Brightpearl review by Inspector Jones

Brightpearl was created for any size retailer who has multiple sales channels, as well as product-based and service-based companies. The system is used by retail managers and store owners, as well as the employees handling accounting, sales, inventory, shipping, payments, procurement and more.

Brightpearl is a commerce acceleration platform that simplifies the retail life cycle in one integrated web-based solution, beginning with orders all the way to customer management and growing the business.

Because it’s an all-in-one retail system, it saves retailers valuable time and energy normally spent on double entries, numbers consolidation and other procedures that need to be redone because of things here and there that slip through the cracks. This allows retailers to focus on more of the value-adding aspects of their businesses, such as furthering their customer service initiatives.

Brightpearl streamlines tedious order, inventory, shipping, purchasing and accounting information management across multiple retail channels and locations by bringing relevant information together in a centralized back-office hub.

With its built-in accounting system, transactions are automatically entered into accounts and real-time reports are generated with just a few clicks. Since Brightpearl is Cloud-based, it can be accessed anywhere, anytime and across multiple devices.

Some of Brightpearl’s key features include:

Order Management

While customer orders can be manually created, with Brightpearl’s ready-made integrations and e-commerce portals like Magento and Shopify, orders can be automatically downloaded. Inventory levels are subsequently decreased on all sales channels, eliminating the possibility of selling the same item twice and dealing with problems later.

Brightpearl’s order management system not only ensures data accuracy and consistency, it also allows retailers to systematize their order fulfillment strategies and optimize stock levels through filters such as shipping method, order date, sales channel and others.

This allows retailers to immediately know what products/brands are better suited for which channels, and what improvement initiatives can be rolled out to increase sales and improve customer satisfaction.

Inventory Management

Inventory restocking with Brightpearl only takes a few clicks. An email is sent to the supplier, and once delivered, the purchase order is marked as received and inventory levels in the sales channels are increased.

Brightpearl simplifies the normally complex process of inventory management required to grow a business. Besides automatically increasing and decreasing inventory levels in your sales channels, you can also generate cash flow reports and comprehensive inventory audit trails in real time.

Shipping Management

Order information, including shipping address and location, is automatically downloaded to your warehouse, allows you to accurately and quickly deliver orders to customers. When an order is filled through our warehouse, tracking information is emailed to customers using pre-built email templates and transmitted back to your sales channels. When the item is shipped, the cost of inventory is entered into Brightpearl’s accounting system, giving you a real-time view of the profit you’ve made.

Online Payments Integration

To further simplify the customer purchasing experience, Brightpearl can be integrated with payment gateways such as PayPal and SagePay. PayPal links with Brightpearl in two ways: as a payment method and to download transactions.

When payment processing with PayPal is set up, customers can choose to pay through PayPal via their website. Brightpearl automatically records all PayPal payments received online. Transaction details can then be viewed through the PayPal log and synchronized with Brightpearl using the PayPal transaction download integration feature.

However, SagePay can be used to make online payments through the Brightpearl site or through back-office payments, also known as Mail Order/Telephone Order or MOTO. Meaning that customers can make payments over the phone. For Magento users, SagePay payment setup is done in Magento.

Automated Real-Time Accounting

Brightpearl comes with a full accounting system which allows users to keep a current record of the items they are selling, which channels are making money, which items are selling well and more. Profits can be analyzed by channel, customer or SKU. This is a powerful tool that allows retailers to invest their money intelligently in better-performing products and channels.

The system provides in-depth and up-to-date reports that your accountant can also access to make updates and adjustments. Data can be exported as CSV, and Brightpearl’s support team provides 24/7 email support, documentations, a video library along with launch and acceleration services to help you and your staff with the training you will need to get started.

Ease of use

Brightpearl is a commerce acceleration platform that simplifies the retail life cycle in one integrated web-based solution beginning with orders through customer management and business expansion.

Since it’s an all-in-one retail system, it saves retailers valuable time and energy normally spent on double entries, number consolidation and other procedures that need to be updated on a regular basis if things change.

Brightpearl simplifies tedious order, inventory, shipping, purchasing and accounting information management across multiple retail channels and locations by bringing relevant information together in a centralized back-office hub.

With its built-in accounting system, transactions are automatically entered into accounts, and real-time reports are generated with just a few clicks. Since Brightpearl is Cloud-based, it can be accessed anywhere, anytime and across multiple devices.

Customer Service

Brightpearl offers a wealth of helpful customer support to not only get you up and running, but to keep your operations running smooth. Besides phone, email and chat assistance, Brightpearl also offers:

White papers offering help on all aspects of getting started and using Brightpearl. Videos on several different topics to explain things in an easy to digest and efficient manner to serve anyone’s learning abilities. Community assistance where you can get ideas and advice from other Brightpearl users who have already dealt with what you are dealing with and are happy to lend a helping hand.

Add-Ons and Integration

Brightpearl easily integrates with several popular and helpful apps including:

ebay Inventory and orders are connected through a single system. Everything is downloaded near real-time and all of your channels are updated as well, so your inventory is always up-to-date, eliminating accidental double selling.

Magento Magento offers powerful, flexible features that address a wide range of eCommerce needs. Brightpearl’s Magento inventory management software automatically updates inventory levels and reorder status for your Magento store and all of your other sales channels.

Amazon With the Amazon app, you can synchronize inventory and orders across all of your sales channels. Brightpearl automatically downloads orders for your sales channels in near real-time and auto-updates all your channels simultaneously once an item is marked as sold or allocated in your inventory.

Shopify Brightpearl connects all of your sales channels including your Shopify web store and Shopify POS in a single inventory. Orders are downloaded in near real-time to Brightpearl and inventory levels across all of your sales channels are updated automatically.

Bigcommerce Brightpearl’s Bigcommerce inventory management captures a customer’s order as soon as they place it at your store, it also stores all customer details in a contact record automatically. This saves time and reduces the chance of error compared to manually reconciling and fulfilling orders.

Problems and Complaints

I have been hard pressed to find any serious problems or complaints with Brightpearl, the system works great for any sized retailer. Inventory control is an absolute must in retail, and Brightpearl has a handle on controlling inventory to eliminate double selling or selling items you no longer have in stock.

However, nothing in life is perfect and there is a bit of room for improvement to the system. Although, this improvement does seem to be on a personal basis. Meaning that some users may want the system customized in a different way to meet their own personal needs. But I don’t really see this as being a major problem with the system itself, but rather something you will find with any system.

Brightpearl seems to have everything you need to get up and running with your retail business and keep it running smooth, it is definitely worth looking into.

In Conclusion

Brightpearl is a multi-channel retail management system that helps you manage the heart of your business, it brings together orders, inventory, customer data, accounting and reporting all in one place.

Helpful for any size company, Brightpearl specifically allows the small retailer to compete with the large well established competition, allowing them to remain professional and greatly leveling the playing field.