There is no single best ERP for a fashion or apparel brand. The right one depends on how you make, stock and ship product. Choose the ERP for operations and a wholesale ordering platform for how buyers order. Then connect the two so inventory, ship dates and orders match.

Key takeaways

• A fashion ERP handles style-color-size matrices, prepacks, seasons, costing and EDI. Generic ERPs often need add-ons to cover these.
• Brands that sell mostly on Shopify and have a few wholesale accounts may not need an ERP yet.
• ERP pricing is mostly quote-based. Compare first-year totals and get the go-live date in writing.
• The ERP is your system of record. A wholesale ordering platform is where buyers see your styles and place orders.

What does a fashion ERP do that a generic ERP doesn't?

An ERP (enterprise resource planning system) is the system of record for inventory, orders, purchasing and finance. A fashion or apparel ERP is an ERP built around the way clothing is developed, produced and sold. The differences show up in a few areas:

• Style-color-size matrices. Products are managed as SKU grids, not as long lists of separate items.
• Size scales and prepacks. The ERP stores your size runs and lets you sell prepacks, such as a fixed size ratio per carton.
• Seasons and collections. Styles, pricing and deliveries are grouped by season.
• BOM and costing. You get bills of materials and style costing that include landed cost.
• Cut tickets and WIP. Brands that produce their own goods can track production orders and work in progress.
• Allocation. Limited inventory can be assigned across wholesale orders and channels.
• EDI documents for department stores. These include the 850 purchase order, 855 acknowledgment, 856 ship notice (ASN) and 810 invoice.

Horizontal ERPs such as NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and SAP often need apparel add-ons or partner editions to cover this list.

Do you need an ERP yet?

Often not. Brands that sell mostly through Shopify and have a handful of wholesale accounts can usually get by with Shopify, an inventory app and a wholesale ordering platform. That's common advice on r/shopify. If this describes you, look at wholesale platforms built for Shopify brands before you start an ERP project.

These signs suggest you've outgrown that setup:

1. You rekey orders from one system into another.
2. Inventory counts don't match between wholesale and DTC.
3. Department stores require EDI.
4. Production planning and costing live in spreadsheets.
5. You run multiple entities or currencies.

Which ERP fits your situation?

Find your row, then demo two or three systems from it.

Other names that appear in apparel ERP roundups include N41, FDM4, WFX, Fulfil and Acumatica.

What should you test in an ERP demo?

Ask to see your own data and workflows, not a scripted demo:

1. Your real size scales and prepacks. Load a few of your actual styles, including any unusual size runs.
2. EDI with your retailers. Watch the 850, 855, 856 and 810 documents flow for the stores you sell to, including labels.
3. Shopify sync. Check how products, inventory and DTC orders move.
4. Wholesale order intake. Ask how orders from your wholesale ordering platform arrive.
5. Reporting. Run the reports you use every week, such as open orders, sell-through and margins by style.
6. Integration and add-on fees. List every connector, module and partner app you'd need.
7. Support response. Ask how support works after go-live and who handles enhancements.
8. A go-live date in writing.

If department stores are part of your plan, read up on selling to department stores before the demo.

How should you think about ERP cost?

Most fashion ERP pricing is quote-based, so list prices don't tell you much. Ask each vendor for a first-year total that includes:

• Licenses or subscriptions for every user and module you need
• Implementation and data migration
• Integrations and add-ons, including Shopify, EDI and your wholesale ordering platform
• Training for your team
• Any consultant time for setup or later enhancements

Compare the totals side by side. Reviewers of several apparel ERPs describe long, costly implementations and ongoing consultant needs.

How do you connect an ERP to wholesale ordering?

Retailers don't care which ERP a brand runs. They see your ERP data through your ordering layer (line sheets, reps and order forms), so stale inventory or a wrong ship date there is what they notice.

A wholesale ordering platform is not an ERP. The ERP stays the system of record for styles, inventory, orders and invoices. The ordering platform presents those styles to buyers and collects orders. See best wholesale ordering software for how to choose one.

Brandboom is a wholesale line sheet, presentation and ordering platform. It shows your ERP's styles to buyers as line sheets and presentations, takes orders, and passes those orders back through an integration, a file drop or a webhook:

• Shopify: native integration. Product sync is included, and inventory sync is an add-on.
• ApparelMagic: native integration, available as an add-on.
• ERP File Drop via Zapier: a no-code connection that Brandboom says works with 95% of all ERPs.
• Custom API and order and invoice webhooks: for custom connections. Custom integrations can also be built as an add-on.

Brandboom also lists partner integrations with several ERPs on its integrations page, and AIMS360 lists Brandboom among its B2B platform integration add-ons. Brandboom plans start at $50/month for the Basic plan.

FAQ

Is Shopify an ERP?

No. Shopify is an ecommerce platform. It runs your online store and checkout and keeps basic product and inventory records. For a brand selling mostly DTC with a few wholesale accounts, Shopify plus an inventory app can be enough. Brands usually move to an ERP when B2B wholesale volume, multiple warehouses, manufacturing or multi-entity accounting get to be more than Shopify and spreadsheets can handle.

What's the difference between ERP, PLM and MRP?

An ERP is the system of record for inventory, orders, purchasing and finance. PLM (product lifecycle management) covers product development: tech packs, specs and design data before a style goes into production. MRP (material requirements planning) works out which materials a production run needs and when. MRP is often a module inside an ERP, so a brand that buys only finished goods may never use it.

Are there ERPs built specifically for apparel brands?

Yes. Apparel-specific ERPs are built around size matrices, prepacks and wholesale order entry, and they often make the shortlist for growing brands that sell both wholesale and DTC. Reviewers of these systems often praise their flexibility, order entry, invoicing and responsive support. As with any ERP, test your own size scales and prepacks in the demo.

Which fashion ERPs handle EDI for department stores?

AIMS360 says EDI is built in, and one AIMS360 user praised having a dedicated EDI section. BlueCherry and Aptean's apparel editions, Exenta and RLM, are also common picks for wholesale-heavy brands.Ask the vendor to run the 850, 855, 856 and 810 documents for your actual retailers, labels included. Compliance errors are what department stores notice and charge back for.

Is NetSuite good for a small apparel brand?

NetSuite is powerful, especially for multi-entity and global finance, but it often needs fashion add-ons to handle size matrices and prepacks. Reviewers call it very expensive and training-heavy, and some apparel users have switched to apparel-specific ERPs because of complexity and cost. A small brand without multi-entity needs may be better served by one of those systems, or by waiting.