MarketMan Review: Is It Right for Your Business?

MarketMan is a cloud-based restaurant inventory and vendor management app. This restaurant software focuses on streamlining restaurant purchasing, supply tracking, and accounting processes. Its multiple subscription tiers, integrations with popular point-of-sale (POS) systems, and robust accounting functions make it a valuable tool for any restaurant wanting to control costs and save time on month-end processes.

What We Like

Personalized assistance and training
Robust POS and accounting integrations
Monthly and annual memberships
Scan invoices for easy order receiving

What's Missing

More robust than small operations may need
Paper invoices must be entered manually by you or the MarketMan team
Can be expensive if you need a lot of invoice scans
In-app orders are email-based (not via EDI)

Deciding Factors:

Monthly software fee: $127–$399
Hardware compatibility: Internet-connected desktop and laptop computers and iOS and Android devices
POS integrations: Square, TouchBistro, Revel, Squirrel, Lavu, Aloha, Toast, Lightspeed, Upserve, MICROS, POSitouch, and more
Customer support: Available via phone, email, and in-app chat from 3 a.m.–6 p.m. Eastern time, Monday–Saturday

Standout Features:

Automated low stock alerts
Digital purchase orders that convert to your vendor’s preferred format
Shelf-to-sheet customization for stock counting efficiency
Mobile inventory counting
Ingredient-level inventory tracking
Robust budgeting and cost-calculation tools
User-friendly purchase ordering
Easy invoice management

Visit MarketMan

When To Use MarketMan

MarketMan is a highly insightful inventory tool for restaurants, built to fit the unique contours of a food and beverage operation. Any restaurant owner struggling to control their food and beverage margins can benefit from this cloud-based inventory software.

In particular, we recommend MarketMan for:

Restaurants wanting to streamline inventory management: MarketMan earned the highest score out of any restaurant inventory management software we’ve reviewed. Its mobile inventory counting, budgeting, user-friendly purchase ordering, and easy invoice management features make it a great solution for growing restaurants.
Restaurants with high-volume bars: If you need to track liquor inventory along with your kitchen supplies, its smartphone counting tools will save you hours every week.
Pizzerias: Pizza shops need to track a staggering number of toppings and to-go containers, so owners will love MarketMan’s ability to sync with their POS in real time.
Multilocation restaurant groups: It supports centralized reporting and internal product transfers—so your central accounting and operations teams can keep your reports accurate.

When MarketMan Would Not Be a Good Fit

Independent food trucks: While food trucks benefit from inventory tracking tools, a small-footprint operation won’t need MarketMan’s robust features. Instead, look at a simple, item-based inventory system—like the one built into TouchBistro.
Small restaurants without bars: Small spots that operate without a bar—like slice shops and burrito stops—will be better served by item-based inventory tools in an affordable POS, like Square for Restaurants.
Small, owner-operated restaurants: If you handle all of the day-to-day restaurant operations yourself, you probably won’t get much use from this comprehensive tool. An organized pen and paper system may be all you need.

Looking for something different? Smaller businesses may be better suited with a top-rated POS system. You may also want to see our recommended restaurant POS systems to find a solution that fits your needs.

MarketMan Pricing

MarketMan is available at three pricing tiers: Operator, Professional, and Ultimate. The most significant difference between these options is the monthly number of scannable invoices. MarketMan’s pricing starts at $149 per month for users that pay month-to-month, and it’s discounted by about 15% for those who pay annually.

	Operator	Professional	Ultimate
Monthly price	$149	$199	$399
Annual price	$1,254 ($127/month)	$2,028 ($169/month)	$4,068 ($339/month)
Invoice scans per month	20	50	300

MarketMan Features

All plans support POS integration and one-on-one training with a dedicated MarketMan account manager. The software is cloud-based, so you can operate it on internet-enabled devices, from desktop computers to smartphones. However, you can only unlock API access for custom integrations with a Professional or Ultimate subscription.

MarketMan computer tablet smartphone view.

