Features of Apparel ERP Software for Fashion & Clothing Businesses

Looking for the best apparel ERP software for your fashion or clothing business? Check the top features to help you make the right choice.

The ever-evolving apparel industry is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Most importantly, to stay ahead of the competition, fashion and clothing businesses need to have robust and efficient apparel ERP software in place. An ERP for the apparel industry should have certain key features to meet the business’s specific needs. Let’s have a glance at the must-have five apparel ERP software features that fashion and clothing businesses should look for. After that, we will tell you about the best ERP for the apparel industry and how to use it for your business. Let’s get started.

1) Costing and Inventory Management:

As a business head, you know the importance of accurate costing and inventory management. It’s essential for business success. Right? Without a clear understanding of the COGS (cost of goods sold), it can be difficult to price products correctly and make informed decisions about production and inventory levels.

When you are looking at the Costing and Inventory Management feature in apparel ERP software you must look for:

• The ability to track inventory by style, size, and color.
• The ability to calculate costs using various methods (e.g. absorption, variable, and linear).
• The ability to automatically generate reports on inventory levels, costs, and turnover.
• The ability to integrate with other software systems to import and export data.
• The ability to manage and control access to the system The ability to track inventory levels, cost, and trends across multiple locations.

With this information, you can make more informed decisions about your inventory management and costing of Retail ERP software for clothing businesses.

Do You Know?

By using ERP for apparel industry, you can approach cost control in the apparel industry, by using the following techniques. You must discuss these techniques while discussing the scope of the project with your ERP provider.

2) Fabric Management:

In any business, managing materials is a necessary evil. But for businesses that are only selling fabric, the task can be daunting. There are various aspects to consider when you are looking for apparel ERP software for your business, some of which may be more important to your business than others.

Make sure to consider the following when making your decision:

• The software should be able to track your fabric inventory, both in stock and in use.
• The software should allow you to manage your vendors and purchase fabric from them easily.
• The software should help you to manage the shipping.
• The Ability to integrate with other systems, such as product lifecycle management (PLM) and supply chain management (SCM).
• Must be able to plan for future trends.

3) Integrated CRM:

Successful businesses are built on the back of healthy sales and customer relationships. That’s why it’s so important to have a good sales and CRM feature in your apparel ERP software. When you are looking at the Sales and CRM features in ERP for apparel industry you must look for.

The software should allow you to:

• Segment your customers.
• Understand customer trends.
• Analyze customer behavior.
• Customize marketing campaigns.
• Automate marketing communications.
• Provide a 360-degree view of the customer.
• Integrating with social media.

Looking for the Best ERP Software for your apparel business? At the time of comparing software ask yourselves the following questions.

• Does the software have a robust CRM system that can track customer data?
• Can the software handle multiple sales channels (e.g. online, brick-and-mortar, wholesale)?
• Does the software offer robust reporting and analytics tools?
• Is the software easy to use and navigate?

If the answer to these questions is yes, then the Sales and CRM feature in the apparel ERP software is likely a good fit for your company.

4) Sales Management:

With the growth in the apparel industry, the number of businesses has increased manifold. Each business owner wants to ensure the smooth functioning of their store and needs a platform that can offer the best sales management solution.

Clothing ERP software provides the perfect solution for businesses by incorporating a sales management feature. When you are looking at the Sales Management feature in apparel ERP software, you must look for:

• The ability to manage multiple sales channels.
• The ability to track and monitor sales.
• The ability to create and manage customer profiles.
• The ability to generate reports on sales data.
• The ability to manage inventory levels.
• The ability to set up and manage commissions.
• The ability to integrate with other software systems.
• In-depth analysis of sales data.
• The ability to segment data by specific criteria.

Read More: Best ERP for Retail Industry: Benefits & Features

5) Warehouse and Transportation Management:

In the current business scenario, apparel ERP software with warehouse and transportation management features is considered essential for the apparel industry. In order to survive and thrive in this environment, companies need to have a robust and efficient supply chain. A key part of an efficient supply chain is warehouse and transportation management.

When looking for a Warehouse and Transportation Management (WTM) feature in an apparel ERP system you should seek out a solution that offers the following:

• The ability to streamline and automate key warehouse processes such as receiving, put-away, picking, and shipping.
• Robust reporting and analytics capabilities to track KPIs and optimize performance.
• Flexible integration options to connect with other business-critical systems.
• Must help in optimizing the utilization of resources.
• Must be able to reduce the lead time.

