Deciding between Partender vs Bevinco vs WISK? If so, you’re not alone. It's not an easy decision before knowing the pros and cons of each. These apps are some of the top options on the market today and are widely popular throughout the industry. But, which one is the best for your personal needs? That’s what we’re here to find out!
If you’re new to the inventory management software entirely, welcome to a whole new world! Any software you choose will make the bar inventory control process easier by:
- Decreasing inventory time
- Automating the ordering process
- Reducing the amount of mistakes
Whether you’ve used other apps before, you’ve come to the right place. No matter your previous experience, you are here because you’re still searching for an app you can rely on to manage your inventory.
Fortunately, we’ve done our homework and completed the comparison for you. In this article, we’ll take a thorough look into the differences between Partender, Bevinco, and WISK. But first and foremost, which features should you look for in a high quality bar inventory app?
What the Best Liquor Inventory Apps Have in Common
The best bar manager app won’t be the same for every bar. As a result, you must weigh the pros and cons of each to decide which features best cover your needs. These are some general criteria to keep in mind when deciding on which one to subscribe to.
Dependability
Most importantly, the right bar inventory software will be there when you need it most. The last thing you need when doing wine, beer or liquor inventory is a buggy system that won’t save your work and records entries incorrectly. Alternatively, look for positive customer reviews online, along with services like 24/7 customer support to gauge the reliability of each software.
Time savings
One of the most crucial reasons to use inventory management technology is to speed up the process and save time for yourself and your staff. If the software doesn’t value its time savings, it’s not worth your time.
Full POS Integration
If you’re already happy with your POS system, you need to make sure that the software you go with is compatible with it. This is important because integrations allow you to cut down on a lot of manual work and improve accuracy. In addition, they make each platform that much more helpful for you in terms of cost savings, time savings, and general peace of mind.
Overall, as former restaurant owners ourselves, we are acquainted with what most bar managers like yourself are looking for when choosing an inventory app. That’s why we’ve put together this guide. So without further ado, here is our analysis, starting with the most beneficial feature.
Partender vs Bevinco vs WISK: which beverage inventory software works best?
1) Bluetooth Scale Integration
It might seem obvious, but having an actual scale to measure your liquor inventory is a huge advantage. A scale that also integrates with your app is even better. And a digital scale that integrates with your software easily and wirelessly is the Holy Grail. With a Bluetooth-enabled inventory scale, you can get measurements sent directly to any device as you count inventory.
Though it’s a huge benefit, many applications do not have it as an option. Out of the three companies in this comparison, Partender vs Bevinco vs WISK, WISK has this capability for all plans. The result? It can increase accuracy by over 95%.
On the other hand, with Partender, no scale is included. Instead, you have to guess how much is left in your bottles and input estimated, rounded amounts into the platform. For example, if your bottle has 1.90g of liquid in it, you have to estimate that amount and manually put the weight into the app. It might seem like a small difference but, as most bar managers know, any inaccuracies negatively impact bottom line.
Plus, think about how annoying it is to eyeball remaining liquor in an opaque bottle like, Bailey’s. It’s certainly not ideal.
In contrast, Bevinco uses precision scales to weigh partial kegs and wine and liquor bottles. While this does offer more precise measurements than eyeballing, it lacks the convenience of a Bluetooth scale. Only premium plans through Bevinco offer the ability to integrate with Bluetooth scales, leaving the lower-priced scales without the feature.
2) POS System Integration
A critical feature already mentioned above, POS integration increases the speed of inventory and improves accuracy. To start with, Partender, unfortunately, has no POS integration feature. With no way to automatically sync the app with your POS software, it can quickly slow down business operations. The reality is, you might be waiting up to a week to view your variance report after every session.
BevincoMobile offers POS integration, but the feature is limited compared to WISK. With WISK, you can see your sales and map your recipes. Not only this, but you can also use our app to see your estimated stock based on your sales. These are two critical features that are exclusive to WISK.
That being said, when looking for an inventory app, you want one that provides all the features you need in one interface, rather than splitting them up. Out of Partender vs Bevinco vs WISK, only WISK can fully connect to most POS systems. Connecting these two critical tools gives you instant information on variance and sales so you don’t have to waste any more time.
3) Purchase Order Automation
If there’s a theme to this comparison, it’s that more automation is better. Purchase orders are no different. The top apps on the market offer the ability to automatically place purchase orders with as little as the tap of a screen. Even better is an app that is able to save your purchase order information to make each subsequent order that much easier and quicker.
Automated purchase orders also ensure enough inventory is always available. This helps avoid troublesome issues like dead stock and over ordering, leading to waste.
