Hi there,
I'm looking for billing management software that can send emails sequentially to customers who purchase products with unique serial numbers. Ideally, the system would automatically send an email to the customer with the specific serial number they purchased. For example, if I have 10 serial numbers in stock, the first customer would receive an email with the first serial number and so on. I used to use WHMCS but I'm not sure if it has this capability. Do you have any suggestions or know of a software that can do this?
Thank you for your help!
WHMCS is widely considered as the most reliable choice for billing management software. Although there are other options available, WHMCS has become so ubiquitous that it's often recommended to stick with them as they are considered the gold standard.
My recommendation is to seek assistance from a professional to find typical solutions for these types of problems. However, the basic idea is to have a CRM system at the center of your strategy. Although Salesforce is widely used as a CRM system, it may be too costly for some. A free alternative is HubSpot, which could be a good starting point. For file storage, it's best to use a cloud drive such as Google Drive if your business is already on Google Suite or Office 365 otherwise. If you don't have a cloud solution yet, it's recommended to get one. In case you can't make it work, look into services like Dropbox for storing files in the cloud.
To complete the package, you'll require other SaaS solutions that can be easily integrated with your chosen CRM system. If they can't be integrated, they should be avoided. Consider using Mailchimp for email distribution and Typeform for forms, etc.
Chargify is a billing tool that offers the ability to set up various billing scenarios including one-time billing, recurring subscriptions, prepayment, and quantity-based subscriptions. The tool also provides access to PCI compliant subscription pages with mobile responsiveness built-in. Chargify offers amazing features such as billing designed for B2B SaaS strategies, subscription management tools, and accounting functions. It also provides state-of-the-art data and analytics to track revenue, customer trends, and behavior. With Chargify, you can send emails about the trial version, welcome emails, post-transaction receipts, and more, and get complete information about growth indicators in real-time.
Stripe is a well-known billing solution for e-commerce stores that allows companies to accept payments for different scenarios, including SaaS subscriptions. Stripe supports 135 currencies and payment methods worldwide, making it a great tool for global businesses. The Stripe subscription management platform offers excellent customer account management software and is ideal for collecting both one-time and recurring payments using all types of bank transactions, cards, and other popular payment methods. It offers support for free trials, coupons, and add-ons while providing automatic messages about failed payments, automatic card updates, and payment letters to reduce customer churn and increase revenue.
Authorize.net is a popular solution for e-commerce business owners looking for easy-to-use payment processing options. The automated recurring billing service provided by Authorize.net allows for accepting and sending monthly recurring or installment payments with minimal stress while support for trial payments allows customers to try products before billing them. Authorize.net comes with an easy-to-use interface where you can view the status of all your subscriptions within minutes, and API access means that you can integrate the subscription option into your website and optimize payments for customers.
Cheddar Getter is a usage-based subscription billing software designed specifically for those working in the SaaS field. It is developed with simplicity in mind to reduce the time it takes to monetize your product, and the platform automatically tracks customer activity and applies billing rules so that you can spend more time developing your brand. Cheddar Getter is ideal for software developers who want to customize the backend ecosystem, but it may be complicated for those without coding experience. The tool offers access to various billing models, including one-time payments, subscriptions, metered payments, and a combination of different options.
That being said, I will try to suggest some software that might be flexible enough to cater to your needs, and if not, it may require some custom-made solution:
Zoho Inventory: Part of the vast Zoho suite of business applications, Zoho Inventory is a comprehensive tool for tracking orders, managing stock, and much more. It supports serial number tracking and is capable of sending automated emails, although it might require some tweaking to fit your specific workflow.
QuickBooks Enterprise: This is a powerful finance and business management system that has advanced inventory tracking capabilities, including serial number and lot tracking. QuickBooks generally allows for extensive automations and may be able to accommodate your email needs.
Odoo: A comprehensive suite of open-source business applications, which includes CRM, Sales, Inventory, Accounting, and much more. It supports detailed product tracking (including serial numbers) and automation features. Given that it's open-source, adding a custom feature like sending emails with the serial number to customers should be manageable if it isn't already included.
TradeGecko (QuickBooks Commerce): This is a powerful inventory and order management system that offers serial number tracking. It might be possible to hook this system into an automated email service, but it would likely require some custom development.
Fishbowl Inventory: Fishbowl is a powerful software solution that allows small to midsize businesses to stay with the QuickBooks platform for accounting while incorporating advanced inventory features. These features include multiple location tracking, raw materials management, and much more.
