Let’s be honest. Taking beverage inventory can be time-consuming and tedious. But it’s also critical for maintaining a healthy profit margin, monitoring for loss or theft, and knowing when to order more. What’s a busy bar or restaurant manager to do?
Go digital with beverage inventory management software.
See 5 reasons why this software can be your bottom line’s best friend. Then, check out 10 of the top beverage inventory systems.
5 Reasons to Use Beverage Inventory Software
Save Time
This is a no brainer. Skip the printed spreadsheet on a clipboard – then all the time it takes to copy the data into Excel. Most of the 10 beverage inventory management software options let you take inventory on your smartphone or a digital handheld device. The data goes right into the beverage inventory management software.
Reduce Labor Costs
Have you delegated inventory to a staff member? Chances are, they’re staying later or coming in early to do the dirty work of taking inventory the old-fashioned way. With beverage inventory management software, you can save on labor costs. One company even promises to save you 30 hours each month…sweet!
Minimize Errors
After a long shift, mistakes happen. Whether it’s calculations gone wrong or illegible handwriting, taking inventory by hand results in human error. Instead, beverage inventory management software does the math for you. Some may even red-flag irregular data entry. (You don’t really have 1,000 bottles of vodka, do you?)
Track Trends
Unless you’re an Excel wizard, basic spreadsheets won’t reveal spending or spillage trends over time. Beverage inventory management software can serve up tons of useful reports in a few clicks.
Real-Time Look
With beverage inventory management software, you can sneak a peek into your sales and usage – right on your smartphone, tablet, or computer. Quite a few software systems also send alerts to your phone if a bottle is about to be 86’ed.
10 Beverage Inventory Management Software Reviews
Let’s dive into the 10 most popular options. All software on this list integrates with most POS systems, but check with each company before signing up to ensure streamlined POS integration.
1. Partender
| Inventory: | Liquor, Beer, Wine |
|---|---|
| Top Features: | Weightless inventory, mobile app, consumption analytics |
| Pricing: | Starting at $165/month |
Take inventory in 15 minutes. That’s Partender’s claim to fame. Featured on the TV show, Bar Rescue, Partender can help your bar or restaurant stay on par with beverage costs.
The most unique feature is “weightless inventory.” To measure the amount in each bottle, just tap the liquor level on your mobile device interface, then swipe for the next bottle.
Ordering is just as simple. This beverage inventory management software system runs a report and emails you a purchase form organized by distributor. Send the list to your liquor rep, then boom – you’re done.
2. Barkeep
| Inventory: | Liquor |
|---|---|
| Top Features: | Mobile app (Apple iOS only), online analytics, low cost |
| Pricing: | $40 for the Barkeep App, $30/month for online tools |
Not ready to go all in with beverage inventory management software? Start with Barkeep. The mobile app for Apple devices is just $40 and turns your smartphone or tablet camera into a scanning device. Hook up the Bluetooth $99 Escali SmartConnect digital scale to weigh bottles and you’re good to go.
If you want robust reports – from pour cost to usage analytics – subscribe to Barkeep Online. Accessible through any web browser, the online beverage inventory management software can also integrate inventory with your POS and generate order sheets.
By the way, we love their motto: Count every drop, because every drop counts.
3. TavernTrak
| Inventory: | Liquor, Beer, Wine, Draft Beer |
|---|---|
| Top Features: | Staff alerts for overpouring, draft beer flow meter |
| Pricing: | Contact for pricing |
If you can sell it behind a bar, TavernTrak can track it. This beverage inventory management software keeps things simple with a 2-step “scan then weigh” Intelli-Count process. The company claims it takes less than 6 seconds to inventory each product. Just scan the bottle using their handheld device, set it on the digital scale – and the data is recorded.
Want a detailed look into how your usage (pours) compare to sales? Turn to TavernTrak’s Windows-based reporting. When integrated with a POS system, this beverage inventory management software provides reports that show pours and sales per bartender, register, product, and time of day.
TavernTrak even offers a solution for monitoring draft beer pours using a flow meter. But what TavernTrak focuses on is providing accountability for overpouring. Alerts can be automatically generated and sent to both bartender and manager.
4. Orca Inventory
| Inventory: | Beer, Wine, Liquor, Food |
|---|---|
| Top Features: | AI system to learn ordering habits, easy product search, mobile app |
| Pricing: | Starting at $129/month plus $900 1-time licensing fee |
Is it a robot or a beverage inventory management software system? With Orca, it’s both. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and a patent-pending algorithm, this system gets smarter as you use it. For example, if you sell out of a product, Orca knows to increase your next order.
When entering inventory, Orca detects deviations from previous ordering habits. You’ll be prompted to confirm any out-of-the-ordinary numbers. Now that’s smart beverage inventory management software.
Orca’s Intelli-Vendor Ordering also generates “smart orders” for your venue. The orders are based on prior ordering and consumption trends with the goal of lowering your overall beverage costs.