In this category, the most reliable app is WISK. The app allows you to:
- Place and receive purchase orders
- Log pictures of your invoices directly on the mobile app
- Transfer bottles
- Log any broken or uncorked bottles
Both Bevinco and Partender do not have these functions available on their mobile apps. To clarify, you must use spreadsheets to organize purchase orders with Partender. Bevinco is similar as it only offers an online guide on ordering.
4) Mobile Platform & User Experience
All inventory mobile apps are not made equally. Each of the three apps we’re describing offer some form of mobile app, rather than just a mobile-responsive website. However, that’s where many of the similarities end.
Partender
Let’s look at Partender first. Its mobile app suffers from a lack of features. Specifically, the only feature available is counting inventory. You cannot order, set beverage prices, or use any other tools. Instead, you need to use a computer every time to access its other features.
On top of that, Partender’s mobile set-up is not intuitive. It’s impossible to see all bottles of inventory at once, forcing you to have to move through one at a time. Being unable to see the entire inventory at a glance makes it more difficult to organize and visualize what you have through the app alone. Additionally, if you change the order of your inventory behind the bar, it’s difficult to mirror the change on the app for easy counting.
Bevinco
Shifting to Bevinco, we first run into the issue already mentioned. To repeat, Bevinco’s web app and mobile app are two completely separate products with different pricing structures and features. You have to purchase both separately to access everything they have to offer. In addition to the extra cost, this hinders the whole inventory experience and reduces the convenience factor.
On top of this crucial difference, Bevinco has a very simple and lacking mobile interface. You can't order, receive, or use many other important features that you'll want to be able to. On top of that, you can't toggle through multiple accounts with one login on Bevinco. So, when comparing it to WISK, you'll notice the difference in features and user experience right away.
WISK
WISK, meanwhile, was developed especially for mobile use. It was made with bar managers in mind, with the most useful features available straight from your smartphone. If you wish, you may never need to use our web version. Everything can be done using your mobile device. With WISK you'll be able to:
- Use a mobile app for any feature offered (including ordering and receiving)
- Toggle through multiple accounts with one login
- Do independent inventories and spot-check bottles
5) Barcode Scanner
Barcode scanning is another seemingly simple feature that makes a huge difference in practice. Without a built in barcode scanner, you are forced to manually search and enter bottle information into a spreadsheet. With one, however, you can simply scan and all relevant information about the bottle is automatically synced and stored. This allows you to pull product information immediately and add it to your inventory.
Barcode scanners are a key component in achieving faster and more accurate inventory sessions. When looking at Partender vs Bevinco vs WISK, Partender is missing this essential feature. WISK and Bevinco, on the other hand, each provide a barcode scanner as part of their core features. That means you can ditch the clipboard for good.
6) Beverage Analytics
Another one of the biggest advantages to letting software take over your inventory process is machine learning and automatic analysis of your sales data. Big data in the hospitality industry is already a huge field and it continues to grow because bars and restaurants have a ton of data which they can use to learn about their customers. To do so, you just need the right tools.
When comparing Partender vs Bevinco vs WISK, there are varying levels of analytics available. Partender offers insight into variance, top-sellers, and dead stock. This will help you identify what you need to order more of and where waste is occurring, but little else. Bevinco also offers variance reports, along with information to help optimize your pricing.
However, WISK offers by far the most in terms of data analytics. It also provides variance reports to identify opportunities to reduce dead stock, place more accurate orders, and optimize pricing. Beyond that, it uses analytics software equipped with artificial intelligence to predict future sales based on holidays, the weather, events, and more.
With accurate sales forecasts, you’ll not only know what beverages sell best, you’ll also know when they sell best and how to prepare for high-volume days. This offers another level of insight to boost your bottom line.
The verdict: which bar inventory management software is best?
Winner: WISK
So, what's the solution to Partender vs Bevinco vs WISK? Though each of these three apps offers a variety of features, WISK is the clear front-runner. Why? It is the only software in this comparison that allows you to order, receive, toggle through several accounts, transfer bottles, log invoices, see your sales, and more directly on your mobile device. It has the most sophisticated interface out of the three, perfect for both mobile and web users.
Above all, WISK has the exact features that will help any bar manager improve efficiency and decrease costs. Both Partender and Bevinco are adequate for counting bottles, though, WISK will help you achieve business goals and see your ROI rise.
To sum up, if you’re looking for an inventory app with a smooth interface, excellent user experience, and advanced features, WISK is the right choice. Interested in trying it out? Sign up for your free 7-day trial below.
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