Whether you are new to Cloud Commerce Pro or a veteran looking to expand their warehouse operation, understanding and choosing the right warehousing mode for your business needs is imperative. This guide will take a look at the three different modes available and compare them to each other, so you can better understand which one will work best for you.

Cloud Commerce Pro splits it's warehousing functionality into three separate modes - Simple, Simplex and Complex. To work out which (if any) are right for you, lets first look at what each mode offers in terms of basic functionality:

Now you know what each mode can offer you, lets compare that with some basic ideas of what you might be looking for in a warehousing solution:

After comparing the three warehouse modes to each other, you are probably starting to get an idea of which one will work better for your business. However there are a lot of complexities involved, so lets take a deeper look at each one.

Simple is, as the name suggests, pretty darn simple. That makes it perfect for small to medium sized business looking for a way to organise it's warehouse operation without introducing any unnecessary fuss or micromanagement.

With Simple you have no more than one warehouse, which is what makes it most suitable for smaller operations.

Products can be assigned to single or multiple bay locations within your warehouse, but they also don't explicitly have to be, as you may have products you don't want managing by the warehouse.

Stock remains on a per product basis, as is default in Cloud Commerce Pro.

There is no option to use barcode scanners in Simple mode for picking, booking in and moving stock. However, you still can use the basic USB scanners hooked up to a device for functions such as the pack station.

This is our most versatile and popular mode as it adds a lot of functionality while avoiding the added micromanagement of Complex mode. This makes it ideal for all kinds of business operations, small to large.

With this mode you can have multiple warehouses if you require, making it ideal with many kinds of businesses and allows for growth.

As with Simple mode, products can be assigned to single or multiple bay locations within your warehouse, but they also don't explicitly have to be.

Stock remains on a per product basis, as is default in Cloud Commerce Pro.

The use of an android scanner for picking is one of the main points that sets Simplex mode apart from Simple and one of the things that makes it our most popular warehouse solution.

This is our most feature rich warehouse mode but it is also the least commonly used due to the difficulty of adding and maintaining such functionality. Because of this, we do not advise the use of Complex mode unless you have an existing warehouse operation that already works similarly to the highly demanding and labour intensive processes required by this mode.

Complex mode allows for multiple warehouses, like Simplex does.

Products can be assigned to any number of bays, but in contrast to Simple and Simplex, all products MUST be assigned a bay. On top of that, each unit of stock must be assigned a bay. The stock values for each bay a product is assigned to are added up to give you a total stock level for that product.

This mode comes with additional android scanner functionality such as checking stock in and moving stock between bays.

With all of this in mind, you can see how Complex mode allows you much more control over your warehouse, but you also must be prepared for the level of organisation required to make it work. Will all of your warehouse staff be able to work efficiently enough in such a rigid, labour intensive environment? These are the difficult questions you must earnestly ask yourself before even considering a move to Complex mode. If you have any doubt at all, it is probably not for you.

You should have a pretty clear picture at this point which warehouse mode would best fit your business.

In summary, if your business is quite small, you only have one warehouse and no intention of using scanners, then Simple mode is for you.

If you require more than one warehouse and / or the ability to pick orders using an android scanner, then Simplex mode is perfect.

If you have a very complicated and rigorous warehouse system already in place that needs super accurate stock control and stock movement reporting and you have a large, well trained warehouse team that can handle the workload, then Complex mode may very well be what you need.

Before you make any commitments, our trained and experienced staff will assess your needs to ensure the chosen mode is truly the best fit for you.