Is Inventory Planner better than Lumina?

It depends on the customer. For Shopify-only DTC brands £2–10M with a planner already fluent in Inventory Planner, it's a credible pick. For scaling consumer brands selling across Shopify, Amazon, and retail — and especially for teams that want modern UX, AI-native forecasting, and cash flow visibility in one tool — Lumina is the better fit because it's built for that customer shape from the ground up.

How long does it take to switch from Inventory Planner to Lumina?

About a week. We import historical data and configuration from Inventory Planner, connect Shopify, Amazon, and your accounting system, and run a guided setup of forecasts and replenishment rules. Most teams run their first real-data planning meeting from Lumina within 15 days. There's no separate implementation services line on the invoice.

Does Lumina replace my IMS or ERP?

No — Lumina sits on top of your existing IMS or ERP and the systems that run sales (Shopify, Amazon) and finance (Xero, QuickBooks). We're a planning layer, not a record-keeping layer. That's deliberate: we don't want to force you into a six-figure ERP migration to get value out of better forecasting and replenishment.

What does Inventory Planner cost vs Lumina?

Inventory Planner publishes plans starting around $200/month, scaling with SKU count and modules. Real-world costs typically land between $400 and $1,500/month for non-trivial configurations. Lumina starts at £59/user/month with modular add-ons and onboarding included — published pricing, predictable spend.

What changed when Sage acquired Inventory Planner?

Sage acquired Inventory Planner in 2021. Since then, customers report slower release cadence on new features, more focus on integration with Sage's accounting products, and less independent product velocity compared to the standalone era. The core product still works — but modern entrants (Lumina, Prediko) have closed the gap and overtaken on UX and AI-native workflows.

Can Lumina handle multiple Shopify stores, Amazon, and retail?

Yes. Multi-channel is the default assumption in Lumina, not an add-on. We aggregate demand across Shopify stores, Amazon marketplaces, retailer EDI/sell-through, and B2B orders into a single forecast and replenishment view. This is a primary reason customers move from Inventory Planner to Lumina once they outgrow a single channel.

Lumina vs Inventory Planner: Honest 2026 Comparison

Lumina adapts to your stack. Inventory Planner expects you to adapt to it.

Inventory Planner is a long-running, capable product. The engine is mature. But the UX is dated, the workflows are rigid, the Sage acquisition has slowed independent roadmap velocity, and modern AI-native entrants have visibly overtaken it on time-to-value and flexibility. If you're a scaling consumer brand (£5–30M, Shopify + Amazon + retail), Lumina is the closer fit: AI forecasting on your real data, automated POs that know your supplier payments and cash position, and a guided onboarding measured in days — not weeks of an analyst learning the system's quirks before the planning meeting ever runs from it.

"We spent six weeks just learning where everything lived in Inventory Planner. Then we hit a custom rule we couldn't model and gave up."

— Head of Ops, DTC consumer brand at £12M, Shopify + Amazon

When to pick which

Pick Lumina if

You want a modern planning tool that adapts to your stack.

Revenue between £5M and £100M, growing materially YoY.
You sell across Shopify, Amazon, retail, and (sometimes) wholesale — not a single channel.
You need accurate forecasting, automated replenishment, and cash-flow visibility — in one place, not three tools stitched together.
You don't want to budget six weeks of analyst onboarding before the system runs a real PO.
You want AI-native forecasting on your real data, not statistical models tuned by hand.

Pick Inventory Planner if

You're a Shopify-first DTC team that already lives in Inventory Planner's workflow.

Revenue £2–10M, single channel (Shopify), simple supply chain.
You have a planner who's been using Inventory Planner for years and is comfortable with its UX.
Your supplier ops and cash flow live elsewhere (accounting tool, separate spreadsheets) and you're fine keeping it that way.
You don't need Amazon, retail, or B2B revenue aggregated into the same forecast.
You're not blocked by the slower post-Sage roadmap cadence and don't need modern AI features.

Lumina vs Inventory Planner: feature comparison

Feature	Lumina Recommended	Inventory Planner
Built for Who the product is genuinely designed around	Scaling DTC, omnichannel, FMCG brands £5–100M	Shopify-led DTC brands with a single channel
AI-native forecasting	Native — AI built in from day one	Statistical engine; AI features added more recently
Time to live	~1 week guided onboarding	Typically 2–6 weeks of analyst setup
Modern UX	Clean, guided, designed for ops teams not analysts	Functional but dated — feels like 2014 enterprise
Adapts to your workflow	Modular — start with the workflow that hurts most	Rigid — your team learns its way of working
Automated replenishment & POs	Lead-time + MOQ aware, supplier-linked	Mature PO workflow, Shopify-centric
Cash flow & supplier payments	Built in — supplier ledger + cash impact view	Lives outside the tool (accounting / spreadsheets)
Native Shopify + Amazon integrations	Direct connectors, omnichannel native	Shopify-first; Amazon and retail are weaker
Multi-warehouse, multi-channel planning	Native — built for omnichannel from day one	Supported but configuration-heavy
Roadmap velocity	Independent, AI-native, fast cadence	Slowed visibly post-Sage acquisition (2021)
Modular pricing	Pick modules; from £59/user/mo + add-ons	Tiered plans, SKU-count and module scaled
Public pricing	Yes — published on the pricing page	Published starting tier; real cost is quote-driven
Implementation services required	Self-serve or guided onboarding included	Self-serve in theory; most teams need consultant help
Best customer profile	Demand planner / ops lead at a £5–100M consumer brand	Shopify-only DTC planner at a £2–10M brand

