- Best for simple projects: Trello
- Best for growing your consumer base: Wrike
- Best for accessing strong features: ClickUp
- Best for team analytics: Teamwork
- Best for cost savings: Todoist
- Best for the basics: Nifty
- Best for dynamic teams: Notion
Retail companies of all sizes have to organize workloads, spending, employees and customers. The work piles on quickly and it can be equally overwhelming for individual online sellers and teams. A good retail planning tool will help teams stay on top of high priorities such as orders, payroll and marketing.
Top retail project management software comparison
In the table below, we explore software solutions with diverse offerings. Each software has affordable options for teams starting out and great features for productivity on the go.
| Mobile access | Time Tracking | Free trial | Free Plan | Pricing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trello | Yes | No, but has integrations | Yes, 14 days for Premium | Yes | Starting at $5 per user per month |
| Wrike | Yes | Yes | Yes, 14 days | Yes | Starting at $9.80 per user per month |
| ClickUp | Yes | Yes | Yes, for ClickUp AI | Yes | Starting at $7 per user per month |
| Teamwork | Yes | Yes | Yes, 30 days | Yes | Starting at $5.99 per user per month |
| Todoist | Yes | No, but has integrations | Yes, 30 days | Yes | Starting at $4 per user per month |
| Nifty | Yes | Yes | Yes, 14 days | Yes | Starting at $5 per user per month |
| Notion | Yes | Yes | Yes, for Notion AI | Yes | Starting at $8 per user per month |
Trello: Best for simple projects
If you’re looking for a simple project management tool to keep track of sales, orders, customers and goals, then Trello is a good choice. The software is best suited for teams that aren’t working on super complex projects and want to avoid losing productivity learning something that’s feature-dense.
New businesses that work remotely can benefit from cost savings and easy access across devices. Larger teams may consider their enterprise plan with unlimited workspaces and advanced security. Overall, Trello is great for retailers that want room to grow.
Pricing
Plans include Free, Standard, Premium and Enterprise:
- Standard is $5 per user per month billed annually and $6 per user per month billed monthly.
- Premium is $10 per user per month billed annually and $12.50 per user per month billed monthly.
- Enterprise is $210 per user billed annually with no monthly choice.
Features
- Has work views such as kanban, table, timeline and calendar.
- Ability to add users called observers with limited actions.
- Access to automation for repeated actions.
- Offers detailed security features like attachment restrictions and team permissions (Enterprise).
- Supports both iOS and Android mobile devices.
- Two-factor security for all plans.
Pros
- Teams can create their own custom work views.
- Templates get teams to work faster with focus on customers.
- Great for remote, hybrid and in-person retail teams.
- Has an intuitive UI and is great for teams that want something with less of a learning curve.
- Whole team can access the Free plan.
- Affordable for new businesses just starting out.
- Security controls for your team’s mobile devices in all plans.
Cons
- Work views for Free and Standard are limited to kanban.
- Support for Free and Standard is also very limited.
- The higher tiers can get very expensive.
If you want to learn more, you can read our Trello review.
Wrike: Best for growing your consumer base
Wrike is a great option for businesses that have bigger teams that want to track sales leads, resources, events and clients. If you need more capabilities and plan to grow your consumer base with access to in-depth reporting and business intelligence data, Wrike is an amazing choice. Small teams and freelancer sellers can still benefit from the Free version that allows unlimited members.
Pricing
Subscriptions they offer are Free, Team, Business, Enterprise and Pinnacle:
- Team is $9.80 per user per month billed annually.
- Business is $24.80 per user per month billed annually.
- Enterprise pricing is based on your team’s needs for security and size.
- Pinnacle pricing is customized for teams that want in-depth reporting and business intelligence analytics.
Features
- Work views offered include table, board, Gantt charts and kanban.
- Unlimited projects, tasks, fields and request forms.
- Mobile access for iOS and Android devices.
- Analytics work view and access to data visualizations.
- Advanced search and filtering.
- Adobe Creative Cloud extension for content creation.
Pros
- Templates for multiple needs to get started.
- Work scheduling for individuals and the whole team.
- Generated reply options and text recognitions on mobile for faster communication.
- Time tracking and timesheets to ensure your team is paid fairly.
- Budget management for help staying on top of business spending and expenses.
Cons
- Limited integration access.
- Automations are limited per user per month in each plan.
- Can be costly for larger teams.
- User minimums for the paid plans.
- Limited storage space for accounts with the highest being only 15Gb per user in Pinnacle.
- Only annual pricing.
- Workspace branding only in the Business tier.
Teams that want more information can read our full Wrike review.
ClickUp: Best for accessing strong features
Teams looking for feature-rich solutions with a variety of affordable plan tiers should consider ClickUp. Similar to Wrike, it offers a startup-friendly Free plan with access for your whole team. The free version and lower tiers also have unique features such as natural language processing (NLP) and custom task statuses. Paid tiers have access to more security and support and are great for teams working with sensitive client data.