While the technology behind Orca sounds complex, the beverage inventory management software is one of the easiest to use.
5. BevSpot
| Inventory: | Beer, Wine, Liquor, Food |
|---|---|
| Top Features: | Mobile app, online ordering from vendors, delivery confirmation |
| Pricing: | Starting at $68/month, 14-day free trial available |
With BevSpot, convenience is king. From a single spot – a dashboard accessible on any mobile or desktop device – you can track inventory, place orders, and even confirm deliveries. (No worries, BevSpot still works in spots with a poor internet connection thanks to the offline mode.)
The intuitive, flexible features of BevSpot set it apart from other beverage inventory management software options.
For example, BevSpot’s beverage inventory management software lets you organize items based on how they’re placed on your shelves. Plus, multiple staff members can take inventory at the same time on their own devices. As inventory is being taken, products can be tracked by unit or weight.
6. Bevinco Mobile
| Inventory: | Beer, Wine, Liquor |
|---|---|
| Top Features: | Full-service inventory support, mobile app (Apple iOS only) |
| Pricing: | Contact for pricing |
Looking for a human touch with your beverage inventory management software? Sculpture Hospitality, which offers the Bevinco Mobile app, can send in professionals to take inventory for you.
More than counting bottles, Sculpture Hospitality pros can perform an audit and create a plan to improve your profitability. Follow the plan, and Sculpture Hospitality claims bars can expect net profit improvements of $1000-$5000 per month.
Not into the full-service inventory solution? You can share inventory responsibilities or go solo and just use Bevinco Mobile. It’s beverage inventory management software accessible on your Apple iOS phone or tablet.
Sculpture Hospitality promotes a precision approach to inventory (no eyeballing!). Bevinco Mobile includes a Bluetooth scanner and scale for capturing accurate data.
7. Bevager
| Inventory: | Beer, Wine, Liquor |
|---|---|
| Top Features: | 20-minute inventory, ordering through mobile app, Quickbooks integration |
| Pricing: | Starting at $99.99/month |
Bevager gets right to the point: use their beverage inventory management software and lower your pour cost by 10%, while saving 30 hours each month. After all, they promise you can cruise through taking inventory in 20 minutes or less.
It starts with Bevager’s mobile app. From your phone, you can track inventory using the barcode scanner. Then, Bevager automatically splits up your orders by vendor. Finally, the app will send out each order using the rep’s preferred communication (email, SMS text, or a PDF document).
When invoices come in? Use your phone to take pics and Bevager will sync up the invoice data with Quickbooks.
8. WISK Ai
| Inventory: | Liquor, Wine and Beer |
|---|---|
| Top Features: | AI system that helps make smarter orders, ability to order liquor directly, mobile app |
| Pricing: | Starts at $124/month |
The smartest beverage inventory management software available today, WISK Ai puts artificial intelligence to work for your bar or restaurant. This brilliant inventory system integrates data from sales trends, upcoming holidays, and even the weather, to suggest optimal products and quantities to order.
Taking inventory itself is a breeze – and WISK Ai claims you’ll cut down the time it takes you to count your bottles by 80%. As for dead stock, WISK Ai says it will be a thing of the past as its software recommends only in-demand stock.
While the behind-the-scenes AI tech may be super sophisticated, WISK Ai is refreshingly easy to use. You can access this beverage inventory management software from your desktop or mobile device. One of the standout features is WISK Ai’s recipe costing and drink pricing tool. It’s never been easier to build in better margins. You’ll also get insightful reports that can identify losses or best-selling products.
Basically, WISK Ai is the best beverage inventory management software if you want to save money and please customers through smarter orders.
9. Bar-i
| Inventory: | Beer, Wine, Liquor |
|---|---|
| Top Features: | Voice command, full-service option available |
| Pricing: | Free Count software is 100% free, Speed Count starts at $50/month, Speed Count Pro starts at $300/month |
Move over Amazon Alexa. Bar-i’s Speed Count Pro beverage inventory management software uses voice commands to track inventory. This software integrates with your POS system so you can compare what was poured to what was sold.
Like Sculpture Hospitality, Bar-i also offers a full-service option. A professional comes in and tracks inventory, crunches the numbers, and sends a report – all in one day.
If you’re just toying with the idea of beverage inventory management software, start with their Free Count digital tool (yes, it’s really free).
10. Accubar
| Inventory: | Liquor, Beer, Wine, Food |
|---|---|
| Top Features: | Mobile app, consumption analysis |
| Pricing: | Contact for pricing |
Accubar beverage inventory management software is scalable, making it a great choice if you manage multiple locations. A user-friendly barcode scanner makes it easy to scan bottles fast.
Or, use the camera on your Android or Apple mobile device as a scanner. As an added bonus, this beverage inventory management software can also be used to track food.
With the right beverage inventory management software in place, you can save your business serious cash and streamline the inventory process. Now is a great time to go digital: use these 10 beverage inventory management software systems to start your search. Cheers to your bar’s success!
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