ERP for wholesale & distribution
Requirements
Stock across branches and warehouses, barcode scanning, transfers, cycle counts. Usually a must-have.
General ledger, GST/VAT returns, bank reconciliation, financial statements. Usually a must-have.
Freight, duty and clearing charges allocated to item cost. Usually a must-have.
Lot and serial traceability, shelf life, FEFO picking, recalls.
Leads, follow-ups, customer history, loyalty and campaigns.
Web shop sharing products, prices and stock with the ERP.
Several legal entities, inter-company transactions, consolidation.
Comparison
Baseline ranking for a typical 11–50 person business with no strong budget or hosting preference. Your own answers below will change it.
Best fit
95%fit
Full Odoo suite with Studio, full accounting, quality, PLM and official support.
Low licence cost · Moderate setup · Cloud or on-premise
Strong at
#2
87%fit
SAP's ERP for small and mid-sized companies, with a large partner add-on market.
Mid licence cost · Substantial setup · Cloud or on-premise
Strong at
Watch out for
#3
84%fit
Fully open-source ERP on the Frappe framework, with low-code customisation.
No licence fee · Substantial setup · Cloud or on-premise
Strong at
Watch out for
| Capability | Odoo Enterprise95% fit | SAP Business One87% fit | ERPNext84% fit | Oracle NetSuite83% fit | Dynamics 365 Business Central81% fit | Odoo Community70% fit | Distribution-specific software64% fit | TallyPrime60% fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-location inventory & barcodemust | Strong | Strong | Good | Strong | Good | Good — Barcode app is Enterprise-only. | Good | Basic / custom |
| Full accounting & taxmust | Strong | Strong | Strong | Strong | Strong | Good — Full accounting needs Enterprise or community (OCA) modules. | Basic / custom — Usually basic; many shops still export to an accounting package. | Strong |
| Landed cost & import purchasingmust | Strong | Strong | Strong | Strong | Strong | Basic / custom | Basic / custom | Basic / custom |
| Batch, serial & expiry tracking | Strong | Strong | Strong | Strong | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| CRM & customer loyalty | Strong | Good | Good | Good | Basic / custom | Good | Good | Not available |
| Online store | Strong | Basic / custom — Via connectors. | Basic / custom | Good | Basic / custom — Usually via Shopify connector. | Good | Basic / custom | Not available |
| Multi-company & multi-currency | Strong | Good | Good | Strong | Strong | Good | Basic / custom | Basic / custom |
Strong StrongGood GoodBasic / custom Basic / customNot available Not available* see note (hover)
Personalise
Tell us your size, region and which requirements really matter. The ranking updates to match.
Buyer's checklist
Purchase order, shipment, duty and freight, receipt, allocation. Check the item cost at the end.
Contract prices, volume breaks and rebates must be maintainable by the sales team, not IT.
FAQ
Warehouse accuracy (barcode, locations, cycle counts) and landed cost. Everything else — pricing, reporting, eCommerce — depends on those being right.
Next step
We'll review your shortlist against your actual processes — and tell you if something we don't implement is the better fit.