Pricing
Plan tiers are Free, Unlimited, Business, Business Plus and Enterprise:
- Unlimited is $7 per user per month billed annually and $10 per user per month billed monthly.
- Business is $12 per user per month billed annually and $19 per user per month billed monthly.
- Business Plus is $19 per user per month billed annually and $29 per user per month billed monthly.
- Enterprise offers custom pricing based on team needs.
Features
- 15 work views including kanban, Gantt charts, table and calendar.
- All plans have access to time tracking.
- Reporting for sprints, milestones, workloads, time and progress.
- Over 50 native integrations available in all plans.
- Special connections with Zapier, OneDrive, Google Drive and Tableau.
- Two-factor authentication for all plans.
- Customizable roles and permissions.
Pros
- Keep track of each other with workload profiles and work scheduling.
- Reporting for sprints and progress.
- Able to use task dependencies and assign multiple team members to a project.
- Notifications for certain actions to ensure there are no gaps in your communication.
- Onboarding and training in Enterprise.
Cons
- Automation limited per month per seat.
- Only Business plans can remove ClickUp branding.
- Two-factor authentication with SMS only in Business and up.
- HIPAA compliance only in Enterprise.
- Priority support only in Business Plus and up.
If you’re interested in learning more, see our ClickUp review.
Teamwork: Best for team analytics
If you need retail management software that focuses on time tracking, budgeting and reporting, Teamwork is a front-runner. It offers important marketing and accounting integrations such as HubSpot and QuickBooks. The application is great for handling both your client base, finances and collaboration on projects. Small teams can save but the more members you have can make it costly.
Pricing
The different plan tiers available are Free, Starter, Deliver, Grow and Scale:
- Starter is $5.99 per user per month billed annually and $8.99 per user per month billed monthly.
- Deliver is $9.99 per user per month billed annually and $13.99 per user per month billed monthly.
- Grow is $19.99 per user per month billed annually and $25.99 per user per month billed monthly.
- Scale pricing is based on your productivity needs.
Features
- Work views the app offers are list, table, board and Gantt.
- Popular integrations such as Harvest, QuickBooks and HubSpot.
- Project budgeting features for watching time and expenses.
- Reporting for time, profit and status.
- Custom filters for fast searching.
- Task dependencies and tagging for staying organized.
Pros
- Plenty of time-tracking features such as timesheets, reminders, rates and estimates.
- All work views are available in each plan.
- Invoicing among all plan tiers.
- Billable time tracking in all plans.
- Client view access for all plans.
Cons
- Free plan caps at five users and paid tiers can be expensive for tighter budgets.
- Templates for projects and task lists are limited per plan.
- Automation has a set amount of actions per month in all plans.
- Most features have different limits across all tiers.
- Client users only in the Deliver plan.
Teams excited to learn more about what this software can do should see our full Teamwork review.
Todoist: Best for cost savings
Todoist is simple software. It offers the basics while remaining budget-friendly. Individuals and teams can organize and collaborate on their business projects and keep track of daily tasks and long-term goals.
It isn’t stacked with features and it’s not the right solution if you have a large client base, a high volume of customer orders or have to analyze an abundance of consumer data. However, you can upgrade it with integrations to add features such as time tracking, Gantt charts, automation and messaging.
Pricing
Plans available include Beginner, Pro, Starter, and Business:
- Beginner and Starter are free.
- The Pro plan is $4 per user per month billed annually and $5 per user per month billed monthly.
- The Business plan is $6 per user per month billed annually and $8 per user per month billed monthly.
Features
- Add guests and collaborators to the workspace.
- Admin controls inTeam Business.
- Ready-to-go and customizable themes for your workspace.
- Unlimited activity history for paid plans and one week for free plans.
- Work views based on what you flag or by the due date.
- Filtered views for workspace.
- Integrations with popular apps.
- Five active projects, Personal Pro allows 300 and Team Business has up to 1,000 (Free plan).
Pros
- Paid plans can create reminders to ensure you remember important tasks.
- Affordable pricing for paid tiers.
- Unlimited guests for paid plans and up to 250 collaborators per project.
- Team Business plan has both automatic backups and security controls.
Cons
- Free tiers limit use to one user each.
- Each plan has limits on the number of guests and collaborators.
- None of the free plans can access a team workspace.
- Fewer features compared to competitors.
Those of you who want to know more, can read our complete Todoist review.
Nifty: Best for the basics
Another simple but mighty software is Nifty. It’s not going to have the same assortment of features and tools you’ll find in Wrike or ClickUp, but it does offer classic options. You can use Nifty for organizing retail task management, tracking time and budgeting, as well as collaborating with guest users and clients.
Pricing
Plans they offer are Free, Starter, Pro, Business and Enterprise:
- Starter is $5 per user per month billed annually and $9 per user per month billed monthly.
- Pro is $10 per user per month billed annually and $16 per user per month billed monthly.
