E-commerce VA · Inventory Management

Inventory Management Virtual Assistant

Stock watched every day across every SKU and channel, reorders flagged before bestsellers run out, slow movers reported. One dedicated VA, your systems, your rules. Here is how it works.

Stock checks on scheduleReorder flagsChannel syncSupplier chasing
Calculate your savings → Book a free 15-min call
✓ From £5/hour ✓ UK-managed ✓ Dedicated VA, not shared ✓ No long-term contract
What They Handle

What an inventory management virtual assistant handles each week

Inventory monitoring

Checks stock levels across your SKUs and channels on a schedule you define, daily, twice daily or weekly depending on your velocity, and records them so the trend is visible, not just the number.

Reorder flags and purchase orders

When stock drops below the threshold you set, flags it, or raises the purchase order if you have given that authority, with the supplier's lead time counted in, so the reorder lands before the stock-out.

Channel stock sync

Keeps Shopify, Amazon, eBay and your other marketplaces showing the same availability, pauses listings that have sold through and reactivates them when the delivery lands, so you never sell what you do not have.

ShopifyAmazoneBay

Slow movers and dead stock

Reports the lines that are not moving, the sizes and colours that are stuck and the stock that is tying up cash, so markdowns and bundles are decisions you make on time.

Supplier coordination

Liaises with manufacturers, freight forwarders, 3PLs and couriers: confirms orders, chases delivery dates, checks what arrived against what was ordered and logs the discrepancies.

Stock status on listings

Updates the listing details that stock changes drive: back-in-stock dates, pre-order flags, variant availability and the attributes that stop a listing showing as available when it is not.

Which model

A dedicated inventory VA compared with a spreadsheet the owner keeps themselves

Most stores manage stock on a spreadsheet the founder updates in the evening, and the spreadsheet is right until the week it matters. Peak season arrives, the updates slip, a bestseller sells out on one channel while the other keeps taking orders, and the supplier's lead time turns a small miss into a month without your top line. The problem is not the spreadsheet; it is that stock control needs the same attention every day, and the owner's attention is the store's scarcest resource.

A dedicated inventory management VA gives the job an owner. The checks happen on schedule whether or not it is a busy week, the flags arrive with the lead time already counted, the channels are kept in step, and the supplier chasing stops being something you do at midnight. You still set the thresholds and make the buying decisions; you stop doing the counting.

Who It's For

Who an inventory management virtual assistant is built for

Multi-channel sellers

The same stock sold on Shopify, Amazon and eBay drifts out of sync the moment one channel has a run. A VA keeps availability true everywhere.

Brands with bestsellers that keep selling out

The cost of a stock-out on your top line is the sales you did not make and the ranking you lose while it is gone. Reorder flags with the lead time built in stop it happening.

Stores working with 3PLs and overseas suppliers

Long lead times and third-party warehouses mean the numbers you see are not always the stock you have. Your VA reconciles them and chases the gaps.

Seasonal stores

Scale hours up ahead of the peak so the stock build is watched daily, and back down afterwards, with no penalty and no hiring.

Cost Comparison

What an inventory management VA costs depends on where you hire

The same work is priced very differently by market: a UK employee costs a salary plus employer costs and a desk, a UK freelancer or agency bills by the hour or the project, and an offshore marketplace leaves the managing to you. With Ant Assist the entry rate is £5 per hour for the first 6 months on the Entry tier, 3 months on Mid, 1 month on Expert. It covers your dedicated VA's time, our office facilities in Cairo, and the supervision and management that keep quality up.

Set that against a UK in-house e-commerce hire once salary, employer National Insurance, pension, holiday and a desk are counted; the comparison card on this page shows the calculator's model, and the full calculator gives your figures for your hours.