Yes Partial No

Forecasting: AI on your real data vs statistical models from the 2010s

Inventory Planner's forecasting heritage is statistical — the same family of models that have been around since the early 2010s, tuned by hand. They work, especially on stable, Shopify-only DTC data. But they don't gracefully handle the things that increasingly define modern consumer brands: new product launches with no history, promo cycles that warp the baseline, channel-shift between Shopify and Amazon, returns volatility, or the noise that comes from selling on TikTok Shop one quarter and not the next. Lumina is built around AI from day one, applied directly to the data you actually have — Shopify orders, Amazon velocity, retail sell-through, returns, promo calendars. The model adapts to seasonality, launches, and channel-shift patterns without requiring an analyst to tune parameters by hand. For scaling brands, that's the difference between a forecast you trust and a forecast you 'override in the spreadsheet anyway.'

Lumina forecasting wins

AI-native models trained on your Shopify, Amazon, and retail data directly
Handles new SKUs, promos, and seasonality without manual model tuning
Forecasts roll up to channel, region, and SKU views without rework

Where Inventory Planner can edge ahead

Mature, well-understood statistical models with a long track record
Stable, single-channel Shopify DTC SKUs with deep history
Planners who prefer hand-tuning model parameters over AI-driven defaults

Flexibility: a tool that adapts to your stack vs a tool you adapt to

This is the most common reason brands leave Inventory Planner. The product was architected around a specific workflow — Shopify-first DTC, planner-led, single-channel — and it expects you to fit that mould. The moment your supply chain doesn't (multiple warehouses, complex supplier MOQs, an Amazon FBA layer, retail EDI, a B2B channel, a wholesale arm), the configuration burden balloons. Customers describe spending weeks 'fighting the tool' instead of running their business from it. Lumina is modular by design. You pick the workflows that hurt most today — usually forecasting and replenishment — and layer in cash flow, supplier ops, or range planning as you need them. The integrations are direct and configurable, the reporting is composable, and the underlying model adapts to your data shape rather than forcing your data into a fixed schema.

Implementation: a week of guided setup vs six weeks of analyst learning

Inventory Planner is technically self-serve, but most scaling brands we talk to end up using a consultancy or burning weeks of analyst time learning the system's particular logic, naming conventions, and configuration screens. The forecasting engine works — but only once you've understood how the tool wants your data structured. Lumina is designed to go live in a week. Connect Shopify, Amazon, your IMS or ERP-lite, and your accounting system. We import your historical data, set baseline forecasts, and walk you through the first PO run. Most customers run their first real-data planning meeting from Lumina within fifteen days of signing.

Lumina onboarding

~1 week from kickoff to first live PO run
No external consultancy required
Modular: start with forecasting, layer in replenishment + cash flow when ready

Inventory Planner onboarding

2–6 weeks of analyst setup is typical for non-trivial configurations
Many teams use consultancies despite the self-serve framing
Steeper learning curve on the configuration and reporting screens

Cash flow and supplier ops: connected vs separate tools

Inventory Planner forecasts demand and helps you raise POs. It doesn't tell you what those POs do to your cash runway, whether you can actually afford them this month, or how they line up against supplier payment terms. Most brands run that part of the workflow in a spreadsheet or their accounting tool — meaning the planning meeting ends with 'now let me go check if we can pay for it.' Lumina ties the PO to the supplier ledger and the cash flow view. You can see what's on order, what it costs, when it lands, and what your runway looks like — in one place. For brands where cash is a real constraint (i.e. most scaling brands), that single integration changes how planning meetings actually run.

Pricing: transparent and modular vs SKU-scaled tiers

Inventory Planner publishes a starting tier (around $200/month) but real-world cost scales materially with SKU count, channels, and modules. Customers we've spoken with cite all-in costs between $400 and $1,500 per month once they're on a real configuration, with consultancy support layered on top. Lumina is published, modular, and per-user. Starter plans begin at £59/user/month. You can layer modules (forecasting, replenishment, cash flow, range planning) as you need them, and onboarding is included rather than billed separately. For finance teams approving the spend, the predictability matters.

Lumina vs Inventory Planner: which inventory planning tool actually fits a scaling brand?