TradeGecko Review: Everything You Need to Know

There are few things more important in the world of digital sales than being able to keep track of your inventory. Inventory management software is one of the top items on any entrepreneur’s must-have technology list (and for a good reason).

Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to find a solution that you can rely on.

TradeGecko promises today’s brands a powerful and customizable experience for online inventory management. With this unique cloud-based software, businesses can keep track of all the products that they sell, and manufacture across multiple locations and channels.

Unlike other inventory management tools, TradeGecko gives businesses the freedom to combine multiple channels and programs into an all-in-one overview of their digital store. There’s also the option to control orders and fulfill requests from your all-in-one interface.

Here’s everything you need to know about TradeGecko.

What is TradeGecko? An Overview

TradeGecko is a cloud-based tool operating on the software-as-a-service model. Offering support for small to mid-sized businesses, TradeGecko is all about helping companies to manage their inventory and operations in an easy-to-understand environment. Companies all around the globe already rely on TradeGecko to run.

Though the TradeGecko headquarters is in Singapore, the company began in New Zealand. Carl Thompson was frustrated by the complexity of managing inventory data for his own clothing label. In 2011, he decided to design his own tool for back-end administration. Partnering with brothers Bradley and Cameron Priest, Thompson launched TradeGecko.

In almost ten years, the company has evolved drastically, supporting more than $1 billion in transactions. TradeGecko also has customers in more than 100 countries. The automated and integrated software provides companies with everything they need to run an active multichannel or wholesale business.

TradeGecko Pros and Cons

All software has its distinct pros and cons to consider. Tools like TradeGecko for inventory management are excellent for anyone who wants to master order management without having to worry about Excel spreadsheets. As the perfect addition to your B2B eCommerce platform, Tradegecko can help you to make your sales life easier.

However, The company also has a reputation for some poor customer service. According to TradeGecko reviews, it’s tough to get responses to your questions in real-time. The customer support just isn’t as great as you would expect from companies like Shopify, or Shipstation, for instance.

Here are some of the pros and cons to be aware of if you’re planning on using this inventory management software for your small business.

Pros 👍

• Excellent for multi-channel sales orders
• Wholesale supply chain management
• Support for all parts of the sales journey
• B2B platform support
• Quick and easy payment experience with TradeGecko Payments
• Automation components to streamline workflows
• Reporting and insights with intelligence
• Powerful integrations with tools like Quickbooks, WooCommerce, Amazon, Xero and more
• Good value for money

Cons 👎

• Occasional problems with software bugs
• Some learning curve issues
• Problems with customer support

TradeGecko Review: TradeGecko Pricing

Before you start combining your sales channels with TradeGecko, you’ll need to make sure that this service suits your budget. TradeGecko can be a powerful tool for the right business. It integrates with things like Quickbooks online and Magento so that you can manage more of your business in the same place. Additionally, it comes with a 14-day free trial so that you can experiment before you buy.

When your free trial runs out, you can get a monthly discount if you pay for an entire year of service upfront. The packages currently available for people on an annual plan are:

• Founder: $39 per month for one user, one sales channel integration, 50 sales orders per month, a single warehouse, multiple currency support, zonal shipping rates, basic user rights, accounting integrations, a mobile sales app, TradeGecko payments, and basic intelligence.
• Lite: $79 per month for two users, all the features of Founder, 300 orders per month, and the TradeGecko Connect function.
• Small Business: $199 per month for all the features of Lite, plus access for 5 users, 1,000 orders, multiple warehouses, batch, and expiry tracking, B2B ecommerce, TradeGecko manufacturing, and two hours of set-up support.
• Business: $599 per month for everything in small business, plus 8 users, 3,000 orders, API access, account management tools, FBA integrations, advanced B2B support, warehouse management apps, and demand forecasting.
• Premium: $799 per month for all the features of Business, plus support for 15 users, 5,000 orders a month, multi-language documents, 8 hours of setup assistance, and multi-themed documents.

TradeGecko also has a “Pro” package available for enterprise companies. Pricing for this package is only available when you contact the team. However, if you have the cash to pay for Pro, it could cover all of your business needs. You get unlimited user support and unlimited orders too.

Features

TradeGecko is a solution that helps companies to organize payments, products, orders, and information in the same place. Ultimately, it’s a tool for tracking all the complicated components of running a business. Let’s take a look at some of the features you get with TradeGecko.

Manufacturing and Inventory Support

At the heart of the TradeGecko platform is its inventory management and manufacturing tools. The convenient inventory management interface gives you absolute control over all the items that you sell. Whether you’re brand-owner selling wholesale to a business, or you’re a company selling to clients, TradeGecko will help you to keep track of everything.

