Stock updates on every sale
Ring up a sale and the items come off your count straight away. No second step, no end-of-day update.
Inventory tracking
Know what's in stock without counting shelves
Shopkeepa is built so the number on the screen matches the shelf. Every sale, delivery, return and loss is recorded as a movement, so you always know what you have and why it changed.
Corner Shop
StockGrace Corned Beef
22 on hand
+24Stock receivedToday, 9:02 AM
−2Sale #SK-1044Today, 11:40 AM
−1DamagedYesterday
+3Stock correctionMon
What you get
A history behind every number
Open any product and see each movement that led to the current count: what came in, what went out and when.
Stock In for deliveries
When a delivery arrives, record it as stock received. The count goes up and the entry stays on record.
Honest reasons for losses
Damaged, expired, theft or loss: pick the reason when you remove stock, so you can see where it really goes.
Quick add and bulk import
Add a product with a name, price and quantity, or bring in a whole list from a CSV or Excel file with a preview first.
Counts that fix the record
When the shelf and the screen disagree, enter what you counted. The difference is saved as its own entry.
Why a number alone is not enough
Most small shops start with a notebook or a spreadsheet that holds one number per product: how many are left. It works until the number is wrong. Then you have a problem, because a single number cannot tell you why it is wrong. Was something stolen? Was a delivery never written down? Did a sale get missed on a busy afternoon?
Shopkeepa keeps stock differently. Instead of overwriting a number, it keeps a ledger of movements. Each time stock changes, a line is added: what changed, by how much, why and when. The count you see is simply the total of those lines.
It is the same idea as a bank statement. Your balance is not the whole story. The list of deposits and withdrawals is what lets you trust it, and what lets you spot a mistake.
The reasons stock can change
Every movement has a reason. There are a small number of them, chosen to cover what really happens in a shop.
| Reason | What it means | Effect on count |
|---|---|---|
| Sale | A customer bought it at the till. | Goes down |
| Received | A delivery or Stock In from your supplier. | Goes up |
| Return | A customer brought it back. | Goes up |
| Damaged | Broken, spoiled or unsellable. | Goes down |
| Expired | Past its date and removed from sale. | Goes down |
| Theft or loss | Gone and not sold. | Goes down |
| Correction | You fixed a mistake in an earlier entry. | Up or down |
| Count | You counted the shelf and the total differed. | Up or down |
Expired is only a reason for taking stock off the count. Shopkeepa does not track expiry dates for you.
Keeping these apart is what makes the history useful. A shop that loses $40 of stock a month to damage has a different problem from one that loses it to theft, and the fix is different too. See where your stock goes for how to read the pattern.
From the first product to a full shelf
Setting up should not take a weekend. There are two ways in, and you can mix them.
Quick add
Type a name, a price and how many you have. That is enough to start selling the product today. You can add the cost and a low-stock minimum later.
Bulk import
Already have a list in a spreadsheet? Bring in a CSV or Excel file. You see a preview before anything is saved, so you can catch a column in the wrong place.
Scan to add
Point your camera at a barcode. If the product is already in your shop, you find it. If not, you start creating it. Read more about barcode scanning.
Opening quantities you enter at the start are recorded like any other movement, so your history begins from the first day.
Keeping the count honest over time
Even in a careful shop, the count drifts. A customer takes one extra, a box is miscounted, a delivery is short. This is normal. What matters is that you can find and fix drift quickly.
Counting the shelf
Walk the shelf, enter what you actually see, and Shopkeepa works out the difference. If the screen said 12 and you counted 10, a count entry of minus 2 is added. You do not edit history, you add to it, so the earlier record is still there to learn from.
You do not have to count everything at once. Count one aisle on a quiet morning and one more tomorrow. Our guide to doing a stock count without closing the shop walks through a routine that fits around trading.
Looking at one product
When a number looks wrong, open the product. You see the sales, the deliveries and the removals in order. Often the answer is right there, such as a delivery of 24 that was entered as 12.
What you can see at a glance
The stock screen shows your products with their current count, so you can answer a customer in a few seconds without going to look. Search by name or filter to what is running low or out.
If you enter what each product cost you, Shopkeepa can also show the value of your inventory: the money sitting on your shelves at cost. It is a useful number when you are deciding how much to reorder, or when you want to know how much of your cash is tied up in stock. Products without a cost are left out of that total rather than guessed.
Stock is also what powers low-stock reminders and your sales and profit reports. Get the stock right and the rest follows.
If you already track stock on paper
You do not need to throw away what works. A notebook is a fine tool for a very small shop. The trouble comes when the product list grows, when more than one person sells, or when you want to know what sold best last month. Our guides on tracking inventory in a small shop and moving from a notebook to software cover the method whether or not you ever use Shopkeepa.
Shopkeepa is built to work on a phone, tablet or computer, and with unreliable connections in mind, so the stock screen can live where you work rather than in a back office.
Common questions
Does stock update automatically when I make a sale?
Yes. Each sale takes the items off your count and adds a sale entry to the product's history.
What happens when my count is wrong?
Count the shelf and enter the real number. Shopkeepa saves the difference as a count entry, so the earlier history stays intact.
Can I bring in products I already have in a spreadsheet?
Yes. You can import a CSV or Excel file, and you see a preview before anything is saved.
Do I have to enter the cost of every product?
No. You can start with just a name, price and quantity. Add costs when you are ready and profit figures will appear for those products.
Does it track expiry dates?
No. Expired is a reason you can choose when removing stock, but Shopkeepa does not track dates or warn you before something expires.
Is it available yet?
Not yet. Shopkeepa is in development. Join the waitlist for early access and help shape what we build.
Related
Feature
Low-stock reminders before you run out
Set a minimum for each product and get one reminder when stock drops to it. A restock list shows what to order and how much, so you find out before customers do.
FeatureScan barcodes with the phone you already have
Scan barcodes with a phone or tablet camera, or a Bluetooth or USB scanner. Find products in your shop, add new ones, count stock quickly and catch duplicates.
GuideHow to track inventory in a small shop
A simple method for tracking inventory in a small shop: what to record, how to count, common mistakes, and a worked example with plain numbers you can copy today.
GuideHow to do a stock count without closing the shop
A practical guide to stock counts for small shops: full counts versus cycle counts, how to count while you are open, how to handle differences, and a worked example.
Shop typeStock and sales for small grocers, without the clipboard
Inventory and sales software for small grocery stores. Fast checkout, stock that updates with every sale, best sellers and a restock list for the weekly order.