- Business is $16 per user per month billed annually and $25 per user per month billed monthly.
- Enterprise is based on the needs of larger teams.
Features
- Customizable work views in kanban and list formatting.
- In-app chat for communication.
- Keep track of tasks and milestones.
- Time tracking for paid plans.
- Reporting and budget tracking for paid plans.
- Custom roles and permissions to your workspace run smoothly.
- Over 2,000 integrations such as Harvest, Slack and Typeform.
Pros
- The Free plan allows unlimited team members.
- Unlimited guests and clients can be added to paid plans.
- Paid tiers allow 40 to unlimited projects at a time and 100GB to unlimited storage
- Task and milestone dependencies to ensure your workflow is completed in the order you need it.
- Two-factor authentications for all plans.
Cons
- Free plan has only two projects and minimal storage space.
- Most of the important features are in paid tiers.
- Priority support only in the Business plan.
You can read our review of Nifty to learn more about how it works.
Notion: Best for dynamic teams
Notion is a very flexible project management tool. It can be great for writers, freelancers, schools, creatives and startups. If you need a retail task management tool to handle plenty of writing, reporting and deadlines, Notion can do all of that affordably. Both small and large teams can use Notion to innovate ideas, manage workloads and integrate with marketing and payroll tools.
Pricing
Subscriptions are Free, Plus, Business and Enterprise:
- Plus is $8 per user per month billed annually and $10 per user per month billed monthly.
- Business is $15 per user per month billed annually and $18 per user per month billed monthly.
- Enterprise is customized for the advanced features your team wants for support and admin controls.
Features
- Work views such as kanban, list and table.
- Notion Time Tracker template for keeping up with tasks.
- Knowledge wikis for fast access to shared information.
- Notion AI add-on available to help with summarizing and editing.
- Ability to sync databases and preview links in the app.
- Integrates with popular apps such as Slack, Figma and Gusto.
- Public API to create your own connections with apps you use.
Pros
- All plans can add guests.
- Able to set group permissions in all plans.
- Unlimited project pages and blocks in paid plans.
- Exporting and analytics in all plans.
- Great for remote teams that need to collaborate.
Cons
- Limited security features in most plans other than Enterprise.
- Free plan only allows up to two users and limits the amount blocks per user.
- Only Business and Enterprise plans can have private team spaces.
You can learn more from our complete Notion review.
Key features of retail project management software
Retail task management software needs to adapt to the variety of businesses that use it. Aside from basic project management, many teams may need more content, data visualization, time tracking and access to integrations.
Work views
In retail, teams could be working on orders, customer information, product design and anything else to do with providing services to consumers. Work views offer different ways to visualize workflow, progress and deadlines.
The demographics of retail employees are diverse so having many options improves usability, especially for visual learners. Retail teams generally don’t work on super complex projects such as software development so finding software without a big learning curve is integral for productivity.
Collaboration
While some retail companies can be a party of one, it still helps to have team workflow capabilities for growth or for working with clients. Being able to call, message, set up events and easily share information can make a huge impact on overall productivity.
Time tracking
Most retail teams consist of hourly workers, so having a tool to track each employee’s time is a huge benefit. There are time-tracking solutions that focus on individual tasks as well to report on overall progress. If you find a software you like but there’s no built-in time tracking there are plenty of integrations that manage hours.
Integrations
For some teams, choosing the least complicated software will make the biggest difference. A feature-rich software can offer more, but the easier the tool is to use the less you need to learn. The most affordable app with bare minimum features might be the best fit for you, and that makes the integrations they offer all the more important.
Automation
When there are a lot of moving parts, it’s easy to lose things in communication. Scheduling minor tasks that need to happen on a daily, weekly or monthly basis can save time, keep everyone on the same page and get projects done on time.
Mobile access
Whether you’re remote, hybrid or in-person, retail teams can massively benefit from the time savings on-the-go access provides. If you get orders day and night or are always going back and forth between work it helps to have that instant communication provided by mobile access.
How do I choose the best retail project management software for my business?
Workforce management software for retail teams needs to be dependable and keep every member connected. You need to compare costs and features for any software, but in this case, you really want to avoid anything that’s unnecessary. The more complex and expensive software is, the more it can weigh down your team and return on investment.
Retail teams that have a lot of writing and reporting to do on inventory or consumer data will want those extra features you can find in Wrike, ClickUp and Notion. If you have a tight budget though, research the integrations and free plan options. Growth can come later, especially if you’re a new seller and maximizing profit really counts.
Bigger teams that can afford all the bells and whistles should still test-drive the software with their employees. No one will be able to help customers, and you will lose sales if no one understands your task management software. Most of the higher tier plans, such as Enterprise plans, will offer more security and admin controls, but those features may not be a high priority for your team.
Methodology
We evaluated software in terms of the collaboration, communication and time-saving features they offer. Usability is another very important factor because retail teams aren’t working in data science; they need fast, reliable solutions that will give them core project management offerings.