The inventory management and manufacturing tools built into the system include:

• Inventory Control: With inventory control features, you can track your inventory and make sure that you never run out of stock. TradeGecko automatically updates stock levels for you and keeps track of purchases across multiple locations and warehouses.
• Inventory Optimization: The inventory management system allows companies to make sure that they always have the right stock at the right times. You can streamline your internal operations through automated strategies for demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and even re-ordering processes.
• Warehouse management: If you have multiple warehouses to keep track of for your company, TradeGecko will make it easier to watch over everything at the same time. You can transfer stock between warehouses and receive or fulfill orders for specific warehouses individually.
• Wholesale inventory management: Ideal for wholesale companies, the wholesale inventory management service means that you can take bulk orders quickly and easily with a private and automated platform. Create and email quotes and invoicing details for your clients. There’s even the option to set up your own self-service solution.
• Manufacturing: TradeGecko supports the management of complete manufacturing workflows and automation. This means that you can keep an eye on everything that happens within your business. From purchase through to order fulfilments, you never lose sight of your processes.

TradeGecko Order Management and Shipping

TradeGecko is more than just an inventory management solution. This software makes it easier for businesses of all sizes to strengthen their position online. The order management and shipping tools from TradeGecko are perfect for any account manager hoping to increase revenue. You can even handle your orders and supply requests from the TradeGecko mobile app.

Features for order management and shipping include:

• Order management: Automatically sync your orders with your inventory and increase the efficiency of business operations in the process. You can pay close attention to everything that’s happening in your business, including when you’re about to run out of stock. There’s an option to set up reorder triggers and receive notifications whenever your stock lists fall below a certain level, with alerts for your iPad or iPhone.
• Purchase order management: Improve compliance and enhance your business operations with purchase order management. Business leaders can create, edit, and email purchase orders that automatically update the inventory levels in your system. You get to ensure data accuracy, while simultaneously generating reports so you know when you need to order more stock for your customers.
• Backorder management: The TradeGecko inventory management solution comes with backorder management services too. Using your order management software, you can pre-order inventory to fulfil all orders on time. Make sure that your inventory levels stay perfect as your business grows.
• Price list management: Knowing how to effectively manage prices is crucial when you’re running an online business. Fortunately, the Tradegecko integration for your business will help you to manage your expenses properly. You can add custom prices lists to your business in different currencies, or for different customer types, product categories, and locations too.
• Shipping management: Shipping is another essential part of your business plan that you can manage with TradeGecko. Simplify the shipping process by setting up your shipping rates according to the location, and the different shipping methods available.
• Batch and expiry tracking: Lot and batch tracking gives you more visibility into your products and how your inventory moves. The easier it is for you to keep track of all the products you’re selling through Shopify, BigCommerce, or any other tool the easier it is to improve customer relationships. You also reduce the risk of spoilage and improve company workflow.

TradeGecko Customer Relationship

Better inventory syncing and order management naturally leads to better relationships with your target audience. However, there are other ways that you can build a stronger connection with your audience too. For instance, TradeGecko has a variety of extra features that you can use alongside your inventory system for order fulfillment and relationship management.

No matter your company size, these features will be crucial when it comes to developing brand loyalty in your target audience. Features include:

• Order fulfillment: TradeGecko makes it quick and simple to automate and control your order fulfillment with less cost and more efficiency. You can upgrade the volume of stock takes that your business can handle, and integrate locations, channels, and processes to ensure better visibility and fewer mistakes.
• CRM technology: You can integrate TradeGecko with other tools for customer service, phone support, and so on, or you can use the in-built CRM environment. Trade Gecko’s CRM allows companies to keep all customer and supplier data in the same place. The technology automatically records order and purchase history for clients, so that you can understand where your customer’s behavior might take them.
• Inventory management reports: Data and reports are an essential part of improving customer experiences. You need to understand which of your products are the most popular so you can support the needs of your target audience. The TradeGecko software makes it easy to run regular stock reports for deeper business insights.
• Sales reports: As well as inventory management reports, you can also access and generate accurate insights into your sales. When you know what your best times are for purchases, you can improve your chances of getting the best revenue from your audience. The Tradegecko inventory management software allows businesses to generate reports by product, customer, location, channel, and more.

Payments and Accounting

If you need a solution for order fulfilments that can help you to make the most out of your online business, TradeGecko could be just the software that you’ve been looking for. On top of a wide selection of tools and seamless integrations with leading software, TradeGecko also offers some powerful payment systems and accounting tools too.