MarketMan is cloud-based so you can access it from any computer, tablet, or smartphone.
(Source: MarketMan)

In addition to the major areas we’ll discuss in more detail below, MarketMan’s key features include:

Reporting: MarketMan includes a full suite of inventory reports to help you identify waste and profitability. Basic reports include the Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) report and purchasing reports. You can view your order history by vendor, the amount spent, or the person who placed the order. Upgrading to a Professional or Ultimate subscription unlocks more detailed inventory- and waste-tracking, advanced profitability reporting, and actual-versus-theoretical inventory, which helps identify shrinkage and theft.
Multiple user permissions: You choose which staff members have access to purchasing, counting, and receiving functions, permit managers to place vendor orders, and allow bartenders and sous chefs to assist with weekly and monthly physical stock counts.
Suggested order automation: When your stocks are low, MarketMan generates suggested orders to bring your stocks up to par levels. This feature also ensures that orders are placed with the correct vendors.
Invoice scanning: Save time entering invoices by scanning paper invoices and sending them to the MarketMan team—and they will input the necessary information into your management dashboard, saving you administrative bandwidth as well.
Cookbook: For Professional and Ultimate subscribers, MarketMan compiles your restaurant’s recipes into an easy-to-navigate digital cookbook. This is a great way to ensure consistency across multiple cooks or multiple locations, and your employees can access the cookbook via computers, phones, and internet-connected tablets—or you can print hard copies.

Inventory Management

Ingredient-level tracking: MarketMan depletes your supply levels as dishes are sold—down to the smallest ingredient.
Customizable unit measurements: Track proteins by weight, bulk goods by volume, and ready-to-drink items by bottle.
Real-time data: Always know the total value of your in-house supplies and receive alerts when stocks get low.
Mobile stock-taking: Your team can count stock directly from their smartphones to speed inventory counts.
Set par levels: Input your preferred standing inventory by item.
Shelf-to-sheet: Create physical count sheets that match your storage areas to streamline physical counts.

MarketMan’s inventory tracking settings are highly customizable. You choose units to measure each ingredient and supply in your restaurant.

When you create menu item recipes, you attach bulk ingredients, and MarketMan depletes each item as you sell it. The system then alerts your managers to low item stocks so that they can place the correct orders with the correct vendors, ensuring that you never run out of popular ingredients.

When it’s time to count your stock physically, MarketMan includes several time-saving features. First off, the system supports multiple user permissions, so you can give employees access to specific tasks without compromising your inventory operation’s security. This allows you to spread counting tasks among your team to speed weekly and monthly physical counts.

You can also arrange physical count screens to match your physical shelf configurations and access the physical count sheets via an internet browser or the MarketMan mobile app. The system also lets your team scan item barcodes with their smartphone camera to locate them on the inventory count sheet.

Vendor Management

Digital purchase orders: Create, approve, and receive purchase orders directly in your MarketMan dashboard.
Detailed vendor profiles: Include delivery days, order cut-off times, contact information, and order reminders so that you never miss a deadline.
Real-time alerts: See when your vendors receive your order and read it.
Authorized suppliers: Tie supplies to specific vendors to prevent rogue orders from unexpected places.
Custom limits: Set purchasing budgets and order limits so that you’re never surprised by a random order.
Email oversight: Choose to automatically email the chef or owner on certain orders.

MarketMan strives to be as paperless as possible. Your management team can generate a new purchase order (PO) in the MarketMan dashboard, and you can approve them from your phone.

MarketMan then sends the order to the vendor via their preferred channel—email, fax, API integration, or EDI (where available). With your PO already in your MarketMan system, it is easy to receive the delivered order in the app and get it in the accounts payable pipeline.

The customizable order controls and vendor profiles ensure you never miss a vendor’s order deadline. Vendor profiles include order timelines, delivery days, and contact information. You can also set alerts to remind you of upcoming order deadlines, so you always order on time.

You get the most out of MarketMan’s paperless system if you use it from PO creation to delivery acceptance. Orders that don’t originate in the MarketMan dashboard will need to be manually entered.

If you don’t have the administrative bandwidth to enter every paper invoice manually, then you can scan the invoice and send it to MarketMan to enter. Scanned invoices are typically entered within 24 hours of receipt.

Accounting

Smartphone scan bills: Take a photo with your smartphone camera to upload invoice information to the MarketMan app.
Sync with your accounting software: QuickBooks, Xero, and Sage are supported.
Accounting reports: See how much you spend with each vendor and track price changes over time.
Easy reconciliation: Track vendor credits and payments at a glance in a graph-based dashboard.

You can use MarketMan’s connection with your vendors to pay your vendors directly from the app. MarketMan calls this function “MarketMan Snap.” The name is a nice reminder to add unpaid invoices to the app by “snapping” a photo of the paper invoice with your smartphone camera.

