge into a single email and await a response, customers find it much easier to express the issue and converse to bring out the true nature of the inquiry. Our platform allows the seamless exchange of data such as screenshots, technical documentation, imagery, videos, CSV data sets, and even direct access to synchronous screen-sharing sessions via Google Meets. This often results in a better experience, faster results, and a more on-point solution.

Improved Onboarding Process

At the heart of our live chat support is not just any ordinary chat function, but a robust framework manned by a dedicated team of warehouse management professionals and industry experts. Their primary role extends beyond merely resolving queries; they’re committed to ensuring a seamless onboarding experience for every client. We understand the stress and anxieties of small business start-ups, to top of the industry companies looking to change IMS platforms. There will always be a fear of a learning curve, and many times a hard deadline for implementation. No worries, we got your back! We are one of the few companies that do not charge any onboarding fee’s, yet are here to help you at every step of the way!

Interestingly, the concept of “onboarding” as we define it, is not a one-time process. As most of our esteemed customers would attest, the dynamics of warehouse management and fulfillment are constantly evolving. New challenges emerge, fresh solutions are designed, and innovative capabilities are rolled out with the overarching objective of streamlining and enhancing operations. In such a fast-paced environment, the need for ongoing adaptation and learning is paramount. And that’s where our live chat support truly shines.

Whether it’s guiding clients through basic initialization procedures or assisting them in implementing intricate multi-warehouse systems using our advanced shipping rules, our support platform is engineered for clarity, precision, and efficiency. Our team is trained to not just provide answers, but to engage in meaningful dialogues that encourages clients to ask questions, read articles, and equip themselves with the knowledge and tools needed for the long haul. It is not only about offering solutions, but in empowering our customers to harness the full potential of the software, while ensuring they are always at the forefront of industry best practices.

From Repetition to Relevance

One of the paramount aspects of effective customer support is recognizing and mitigating redundancies. This is especially the case with repetitive questions and common topics. At SKULabs, we’ve not only acknowledged this issue but have instituted measures to address it proactively. With Intercoms smart features, we can generate support articles on our FAQ’s, or utilize their built in A.I. features to corroborate and itemize long and drawn out tickets to get a timeline of included important events.

Another unique selling point of our support system is its collaborative nature. Rather than operating in silos, our SKULabs support team adopts a unified approach when addressing customer challenges. This collective approach ensures that when a query or issue is presented, it isn’t isolated; instead, it’s meticulously investigated and addressed by a cohesive unit and in some cases, reviewed by a specialist on the team so that we can ensure you the best possible answers and solutions for your inquiries.

As our esteemed customer, this translates to a significant saving in time and effort for you. No longer do you need to reiterate and explain your issue every time you communicate with a different team member. The essence of your conversation, the challenges highlighted, and the solutions discussed are meticulously documented. This evolving record then serves as a vital tool in ensuring continuity in the support provided.

Every interaction you have through chat becomes part of a growing narrative about your specific needs and the challenges you’re encountering. When any SKULabs support member engages with you, they do so with a holistic understanding of your previous interactions, ensuring that the support provided is not only timely but also contextually relevant. This system optimizes the support experience, ensuring that solutions are not just accurate, but also personalized and on-point. Often you might be asked by our team to start a new ticket when an unrelated inquiry comes up on your original one to ensure each topic is treated with equal relevance.

Organization is Key!

Rapid Assistance through Our Extensive Support Library

Upon entering a query into our live chat, the system immediately suggests curated help articles for prompt resolution to numerous queries. Our sophisticated messaging algorithm scans our extensive library of support articles to offer relevant information, potentially addressing your concerns even before connecting with our live support team. For frequently posed questions, our support documentation often delivers answers in mere seconds.

Simple & Effective Support Management

No more long typed explanations trying to get every word into an email support ticket. By conversing with our support team we can ask the right questions to get to the heart of the issue, and come to a relevant solution.

We feel support services provided to our customers are crucial to their business successes, and that communication is what elevates us beyond our competitors. Careful attention into the details, feedback, and solutions provided, come from our expert product team who specialize in warehouse management, order fulfillment, and inventory management challenges.

Connect with SKULabs Today

Now is the perfect time to discuss how we can help you migrate from your outdated inventory management platform with lackluster customer support!

Chat with one of our experts today.Schedule a meeting or give us a call at 1800-243-2986 to learn more.

Posted in Ecommerce, Inventory Management, Small Business, Warehouse Management