ShopMazHow to manage inventory in a small shop
A practical routine for counting stock, setting reorder levels and cutting losses from expiry and theft.
Start with a clean product list
Give every item one name, a unit (piece, kg, litre, carton) and a barcode or SKU. Duplicate names such as "Surf 1kg" and "Surf Excel 1 kg" split your stock across two records and hide real quantities. Add the purchase price and the retail price, and a wholesale price if you sell in bulk.
Group items into categories (drinks, grains, soap, mobile accessories). Categories make search faster and your reports easier to read.
Count before you trust the numbers
Do one full physical count when you begin, then compare it with the app. After that, count a few fast-moving items every week instead of the whole shop once a year. Record differences as stock adjustments with a reason (damaged, expired, miscounted) so you can see where losses come from.
Set a low-stock level for each item
For each product, estimate how many days the supplier takes to deliver and how much you sell per day. Your low-stock level is roughly daily sales multiplied by delivery days, plus a small buffer. Items below that level go on the reorder list.
Fast sellers deserve higher buffers. Slow sellers tie up cash, so buy them in smaller amounts.
Sell the oldest stock first
For food, medicine and cosmetics, keep an expiry date for every batch and sell the earliest expiry first (FIFO). Check items expiring within 30 days each week and discount them before they become a total loss.
Review weekly
Once a week look at best sellers, dead stock (items that did not sell for a month) and the reorder list. Money sitting in dead stock cannot pay your supplier. Move it with a small discount, a bundle or by returning it to the supplier if they allow it.
- Add items under Products. Extra fields such as expiry or serial number can be switched on in Settings → Product form & templates.
- Set your alert limit in Settings → Stock & credit alerts. Items at or below it show on the dashboard.
- Use Business tools → Reorder to see what to buy, and Stock to check or adjust quantities.
Common questions
How often should I count stock?
Count a few fast-moving items every week and the whole shop once or twice a year. Frequent small counts catch mistakes while you can still remember what happened.
What is a good low-stock level?
Daily sales multiplied by the supplier delivery days, plus a small buffer. Raise the buffer for items that sell fast or that are often late from the supplier.