You can make payments via a business credit card or direct deposit. Payments include invoice information, so you and your suppliers are always on the same page. You can also sync MarketMan with QuickBooks, Xero, or Sage to transfer detailed vendor and payment information; there is no need to manually add general ledger codes or invoice number memos.

Integrations

MarketMan has an open API that allows users to build their own integrations with other restaurant software tools. Integration is a great way to streamline your administrative functions further, so you can focus on the more exciting aspects of your restaurant business, like developing new menu items and training staff. If you don’t want to build custom integrations, you can rely on MarketMan’s pre-built integrations with popular restaurant POS systems and other platforms.

MarketMan’s built-in integrations include:

POS: Square, Lightspeed, Upserve, Toast, TouchBistro, Lavu, Aloha, POSitouch, Ordyx, Clover, Revel, MICROS, and Squirrel
Analytics and accounting: QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, Tenzo, Virgate, Shogo, SAP
Enterprise-level consulting: Bluebird, Twice Baked, OwnerShift, Eposability
Order/delivery management: Cuboh, Arch
Employee scheduling: 7shifts
Marketing: LuckyDiem

MarketMan Ease of Use

Extended service hours: Customer support is available by phone, email, and webchat from 3 a.m.–6 p.m. Eastern time, Monday–Saturday.
Guided training: The company assigns a dedicated service representative to all users.
Online resources: MarketMan maintains a detailed support website with step-by-step guides and video tutorials.
Daily webinars: There are training webinars every weekday.

MarketMan is an intuitive system that has a lot of functions. No matter how tech-savvy you are, you’ll need to set aside some time to learn all of its niche functions. Once you’ve walked through the entire program, however, it is very easy to use.

The MarketMan team wants users to get the most out of the software. Each new account receives guided training from a dedicated representative, and during your kickoff call, you will create a training plan for your team to ensure everyone knows how to use the system.

If you have questions or get new managers, it is easy to get them up to speed by dropping in on MarketMan’s frequent training webinars. These sessions focus on the software’s core features and answer user questions live.

Should you run into trouble, you can reach a MarketMan representative via phone, email, or in-app chat during extended business hours, six days a week.

MarketMan Restaurant Software Alternatives

	Best For	Monthly Pricing
Visit Upserve by Lightspeed	Restaurants wanting robust inventory and vendor management built into a POS	Starts at $59 (plus monthly per-terminal charge)	Read our Upserve by Lightspeed review
Visit Restaurant365	Restaurants seeking accounting, inventory, and labor costing in a single software platform	Starts at $316	Read our Restaurant365 review
Visit Toast	Restaurants needing user-friendly ingredient-level inventory in the POS	Starts at $0 (plus processing fees); add-ons available	Read our Toast review
Visit Square for Restaurants	Restaurants on a budget with simple inventory management needs	Starts at $0 for unlimited terminals (plus processing fees)	Read our Square for Restaurants review

What Users Think of MarketMan

When we compared several restaurant inventory management tools, MarketMan outranked the competition to earn the top spot. And we’re not the only ones to reward the strength of this comprehensive restaurant inventory system—MarketMan reviews from its users are consistently positive.

Finances Online: Overall rating of 8.3 out of 10; user-satisfaction rating of 100% based on positive social media mentions
Capterra: 4.7 out of 5 based on around 80 user reviews
G2: 4.6 out of 5 based on about 40 user reviews

MarketMan users rave about the software’s easy-to-navigate dashboard, and many mention how much time they save on weekly and monthly inventory tasks. On the flip side, there are very few critical comments—and those that exist are pretty granular. For example, one user complains that the system requires them to exit one invoice before entering another, adding several extra steps to the process. Also, a few large restaurant group users mentioned that they would like to see even more customizable reporting functions.

Users Like	Users Don’t Like
Intuitive back-office interface	Large multilocation restaurants may want even more detailed reporting
Time-saving inventory counts	Manual invoice entry could be further streamlined
System streamlines month-end inventory and accounting reconciliation

Bottom Line

MarketMan is a robust, user-friendly inventory and vendor management system that helps restaurants control costs and save administrative time. Users rave about its customizable settings that prevent large, unexpected orders and support detailed physical counts. And because it’s outfitted with POS integration and friendly customer support, it is a valuable addition to all but the smallest restaurants. Schedule a free demo to see if it will work for your restaurant.