UK in-house hire
~£3,100/mo
~£37,205 / year
You save ~£24,725 a year
Ant Assist VA
£1,040/mo
£12,480 / year at the standard rate
UK In-House · Entry level
UK in-house e-commerce hire (calculator model)
£2,384 a month gross salary, full time (the calculator's ecommerce benchmark, ONS ASHE 2025)
Monthly salary£2,384
Benefits (5% of salary)£119
Equipment and office£442
Management time (2 hrs a week)£156
~£3,100/mo
~£37,205 / year
Ant Assist VA · Entry
Dedicated Inventory Management Virtual Assistant
160 hrs a month · £5/hour for the first 6 months (£800/mo), then £6.50/hour on the ecommerce rate card
VA hours (160h × £6.50/hour standard rate)£1,040
Management and supervisionIncluded
Recruitment and onboardingIncluded
Office infrastructureIncluded
£1,040/mo
£12,480 / year at the standard rate
You save ~£24,725 / year at the standard rate (est.)

What the £5/hour entry rate includes

  • Dedicated VA, never shared
  • UK-hour aligned support
  • Management and supervision included
  • Recruitment and onboarding included
  • Office infrastructure included
  • VA replacement available
  • No NI, pension, or holiday costs
  • No long-term contract, rolling monthly

These are typical estimates. Get your exact numbers in the full calculator. Or read how much a virtual assistant costs in the UK.

Calculate your exact savings →
Process

How to hire an inventory management VA

1
First call
A short call about your tasks, your tools and the hours you need covered.
2
Matching
We pick a VA from our in-house team for your work and introduce them to you.
3
Onboarding
Together we write down your rules and set up your access before day one.
4
Live
Your VA starts on your hours from our managed office, supervised from the UK.
5
Ongoing management
A UK team reviews the work each week; hours scale up or down as you need.
Book a free 15-min call
Why Managed

Why a managed inventory VA beats a spreadsheet the owner keeps themselves

Managed, not just placed.
Your VA is recruited, trained and supervised from our own in-house office. Not a freelancer profile, not a tool you have to keep feeding.
The same eyes every day.
One person watches the stock, so the patterns, the lines that always run short and the supplier that always slips, are seen and acted on.
Replaceable without restart cost.
If the fit is wrong, we replace the VA and carry the handover. No re-recruitment, no starting from zero.
No NI, pension, or holiday overhead.
One hourly rate; the employment costs sit with us.
Your data stays yours.
Every VA signs an NDA and a data-processing agreement, works inside your admin through password managers at the access level the job needs, and you can revoke access at any time.
Rolling monthly.
Scale hours up or down, pause, or cancel with 30 days' notice.
Rated 5.0 on Google.Trusted by our clients
FAQ

Common questions about hiring an inventory management VA

Stock levels across every SKU and channel, reorder points against your lead times, the slow movers tying up cash, supplier order status, and the gap between what the system says and what the warehouse counts. The output is a daily stock line and a reorder list you approve in minutes.

Within the rules you set. Reorders below an agreed value are raised and chased by the VA in your name; anything above it, or with a new supplier, a price change or a long lead time, comes to you as a recommendation to approve. Nothing is committed without that rule written down first.

By one person holding one view. The VA reconciles counts across channels, adjusts listings when a channel oversells or a return comes back, and flags the products that keep drifting so the root cause is fixed.

That is what the reorder points are for. The VA works backwards from your lead times and sales rate, raises the reorder before the stock runs out, and builds the peak forecast with you in advance.

Inside your systems: your store admin, your marketplace accounts and whichever inventory tool you already use, at the permission level each task needs. Your data stays in your accounts.

£5 per hour for the first 6 months on the Entry tier. After the promotion the e-commerce rate card applies: £6.50 per hour full time, £1,040 a month for 160 hours, or £6.80 per hour part time, £544 a month for 80 hours.

Didn't find your answer? Browse more common questions in the Help Center.

Get Started

Never sell what you do not have.

One dedicated inventory VA, from £5 per hour. Book a free 15-minute call.

Book a free 15-min call Calculate your savings →
Discovery callRole briefVA matchedOnboarded into your tools

A free 15-minute call, no obligation. Or get an instant estimate with the calculator.