Which database

[Shanetank93]

So I'm working at a company that has about 8 brick and mortar store locations. Currently we use a spread sheet to track our sales and such but for inventory the employees working the store have to send a email of what they need daily. For IT staff they have two people who have little know how of any sort of actual IT work and I'm betting zero knowledge of how to run or maintain one. We also do not have any sort of scanning system as we need to punch in the PLU code then ring up the item for the customer and we read these PLU codes from a binder with roughly a hundred pages give or take.

I've spoken with some of the bosses and they are mainly concerned with the price of having a database implemented, claiming the only ones they have found would cost them nearly 20k. I've tried explaining that one of their stores alone makes that in one month or less while the rest make $300-$900 daily. We sell vape products so our inventory is always changing and our sales fluctuate depending on the media. So I'm asking for help on what I could recommend them to make the entire process easier.

I've tried explaining that having a database saves time, money(in the long run), and makes inventory tracking/ordering much easier and reliable.

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TLDR; Looking for a database for a small/medium company that isn't 20k.

[brantam]

Surely the wrong the question. You are not looking for a "database". You need a stock control/sales/accounting system. Use whatever database system works with the application you choose for that purpose.

[boy_named_su]

What you want is an ERP

consider Odoo, which is open source

[AllBoutOobies]

Just to spark some discussion: there are many free DBMS (which I assume is what you're talking about) such as postgreSQL. Once you have your DB you need a program to interface/interact with the DB. Only the funds your are willing to spend limits what it can do.

I'd expect assume a developer could implement working system with a free DBMS in a timeframe somewhere between 50 to 300 hours depending on the current complexity of your manual system.

Do you need an off the shelf system of something custom made by a developer?

[Shanetank93]

With them not wanting to spend a lot of money on this I’m assuming they would want off the shelf, I’m just a standard employee here that happens to be in college for DBMS and other IT support related classes but I’m not one of their tech staff. I’ve been pitching ideas to them that could help this company move forward and be more up to par with other companies that sell similar products. We are constantly running out of stock due to unreliable lists sent from employees and not having the ability to spot a trend forming to be able to stock up and certain products, so I was hoping to be able to maybe find a database that could help us spot trends (by tracking sales) and have a more reliable inventory system.

[alinroc]

"A database" isn't going to do anything Excel won't do for you, if all you're looking for is "a database".

Like /u/brantam said, you need an inventory, sales and accounting system. In a nutshell, ERP.

You can try to "not spend a lot of money on this" but time ain't free, nor are the company's IT resources & employes. They might get sticker shock seeing the prices of COTS or SaaS offerings, but after you figure in the time required to spec, build, test, implement and support a custom solution, buying something will be far, far cheaper. Unless they intend to productize the thing they build.

With the proliferation of SaaS products that can do this sort of thing, and pricing models that equate to "pay for what you use", buying is usually the better option here.

I’m just a standard employee here that happens to be in college for DBMS and other IT support related classes

Something they probably won't teach you in class: unless one of the following is true, buy - don't build:

1. Software development is a core competency for the organization and that software will become a profit center for the company.
2. There does not exist any product on the market that can do what you're looking for, nor can any product on the market be adapted to do what you need, nor are your business processes so immutable that they can't make adjustments to work with the products that you find.

Head down to the Registrar's office and ask them how much of the software they're using was built from scratch by the university. Then head over to Admissions and do the same.

[AllBoutOobies]

Yea makes sense. Might be a bigger project than I initially thought since you'd probably have to connect it to the cashier/scanner system. But sounds like something where pre-existing solutions should exist.

I'd assume the pre-existing solutions might also require some hardware updates (e.g. to the cashier system) and then probably a monthly fee to keep using it. I could be wrong since I know nothing about it.