Read More: Top 7 Factors of Selecting ERP for your Business

Which is the Best Apparel ERP Software for my Business? & How to Use it?

With so many different ERP systems on the market, it can be hard to know which one is right for your business. But don’t worry – we’re here to help.

Now there are a plethora of ERP software providers in the marketplace, however, there are big giants in this market are SAP, Oracle & Microsoft. Analysts will refer to those larger ERP systems as the Tier one ERP systems because these ERP systems are most suitable for Small & mid-size businesses along with larger organizations. Tier one providers are generally trying to provide a breadth of functionality that can meet the needs of those organizations. If you will ask any business coach or consultant about ERP and which one is best for your business? Then definitely an expert will answer you in one word.  Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for apparel is a complete, end-to-end apparel ERP software that helps you manage your entire fashion business. With Business Central, you can:

• Create and manage products.
• Develop and manage Future plans.
• Execute and manage wholesale operations.
• Analyze and report on business performance.

Business Central is a complete solution for fashion businesses of all sizes. So if you’re looking for a way to streamline your operations and grow your business, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a great option to consider.

Read More: 8 Reasons to Choose Microsoft Business Central ERP

How can we use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for Fashion?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Partners is a powerful tool that can help businesses in a variety of industries to streamline their operations and improve their bottom line. But how can businesses in the fashion industry specifically benefit from using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central? Let’s have a look.

Let’s take a look at the Top 5 Features & How to use them?

1) Manage Own Brand and Private Label Collections:

Microsoft Business Central allows managing own Brand and private label collections. By using this feature in apparel ERP software, you can easily control different colors and sizes of the same product and centralize all the data to increase information clearly. Moreover, your Microsoft Dynamics Business Central can customize the Apparel ERP for your business-specific requirements.

2) The Matrix View:

Use matrix view to enter orders in a faster and more flexible way. The Matrix view allows you to see your business’s data in a whole new way. With the Matrix view, you can easily see relationships and patterns that were hidden before. This can help you make better decisions about your business and improve your overall operations.

3) Robust Dashboard:

A dashboard of Microsoft Dynamics Business Central allows its users to get information in a customized way. A dashboard of this apparel ERP system can be used to display data from multiple Business Central pages in a single view. It can also be used to show data from other sources, such as Excel or SQL Server.

Dashboards are created and customized by dragging and dropping fields from available lists onto the canvas. The layout and design of the dashboard are completely customizable, so users can tailor the dashboard to their specific needs.

Business Central also provides a variety of pre-built dashboards that can be used as-is or customized to fit the needs of the user. To access the pre-built dashboards, go to the main menu and select Dashboards.

4) Boost Your Sales:

The sales module in Microsoft Business Central is a powerful apparel ERP software module that can help you manage your sales pipeline and close more deals. It is divided into two main sections: the sales pipeline and the sales history.

The sales pipeline is where you’ll track your current and potential deals, while the sales history is where you can view your past deals. To add a new deal to the sales pipeline, simply click the “Add New” button and fill out the required fields. You can then assign the deal to a specific salesperson, set a target close date, and add any relevant notes. Once a deal has been closed, it will move to the sales history section. Here you can view the details.

5) Inventory Management with Business Central:

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central provides a robust and powerful inventory module that can help businesses track and manage their inventory levels. You can set up your inventory items. To do this, you can simply go to the Items page and create a new item. Enter the item’s name, description, and other relevant information. Then, go to the Inventory page and create a new inventory record. Enter the item’s name, quantity, and location. You can also add additional information such as the item’s unit of measure and cost. Once you have set up your inventory items, you can start tracking your inventory levels. With this module, you can set up reorder points and stock levels, track inventory adjustments, and generate reports.

However, these are only five major features that we have discussed over here. Business Central is the best apparel ERP software that will help you in many ways.

To know more about its capabilities and features you can simply go with the free consultation facility and find out which features of the apparel ERP system are more suitable for you.

Wrapping it up

When it comes to apparel ERP software, there are many software features that are important for fashion and clothing businesses. The most important features include the ability to manage inventory, create and track orders, and generate reports. Customized apparel ERP software can help businesses to streamline their operations and improve their bottom line.