Inventory management virtual assistant counting stock
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
✓ From £5/hour ✓ UK-managed ✓ Dedicated VA, not shared ✓ No long-term contract
Rated 5.0 on Google.Trusted by our clients

Trusted by businesses

Our Clients

Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
Ant Assist client
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 VA is for

  1. Multi-channel sellers Stock kept in sync across Shopify, Amazon and eBay.
  2. Brands whose bestsellers sell out Reorder flags with lead times built in stop stock-outs.
  3. Stores using 3PLs and overseas suppliers Your VA reconciles warehouse numbers and chases the gaps.
  4. Seasonal stores Stock watched daily before the peak, hours scaled back after.
Inventory management virtual assistant with a stock progress card: counted, low stock, reordered
Cost Comparison

What an inventory management VA costs depends on where you hire

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.

A dedicated Ant Assist VA compared with a UK in-house hire and a UK agency, full time.
RecommendedAnt Assist£1,040 a month£800 a month for the first 6 months at £5/hour UK in-house hire~£3,100/mo UK agencyapprox. £3,500 to £4,500
Who manages the work IncludedOur UK team supervises Not includedYou do PartlyThe agency
Recruitment and onboarding IncludedIncluded Not includedYou recruit and train IncludedThe agency matches
Employer NI and pension IncludedNone to pay Not includedYou pay both PartlyBuilt into the rate
Office and equipment IncludedIncluded Not includedYou provide PartlyVaries by agency
Holiday and sick cover IncludedCover provided Not includedYou find cover PartlyVaries by agency
Replacement if it is not right IncludedReplaced, no restart cost Not includedRe-hire from scratch PartlyVaries by agency
Contract IncludedRolling monthly, 30 days' notice Not includedEmployment contract PartlyVaries by agency

UK agency figures are an approximate range around the £25 per hour agency benchmark our calculator uses.

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.
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.

Services

Explore more VA types

Get Started

Never sell what you do not have.

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

Discovery callRole briefVA matchedOnboarded into your tools

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