If you operate an Amazon FBA business, you might be seeking ways to simplify your processes. Streamlining FBA operations through Amazon seller software platforms can help you take your business development to the next level.
However, if you operate an Amazon FBA business, you know there are an infinite number of seller tools out there. They range from highly useful to a downright waste of time.
How do you wade through the options to find what works for your business size, market, product variety, and other factors?
Simple – you let us do the work for you and decide from there.
Here, we offer an in-depth comparison of two highly popular seller tools – Helium 10 vs Inventory Lab. We will cover all the details on features, pricing, and other important factors.
[Click for a free trial of Helium 10]
What Are Helium 10 and Inventory Lab?
They are Amazon seller tools that differ in their overall purpose.
Helium 10 is an All-In-One Software that was created by Amazon sellers looking to fill the gaps they were experiencing. Just four years after the initial launch, it has twenty highly integrated tools to help Amazon sellers with:
- Keyword research
- Product research
- Keyword tracking
- Refund management
- Listing monitoring
- Inventory projection
- Feedback management
- Product launches
- Financial analytics
- And more!
The suite of seller tools is intuitive, advanced, and integrated to save money and time.
Inventory Lab seeks to effectively provide innovative solutions in the Amazon industry. It was founded by eBay and Amazon sellers who sought to streamline daily tasks to create room for growth and development. This catch-all tool helps with:
- Accounting functions
- Product research
- Product label printing
- Listing creation
- Inventory management
- Allocate batches to Amazon shipment
- And more!
Both apps seek to help increase efficiency for Amazon FBA owners. To fully understand them, let’s dive deeper.
Helium 10 Features
Helium 10 is a great Amazon seller tool kit. It is consistently adding features and works hard to remain competitive. This platform is recommended for merchants seeking new product opportunities. It accomplishes this through features like:
- Profitability calculator
- ASIN grabber
- Review downloader
- Inventory Management tools
- Keyword research
- Index checker – keyword rankings tracker
- Listing optimization
- Market tracker
- Chrome extension
- Adtomic – PPC automation to help maximize profits from ppc campaigns.
A hallmark of Helium 10 is the integration of other tools, including popular ones like Frankenstein and Cerebro. Frankenstein enables Amazon sellers to condense keyword lists down to core groups to improve organization and management. Cerebro is a reverse ASIN tool to enable the discovery of sponsored and organic search results for an improved accuracy keyword search.
Other integrated tools include:
- Black Box for product research
- Misspellinator to quickly identify and recommend changes for misspelled keywords
- Trendster to look at keyword trends for general searches and Amazon-specific searches
- Scribbles to help track keyword use in listings
In addition to boosting keyword and search results, Helium 10 will provide projections in the profitability calculator that will consider manufacturing costs, weight, dimensions, FBA fees, and shipping fees for your Amazon business. From there, each listing will show the seller’s expected profits.
Other advanced features or tools to help on the business side include:
- Refund Genie to manage reimbursements
- Mobile app: To keep you updated on the go.
- X-Ray for metrics on sales trends, revenue estimates, prices, and more
- Profits tool to track profit margins, gross revenue, net profit, sales trends, refunds, and other analytics
One of the potential issues with Helium 10 is the scope of the platform. It has so many features and integrated tools that it can overwhelming. As a seller, you may pay the fee but not fully utilize every feature. You would need to weigh what is available versus what you would actually use for your business. That being said all the tools within the suite will come in very handy as you grow your small private label into a thriving business.
Inventory Lab Features
The experience with Inventory Lab starts with streamlining the inventory and shipment process. This software will help you simplify tracking these vital data points and tie the information together on the accounting end. It can tell you when a shipment requires a label or specific packaging, and more.
In addition to tracking inventory, Inventory Lab will help with product research. You provide the ASIN product number and then you can explore:
- Packing details
- Sales rank
- Competitor pricing
- Product Categories
The hallmark feature of Inventory Lab is the aid it provides to accounting features. It can help by tracking:
- Sales price
- Net profit
- Buy Cost
- Profit percentage
- ROI percentage
- Amazon Inventory management
Inventory Lab is easily accessible from computer devices with Stratify as well as its mobile application, Scoutify. Both are included with the subscription fee.
One of the potential issues with Inventory Lab is that it takes up to 70 minutes for data from Stratify to feed over to Amazon to update your Seller Central Inventory. This means you will need to factor upload time into product launches, sales, and other promotions.
The platform also does not have Inventory in Stock Reports as an option. These reports provide an estimate of how long before a specific product will run out. It is not an end-all, be-all feature, but it is useful.
What Marketplaces do Helium 10 and Inventory Lab Work With?
These applications are compatible with Amazon – but not universally.
For Helium 10, some of the integrated tools are not compatible with all Amazon marketplaces. The availability will depend on the tools, but supported marketplaces commonly include the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and India.
Inventory Lab is only supported in the United States marketplace.
For businesses with international markets, Helium 10 is a safer choice. They have recently expanded to integrate with Alibaba for sourcing and also for Walmart sellers.
How Are Helium 10 vs Inventory Lab Priced?
Helium 10 has a four-tier price structure: Free, Platinum, Diamond, and Elite. The features of each tier vary, but all paid levels have a 30-day money-back guarantee. The difference in each tier will revolve around the use of certain integrated features.
For example, the free plan gives single-user access and the use of features like Magnet and Cerebro twice a day. You can opt into certain Helium 10 tools, like Black Box and Refund Genie, for a la carte monthly fee.
- Starter is priced at $37/mo and is ideal for starting out. It gives you full access to Xray and the freedom ticket course so you can get your Amazon business off to the best start from initial keyword research to product research and building out your brand.
- Platinum plan (second level), is $97 per month and gives full access to tools like Black Box, Cerebro, Frankenstein, and Trendster.
- The third level, Diamond, is $197 per month and will have additional features like ASIN tracking and daily profit updates.
- The top level, Elite, is $397 per month and will include quarterly in-person workshops, a private Facebook group with other Elite users, increased ASIN tracking, and hourly profit updates.
Inventory Lab offers a free 30-day trial with dedicated support, 60 days of back-data, and no credit card required. After that, the annual plan is $40 a month with all back-data, dedicated support, and a discount for the annual commitment. The month-to-month plan requires no commitment and is $49/month.
Which One is Right for Me?
The answer to the final question is up to you. Helium 10 vs Inventory Lab will depend on your Amazon FBA business, organization needs, and other factors. Helium 10 couple with the Freedom ticket course to walk you through everything step by step is ideal for beginners. The more expensive plans lends itself towards the expert and advanced sellers with wide markets. Inventory Lab is great for domestic United States sellers looking to fulfill a wide variety of functional needs.
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