Cin7 Core vs NexWave: Which Fits a Growing Wholesale Business?

A wholesale business can reach the point where stock software is only part of the answer. The warehouse needs clear instructions. Purchasing needs reliable costs. Sales needs to know what has left and what is still due. The owner needs to see how these parts affect cash and profit.

If your team still joins that information together in spreadsheets, it is time to review the complete process.

For New Zealand and Australian wholesalers comparing Cin7 Core alternatives, NexWave offers bin management, a warehouse management system, connected business records and code-level customisation. Its team also brings years of experience with New Zealand businesses.

For an SME whose warehouse needs match NexWave’s scope, that combination can offer better value at a lower starting subscription cost. A longer list of warehouse functions adds value when the business needs them. The decision should start with the work your team does each day.

This comparison covers Cin7 Core and NexWave’s full Wholesale Distribution ERP edition. Product information was checked on 24 October 2026.

Cin7 Core vs NexWave at a glance

The practical differences become clearer when you follow an actual order through the business.

Warehouse control that connects to the office

Knowing that 200 units are in the warehouse does not tell a picker where to find them. It also does not tell the office whether those goods are still on a rack, waiting in despatch or already on a truck.

NexWave’s bin management tracks quantities within the warehouse. Its WMS gives staff a scanner, tablet or browser workflow for receiving, putaway, picking, staging and despatch.

For example, goods can arrive against a Purchase Order, move through an inbound area and enter storage bins. The office can send prioritised work to a named warehouse worker or an available queue. Staff then record the actual bins, batches and quantities they handle.

Outbound work stays connected to the Sales Order. Picking records the goods selected. Staging records their move to an outbound bin. Despatch submits the Delivery Note and issues stock. A partial despatch leaves the undelivered order balance open.

For the owner, this gives the team a shared record of progress and a clearer basis for answering customer questions.

Cin7 Core also has bin and WMS functions. Standard WMS is included in all Core plans. Advanced WMS adds functions such as pick zones and FIFO/FEFO enforcement.

The WMS tools differ. NexWave’s current scanner workflow supports ordinary and batch-controlled items. Serial-number workflows and stock counts use its standard processes. Its scanner does not support multi-order picking or active stock reservations. Packing and shipping labels are also outside that workflow; Cin7 documents these functions in its WMS. Test these requirements in the demonstration if they are central to your warehouse.

For a team that needs to receive goods, find them in bins, pick customer orders and record despatch, NexWave provides those connected workflows. If extra mobile warehouse functions are not part of your operation, focus the comparison on the work you need, customisation and cost.

Keep purchasing, stock costs and finance connected

For an importer, the supplier’s unit price is only part of the stock cost. Freight, duty and handling can change the margin on an order.

NexWave lets the team allocate eligible landed costs to received goods. Eligible charges can come from submitted supplier invoice lines, which keeps a link to the source cost.

That gives management a better basis for reviewing margin than a supplier price copied into a spreadsheet. Receipts, stock values, customer deliveries and invoices can sit within the same ERP.

If the business wants to keep Xero, NexWave also provides Xero integration. It sends supported invoices and credit notes from NexWave and can bring supported invoice payments back.

Cin7 Core offers standalone accounting as well as Xero and QuickBooks Online connections. The useful comparison is how each proposed setup handles your actual finance process, including corrections, returns and month-end review.

Change the process that holds the business back

A growing wholesaler may need more than another field on an order. It may need a product configurator, a particular release check or an integration with a customer’s ordering system.

NexWave can be customised at code level. The team can develop screens, business rules, reports and integrations around an agreed business requirement.

Past customer projects have included custom capacity planners, job schedulers, field service maps, configurators and integrations. For a wholesaler, that development capability creates a way to bring a process into the ERP when standard functions do not fit.

For example, bring the spreadsheet that staff use to prepare a complex order. Show the decisions it contains, who checks them and what must reach purchasing or the warehouse. The NexWave team can assess how that work could become part of the system.

Cin7 Core also offers configuration, integrations and API access. NexWave’s appeal is direct access to a team that can change the application itself and connect that change to the rest of the business.

Lower starting cost, with room to customise

For a team of up to five users, NexWave’s published monthly wholesale price is lower than Cin7 Core Standard at the reference rates below:

NexWave figures use its monthly pricing option. Cin7’s published prices are for new customers and exclude tax. Conversions use 23 October 2026 reference rates from the RBNZ for NZD and the RBA for AUD. Bank conversion charges and tax treatment can affect the billed amount.

This comparison uses Cin7 Standard, which already includes WMS. A business needs to consider its higher plans only when their allowances or functions are required.

NexWave does not charge a separate monthly fee to maintain custom code. Development and later changes are handled through agreed work and change requests.

That gives an SME a lower starting subscription and a way to adapt its ERP as the business develops. The complete proposal should cover the required WMS scope, implementation, support, integrations and custom development.

Compare today’s users and orders, expected growth and all recurring charges. Cin7 plans have user, sales-order and connection allowances, with further options available. The starting-price comparison is a useful reason to consider NexWave; the full proposal shows the cost for your business.

NZ experience and a practical move from Cin7

NexWave’s experience with New Zealand businesses helps connect software choices to local operating needs. For example, its Akahu integration brings supported NZ bank transactions into NexWave for reconciliation.

For a New Zealand or Australian wholesaler, the implementation discussion should include the people who will map purchasing, warehouse work and finance, train staff and help resolve problems after go-live.

If you are considering a move from Cin7 Core, start with the processes that need to improve. Then agree how to bring across item and customer data, opening stock and bin quantities, outstanding orders and financial balances. Test the connected sales channels and the warehouse devices before the changeover.

Changing software earns its cost when it improves the work that matters to the business.

When should a wholesaler choose NexWave?

Put NexWave first on the shortlist when its warehouse workflows cover your needs and you want a lower starting subscription, a flexible ERP and a team with NZ business experience.

Cin7 Core can remain a good fit where its standard workflows and connections meet the business’s needs. NexWave makes a stronger case when your next step needs changes across purchasing, warehouse work and finance, with an implementation team that can deliver those changes.

Bring one difficult order, one goods receipt and your current software costs to a demonstration. Follow the work from arrival to despatch and payment. Identify what is standard, what needs development and what the complete solution will cost.

Book a NexWave demonstration to see how NexWave Wholesale Distribution can support your business’s next stage of growth.