For instance, TradeGecko Payments is available for companies that want to take full advantage of the complete unleashed power of TradeGecko for their ecommerce business. The payment system is powered by Stripe and allows users to start accepting cash from customers much faster than usual. The TradeGecko invoices that you create for your website can also feature a Pay Now button so that clients can make purchases faster.

TradeGecko Payments is only available for a handful of countries at the moment, although the business does plan on rolling the technology out to consumers worldwide.

Aside from TradeGecko Payments, the software also comes with fantastic integrations with many major solutions for online accounting and economics management. You can even create different price lists for different kinds of customers.

Whether you want to adjust your pricing to suit the client that’s currently browsing through your website, or you need to keep track of your taxes, TradeGecko has a lot of fantastic features to offer. The only downside is that for now, you can’t conduct bank reconciliation actions in TradeGecko. Instead, you need to integrate transfer data from TradeGecko into an accounting system instead.

The good news is that because TradeGecko integrates with tools like Xero and QuickBooks, this isn’t too much of a problem for most business owners.

Ease of Use

Even the best tool for inventory and order management won’t be much good if you don’t feel comfortable using it with your team. Fortunately, TradeGecko isn’t as complicated as you might think. There’s no need to worry about installing any complicated software because TradeGecko is available as a web-based application.

Additionally, if you want to log in and manage your inventory on the move, then there’s a mobile app available too. The Mobile app means that you can track purchases, fulfill orders, and more without having to sit down at a desktop computer.

Whether you log in from a computer or a mobile device, you’re going to get an experience that’s intuitive and effective for any business owner. TradeGecko has been on the market for quite a while now, and the software is very well-refined as a result. The interface is easy to navigate and straightforward. The aesthetics are pretty nice, too – everything seems to work well together.

When you’re not using the navigation bar to find the things that you need, it can minimize out of the way, so that you’re not getting distracted as you work.

From start to finish, you feel completely comfortable on TradeGecko. The dashboard shows you how to get your account setup when you’re new to the software. The step-by-step process is perfect for beginners. There’s also a quick and easy way to add any of the integrations that you want to include with your technology too.

We’re particularly impressed by the fact that you can upload large batches of customers and supplier details in one go. This makes compiling your environment a lot simpler. No matter which device you decide to use TradeGecko with, you’re sure to get a fantastic experience.

Customer Support

TradeGecko is a brilliant tool for business owners that need to keep track of everything from barcode details to sales numbers. However, even the best technology isn’t much good if you can’t rely on the customer service team from time to time.

The good news is that TradeGecko features a highly detailed and comprehensive knowledgebase. This environment comes with a variety of step-by-step instructions on how to use the tool. You can learn how to do things like track sales on eBay, as well as how to use things like a product SKU.

If you don’t feel like taking the DIY approach to solving inventory management problems, don’t worry. On top of ease of use and tons of documentation, TradeGecko also offers a relatively reliable selection of professional guidance options. Email support is available for all plans, and everyone can access community support too.

Unfortunately, the phone support option is reserved exclusively for people on the Business Premium plans. Email should get you a reasonably quick response most of the time. You can also use live and pre-recorded webinars and eBooks to teach yourself a thing or two. However, it would be nice to have a live chat option or more access to phone calls for people on cheaper tiers.

TradeGecko Review: Integrations and Add-ons

These days, it’s becoming increasingly important for the tools we use every day to be as flexible as possible. Nobody wants to spend their entire workday jumping from one app to another to get things done. That’s why developer teams are using SDKs and APIs to make integrations and add-ons more accessible.

With TradeGecko, you’ll get a relatively flexible environment for your offline or online business. If you need to link your ecommerce business to your inventory management system, then you’ll have access to things like Magento, Shopify, Amazon, and WooCommerce.

Account integrations include Intuit QuickBooks Online, and Xero, with more add-ons appearing all the time. There’s also access to things like ShipStation and StarShipIt for order fulfilment. If you want to predict the amount of inventory you’ll need for certain periods in advance, then you can use tools like Lokad Salescast. There’s also access to the Shopify POS, Salesforce for CRM technology, and Google Drive too.

It’s worth checking out the full range of integrations available from the TradeGecko marketplace. The more you can keep all of your technology in the same place, the quicker you’ll see the full potential of your business unleashed.

Who is TradeGecko Best Suited to?

TradeGecko is an inventory management and business support system. It’s great for companies that need to handle high-volume inventories. For instance, if you’re distributing products from a lot of different sources, or you’re a wholesale reseller, then TradeGecko will be perfect for you.

The specialized tools in this software allow users to transfer information on stock between different locations quickly. This also allows for the provision of price breaks for huge orders. With the private eCommerce portal, your business customers can also log in to their own profiles and see their assigned pricing details and other information.

