Best ERP Wholesale Distribution Software Compared: Top 10 in 2024

ERPs, or enterprise resource planning software solutions, are great for running various businesses. Among the various industries and operations, wholesale distribution is a very important part of many ERP platforms.

In this review, we’ll discuss the meaning of wholesale distribution operations, and compare the 10 best wholesale distribution software. 

This article will look at prices, pros and cons, and features of the top software currently available and help you choose the right one for your business.

So, let’s get started!

Wholesale distribution ERP software comparison chart (top 10 highest rated)

Have a quick look at this amazing table featuring our best ERP software for wholesale distributors. It’s just an appetizer, the main course of in-depth reviews comes next.

What is the best wholesale distribution software? Here’s our top 10 list:

Time to read all about our very best wholesale distribution software. These ERP are some of the top systems used by distributors and wholesalers in the wholesale industry. This includes B2B sellers, B2C stores online and in real life, and ecommerce operations. Are you ready? Let’s do this.
 

1. Acumatica (Best wholesale software overall)

Acumatica is a leading cloud-based ERP and one of the best wholesale software solutions overall. The company was founded in 2008, and today Acumatica has over 8,000 customers.

Pros:

With Acumatica, you can take advantage of workflow automations for running everything from initial quoting to invoicing to payment processing.

Acumatica combines the powers of ERP solutions and CRM functionality to help streamline the distribution process, get more sales orders, and increase profitability.

Acumatica is ideal for ecommerce operations who need to optimize everything from inventory management and WMS, all the way to order processing and order fulfillment. Warehouse management even includes useful barcode scanning.

Cons:

Since Acumatica is the number one vendor on this wholesale distribution business list, we will refrain from listing any disadvantages, aside from the lack of pricing information on their website.

Pricing:

Contact Acumatica for pricing.

Visit Acumatica
 

2. Fishbowl (Best distribution software systems for ecommerce)

In general, Fishbowl is an inventory management software and warehouse operations management platform that allows users to automate much of the business process. It is also an ideal wholesale distribution software for ecommerce.

Pros:

For ecommerce operations, whether small business or large, Fishbowl lets you automate order management, and track inventory and other order data in real-time. 

You can do great inventory management by syncing your stock levels to Fishbowl from various online marketplaces.

For supply chain management and as a TMS, or transportation management system, Fishbowl lets you stay on top of shipped receivables to their destination.

There are also some decent accounting software tools with Fishbowl if this is what your business needs.

Fishbowl is available as an on-premise or cloud ERP.

Cons:

While Fishbowl is among the best wholesale distribution business software for ecommerce, if you're in a very small business, it might seem like too much.

Pricing:

For Fishbowl pricing, visit their website.

Visit Fishbowl
 

3. Oracle NetSuite (Best ERP wholesale distribution software for inventory and warehouse management)

There is hardly a business need or business process that Oracle’s NetSuite does not cover, from customer relationship management to top-level wholesale distribution management.

Pros:

For anyone in the wholesale distribution industry, NetSuite is a leader in inventory management and warehouse management systems. 

NetSuite can help users reduce shipping costs, streamline shipping routes, and ensure that inventory control levels never dip below what your business needs.

You also get to leverage Oracle’s business intelligence for better financial planning, real-time accounting analytics and financial forecasting.

This is one of those ERP systems with solid CRM tools, like multi-channel marketing campaigns and omnichannel sales order processing.

Cons:

Some of the Oracle NetSuite key features won’t strike every user as being very intuitive at first, for example, with many of the financial management tools. But you do get used to them.

Pricing:

For NetSuite pricing information visit Oracle.

NetSuite review 

Visit NetSuite
 

4. Quickbooks Enterprise (Good wholesale distribution software for small business)

You might find it amusing that we are saying that the Intuit Quickbooks enterprise edition is the best wholesale distribution app for small businesses, but Quickbooks has always been good at servicing companies on the smaller side.

Pros:

Many people are already familiar with Quickbooks for their business management accounting and tax needs, and for that reason, they’ll like Quickbooks Enterprise for desktop to handle everything from warehousing to order management.

You have great solid workflows, for example, to automate your pricing based on shipping charges or other markups. 

Good vendor management tool which helps with your purchase orders, procurement and regular reorder needs.

Quickbooks also has great looking dashboards and interfaces. 

Cons:

For some of the higher level distribution functionality, you might require some third party integrations, for example, with online marketplace apps.

Pricing:

• Quickbooks Gold with Core cloud access is $199 per month billed annually 

• Quickbooks Platinum with Core cloud access is $232 per month billed annually 

• Quickbooks Diamond with Core cloud access is $404 per month billed annually 

• Local only prices also available

Quickbooks Online review

Visit Quickbooks Enterprise
 

5. Microsoft Dynamics 365 (Great ERP distribution tool for project management)

While Microsoft Dynamics does not list wholesale distribution as one of their signature products or solutions, you can definitely use this famous enterprise resource planning system for distribution needs.

Pros:

In the areas where wholesale distribution and project management overlap, MS Dynamics 365 is a top software. You got your resource allocation optimization, accounting and financial management tools, and  streamlined processes between order processing, invoicing and final order fulfillment.

There are more advanced intelligent order management features, using workflows and AI to help with digital businesses and ecommerce operations.

When you combine many of the Dynamics 365 products for a single unified ERP experience, you get the benefits of Microsoft’s many modules, from marketing, sales channel optimization, CRM, SCM, and human resources too.