SAP Business One: SAP Business One is a single, powerful application that can help you better manage practically every aspect of your daily operations. It offers features like sales, customer relationships, financials, and operations, including a robust inventory system with serial number tracking. While it doesn't natively offer the specific automated email feature you're looking for, its customization options and heavy emphasis on workflow automation mean it might be possible to tailor it to your needs with some development work. Note that SAP products tend to be more suitable for larger businesses due to their complexity and cost.
Netsuite: Oracle's Netsuite is a whole suite of software that includes ERP, CRM, Inventory management, and many more features. It has robust inventory management including a serial number traceability feature for tracking individual items. Given its wide array of features and customization options, it's possible that Netsuite could be configured to send an automated email to a customer after they purchase a product, with the relevant serial number included.
Acumatica: This is a comprehensive ERP solution that provides core financials, inventory, CRM, and more in one integrated system. They offer functionality to track items by lot and serial numbers, and have immense flexibility and adaptability in terms of customizing the workflows.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 – Finance and Supply Chain Management: Microsoft Dynamics offers a comprehensive software suite that includes multi-channel campaigns, inventory, and supply chain management. It can also track serial numbers and, given the flexibility and overall capability of the system, custom email systems should be viable.
DEAR Systems: DEAR Systems offers inventory management features that include things like serial/batch tracking for products. Coupled with its sales module, it can send automated emails. Some customization may be required for your needs, but it could fit nicely.
Cin7: Similar to DEAR Systems, Cin7 offers strong inventory tracking features including serial number tracking. It's a fully integrated solution that also includes POS, B2B, and direct-to-consumer technology. Cin7 can send automatic emails, but extra configuration might be needed.
Megaventory: This is more of an inventory management solution but it does allow for tracking individual items using serial numbers. While it doesn't natively send emails with the serial numbers, an integration with a tool like Mailchimp using APIs could help you achieve this.
Inflow Inventory: This software does allow for serial number tracking and can send automated emails, although customization would likely be required to meet your specific needs.
ERPAG: This is yet another comprehensive business solution with built-in serial number tracking. Whether it can send automated emails in the precise way you need is something that would require further investigation or customization.
Inventory NEXUS: This is a cloud-based and comprehensive inventory management system with integrated e-commerce support. It includes robust features for managing serialized inventory at multiple locations. Its flexible API interface means it should be possible to build custom workflows, like the one you've proposed.
Fishbowl Inventory: This software integrates well with QuickBooks and offers a range of advanced inventory management features, including serial number and lot tracking capabilities. Fishbowl has an open API, so it could be used alongside a third-party email system to achieve your proposed workflow.
Sage 300cloud: This solution offers strong accounting and business management features and can handle serialized inventory processing. Although it may lack the native ability to automatically email customers with serial numbers upon purchase, its connectivity through an open API could allow for integration with external email services or a custom solution to achieve this task.
Odoo: One of the most comprehensive open-source ERP systems available today, Odoo offers a variety of modules—including accounting, sales, CRM, and inventory—that can be pieced together to fit nearly any business scenario. Its inventory module supports tracking by serial number, and its open-source nature means it can be customized to adjust to your specific use case.
Acumatica: Acumatica offers a cloud-based ERP solution with robust inventory tracking features, including the ability to track serial numbers. The software does not natively support automated email notifications including serial numbers, but it does offer an API that would potentially allow for integration with an email platform to support such a feature.
Ecomdash: Focused on serving ecommerce businesses, Ecomdash provides inventory management capabilities with serial number tracking. While the software may not natively provide automated emailing of serial numbers, its integration ability with email marketing platforms could be potentially leveraged to address your needs.
NetSuite: As a comprehensive ERP suite, NetSuite has a strong feature set for inventory management, including serial number tracking. NetSuite does offer some automation features, but specific customization or third-party integration might be necessary to create the specific automated email process you desire.
Brightpearl: Designed for retail businesses, Brightpearl offers strong inventory management and tracking features, including serial number tracking. Brightpearl does have an 'Automation' module, which coupled with its API, might provide the ability to create the email notifications you need.
TradeGecko: TradeGecko, now QuickBooks Commerce, is another option that offers inventory management with serial code tracking. As part of the QuickBooks ecosystem, it might offer ways to create automated workflows, including emailing customers with serial numbers.
If none of these software suites offer exactly what you need out of the box, and given that you're looking for a feature that's quite specific, you might consider hiring a developer to create a custom solution for you - it could be an addition to the existing tool you're using or a completely new piece of software. The developer could use APIs of the billing management software to interact with another tool that sends email out (like MailChimp, SendinBlue, or a custom email server). For example, there might be a plugin for WHMCS that does exactly what you want or it could be developed.