The inventory management tools for TradeGecko are excellent for when you need full inventory control. Your data will automatically update according to your sales, so there’s no chance of you accidentally selling stock that you don’t have available.

TradeGecko provides full insight into your inventory, with a centralized environment for all of your orders, no matter how many channels you need to track. There’s also an option to create custom sales report for every channel. That makes it easier to see which streams of revenue are benefiting you most. More than just an inventory management tool, TradeGecko goes above and beyond.

The robustness of this tool means that you get many of the same benefits of an ERP system in an environment that’s convenient and easy to use.

Selling Globally with TradeGecko

TradeGecko offers flexible pricing and payment processing to people all across the globe. No matter the size of your business, this software gives you the power to grow. You can scale your features according to your needs, paying only for the features that suit you. As your business evolves, you can take advantage of more flexible capabilities, like multiple currency support.

Even if you accept multiple currencies from your customers, you’ll still be paid using your base currency. The accounting and analytics reports associated with TradeGecko will still use your base currency, so your financial data should be easy to follow.

TradeGecko’s global support also includes help for managing multiple warehouses anywhere in the world. You can even set country-specific tax policies, so you know that you’re compliant with any company that you might be selling in.

Another feature that makes TradeGecko appealing from a global sales perspective, is that it helps you to grow on an eCommerce level too. You can link the software to any eCommerce website that you build. TradeGecko will help to power your store with integrations to tools like WooCommerce and Shopify. Or you can just use the API to link everything together.

If you’re a company selling through a marketplace like Amazon, then you can integrate your sales and inventory data for this strategy too.

What Are the Biggest Problems with TradeGecko?

There are many positive points for business owners to enjoy with TradeGecko. Seamless integration with your favorite tools and easy order fulfilment processes are big bonuses. Adding products is a quick and easy process, and you get the peace of mind of knowing that everything syncs instantly. There’s even things like customer relationship management and supplier management to help keep your company properly aligned.

However, there are some downsides to this software too. Although the team is constantly working at TradeGecko to eliminate the problems that users still have with the software, you might have a few problems to begin with.

For instance, although you can integrate with external POS technology using TradeGecko, there’s no active in-built solution available with the company’s own proprietary technology. This might not be a huge issue to some companies, but it’s likely to put some sellers off.

There’s also no obviously complete financial accounting system. You could argue that this tool is for inventory management rather than accounts. However, a lot of modern inventory tools come with accounting technology included. Once again, TradeGecko asks you to rely on integrations for this feature. However, the fact that it integrates with so many popular accounting tools could make it more impressive for some businesses who want to avoid learning how to use a new system.

A major problem with TradeGecko is that the software doesn’t always run as quickly as it should. Some users complain that the technology faces several glitchy periods. We didn’t encounter this problem ourselves, but it might be something worth keeping an eye on.

Smartphone app and B2B functionality is also a little limited. The app functionality is handy, but it only covers the basics. At the same time, the B2B has a lot of room for growth. It does seem likely that the company will continue to add to this functionality, however. The TradeGecko team seems to be constantly investing in new ways to grow and support customers.

This doesn’t extend to the refund options available from TG, however. Currently, credit card refunds are only available through an all-or-nothing policy. This is something that the business will need to fix very quickly if it wants to keep attracting new clients.

Our final major gripe with the technology revolves around the support team. Ultimately, phone support shouldn’t be reserved exclusively for people with a more expensive account. If a company is going to give its customers email as the only way to stay in touch, then it needs a team ready to respond to messages as quickly as possible.

TradeGecko Review: Final Verdict

So, is TradeGecko worth your time and money? Well, there’s a lot going for this technology. There are tons of ways that you can make your business more lucrative with TradeGecko’s help.

The inventory syncing technology is brilliant, and shipper and supplier management is great too. We loved the freedom that came with the cost tracking and custom pricing models. Plus, it’s handy to have a mobile sales system too.

However, TradeGecko might not be the best inventory management software that we’ve ever seen. There’s a lot of alternative tech on the market that could deliver better results, particularly when you consider some of the negative issues that we highlighted above.

Saying that TradeGecko could rank much higher in the SaaS market if it made a few basic changes. Fixing common bugs and upgrading the customer service strategy would be an easy way to get TradeGecko ahead of its competitors.

If you want to give this technology a try for yourself, we’d recommend checking out the free demo version. The demo is robust enough to provide you with a good overview of many of the major features you’re going to be using.

If you don’t mind contending with some of the bugs, then TradeGecko could be an excellent investment for you and your team.