Cons:

Microsoft Dynamics does not have a module specifically labeled wholesale distribution, so you will have to find the right tools inside other products, like supply chain management or project management.

Pricing:

• Dynamics 365 Project Operations costs $120 per user per month 

• Dynamics 365 Intelligent Order Management costs $300 per month

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Review

Visit Microsoft Dynamics 365
 

6. Epicor (Top wholesale distribution system for EDI)

Epicor is a very popular ERP system with industries like automotive, manufacturing and wholesale distribution, and it’s a top software for EDI features.

Pros:

EDI stands for electronic data interchange, and Epicor is one of the best apps for taking care of this part of your wholesale distribution process.

Epicor’s EDI tools allow you to collaborate with partners, suppliers and marketplaces. It will automatically update compliance issues to help with fees and chargebacks.

Other fantastic ecommerce distribution features with Epicor include payment processing and PoS, or point of sale tools.

Cons:

While Epicor does have mobile capabilities, it does not seem like they offer a dedicated mobile app.

Pricing:

Contact Epicor for pricing.

Visit Epicor
 

7. Infor (Good distribution software systems for supply chain management)

Infor is a cloud-based ERP commonly used for industries like fashion, food and beverage, and wholesale distribution. It combines many ERP tools with SCM features, and is one of the best supply chain management systems for distribution.

Pros:

SCM features let you streamline warehousing, inventory, distribution scheduling and tasks like cross-docking and flow-through.

You get amazing 3D visualizations of warehousing for maximum efficiency, which is also a highly intuitive interface for users.

Add omnichannel sales to your Infor package to increase profitability for any ecommerce or goods-manufacturing or service-oriented business.

There’s a solid module for Infor small to medium sized business ERP.

Cons:

Navigating the Infor website to check out all the various packages, modules and products can seem a bit overwhelming at first and it can be hard to pick the ideal system.

Pricing:

Visit Infor’s website to ask for information about packages and prices.

Visit Infor
 

8. Brightpearl (Great B2B wholesale distribution ERP solution)

Brightpearl is made by Sage, a massive software company out of the UK. Brightpearl is the best wholesale distribution software for ERP B2B business needs.

Pros:

If you are in the B2B wholesale distribution game, which means business to business, then check out Brightpearl as a great ERP system.

Broad operation management features get you all the hits, like supplier management, purchasing optimization, PoS or point of sale tools, and shipping and fulfillment tools.

Of course, there are some fine warehouse and inventory management options with Brightpearl, along with order management for better distribution processes.

Brightpearl comes with great business analytics which use CRM data for better ecommerce and other B2B businesses.

Cons:

Maybe the only drawback with Brifghtpearl is that this software does not yet have much of a user base and is therefore difficult to get more resources for.

Pricing:

Visit Brightpearl’s website to request a demo and ask for prices.

Visit Brightpearl
 

9. Skubana (Top wholesale operations solution for omnichannel sales)

Skubana is made by the software company Extensiv, which also makes omnichannel fulfillment software. As it stands with this article, Skubana is a great omnichannel sales tool for wholesale operations. 

Pros:

First off, Skubana really knows how to leverage some top-grade automations in order to seriously make the work go faster, reduce mistakes and fulfill orders perfectly.

Your sales channel options are nearly unlimited when using Skubana, especially for ecommerce distributors, whether that means B2B or B2C.

You get some nice predictive analytics and other forecasting features to help plan your work processes more efficiently and get insights into new operation practices.

Cons:

Is Skubana an all-encompassing holistic ERP software? Some argue yes but others might say it is a bit lacking if you want every single wholesale distribution ERP tool in the box, like TMS or WMS.

Pricing:

As usual, visit Skubana’s website for demo and pricing.

Visit Skubana
 

10. Rootstock (Good software for wholesale business with customer service)

Rootstock Manufacturing ERP is a cloud-based ERP that runs on the Salesforce platform, so that means you can take advantage of great Salesforce interoperability for things like CRM, sales and customer support.

Pros:

Rootstock has many great tools for wholesale distributors, all of which are aimed to complement Salesforce Sales Cloud.

Some great tools include purchase orders, warehousing, sales channels, transportation optimization and more.

Few wholesale ERP systems have decent customer service, but not Rootstock, which has field service, automated returns management, replacement automation, user-specific warranties and even some customer loyalty features.

Cons:

If you are not an enthusiastic Salesforce user, then you might ask yourself, why Rootstock, and that is not an invalid question. 

Pricing:

Contact Rootstock to find out about pricing.

Visit Rootstock

What is distribution software & what does it do?

Here is a summary of some of the features and tools that you can expect with a good operations ERP system for wholesale distributors:

• Inventory control

• WMS, or Warehousing operations

• Procurement and purchase orders

• Billing and invoicing

• Barcode scanning

• EDI, or electronic data interchange

• Order processing management

• Routing and delivery optimization

• CRM, or customer relationship management

• Accounting and financial software

• Ecommerce operations

• Supplier relationship management

• Vendor relationship management

• Workflow automation

• Analytics and reporting

Which of the top distribution system software options is right for me? Our final points

What is the best ERP wholesale distribution software for your organization? Well, it depends on your particular needs and budget.

The key takeaways from this article are that Acumatica is the main winner of the ERP wholesale distribution software solution comparison review. But NetSuite and Fishbowl are hot on its heels. 

What's more, many users will find they prefer some other names on this top wholesale ERP list. The choice, as always, is yours.