Bring in the whole range at once
Import a list from a spreadsheet and check it on screen before anything is saved. You do not have to type a thousand items by hand.
Shops
Keep a hardware store's thousand small parts in order
A hardware store is mostly small things: screws, washers, fittings, bulbs, tape. Each one is cheap, but a missing one can cost you the whole job. Shopkeepa is built to help you list them all, find them quickly and know what is running low.
Sound familiar?
You have so many different items that nobody really knows what is on the shelves.
A contractor asks for twenty of something and you have to go and look in the back.
Putting the whole range into a system sounds like weeks of typing.
The staff know where everything is, but the owner cannot see what has been sold.
How Shopkeepa helps
Scan to find and sell
Scan a barcode with a phone camera, or a Bluetooth or USB scanner, to pull up a product at the counter or on the shelf.
Stock In for deliveries
When a supplier delivers, use Stock In to add the quantities received. The counts go up and you have a record of what arrived.
A restock list that builds itself
Set a minimum for each product. When stock crosses it you get one reminder, and the item goes onto the restock list with a suggested order quantity.
Staff access that fits the counter
Cashiers can sell and look up products without seeing your costs, profit or settings.
A day behind a hardware counter
Before opening: check the list
Open the restock list. Anything under its minimum is already there, so you can plan the supplier call.
Morning: a delivery comes in
Scan each item as it comes off the pallet, or search for it, and add the quantity with Stock In.
Midday: a contractor's order
Scan or search each item, add them to one sale and record how it was paid. Stock drops for every line.
Afternoon: a bin that looks wrong
Count one shelf, enter the number and let Shopkeepa record the difference between the count and the screen.
Close: see what moved
Check the day's sales and the best sellers, and note what needs ordering tomorrow.
The problem with a very long product list
Most shops can hold their range in their head. A hardware store cannot. Between fasteners, plumbing, electrical, paint, tools and garden supplies, the number of separate products runs into the thousands, and many of them look almost identical. A 40 mm screw and a 45 mm screw are different products with different stock levels.
That is why hardware stores tend to rely on one or two people who just know. It works until they are away, or until the range grows past what anyone can remember. The cost shows up as lost sales on the items you thought you had, and cash tied up in the ones you did not need to reorder.
Getting thousands of items in without retyping them
The biggest barrier to using software in a hardware store is the first week. Nobody wants to type a thousand products into a screen. If you already have a supplier price list or a spreadsheet of your range, that is your starting point.
Tidy the list you have
One row per product, with a name, a selling price and a quantity. Add a cost and a barcode if you have them. Do not worry about perfection.
Import it
Upload the file and look at the preview. Shopkeepa shows what it will add before anything is saved, and warns you about likely duplicates.
Fix the odd ones
Correct anything that looks wrong in the preview, then save.
Fill the gaps over time
Add barcodes and costs later, starting with the products you sell most.
Name products clearly, because that is how you will search for them. Put the type first and the size last, such as "Wood screw 40 mm", and similar items will sit together in results. Each size is its own product with its own count.
Selling whole items, counted one at a time
Shopkeepa counts stock in whole items. That suits the large share of a hardware store that is sold by the piece or the pack: a box of screws, a tin of paint, a hammer, a roll of tape, a light bulb.
If you sell something loose today, the practical approach is to set it up as a product you do sell in whole units, such as a bag or a pack of a set size, and list each size as its own product. Selling by length or by weight is not something Shopkeepa handles in its first release, so we would rather say so now than let you find out later.
Knowing what to reorder before a job is lost
In hardware, running out of a cheap part is worse than it sounds. A plumber who cannot get a fitting will go to another shop for the whole job. The items that matter most are not always the biggest sellers; they are the ones people need in the middle of something.
| Product | In stock | Minimum | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pipe tape | 4 | 10 | Reorder |
| Wall plugs, pack of 50 | 22 | 8 | OK |
| Extension lead | 0 | 3 | Out |
Set a minimum on the things people come back for. When a sale or a count takes one to that number, you get a single reminder and it lands on the restock list with a suggested order quantity. You can order from one list instead of walking the aisles with a notepad. How to set reorder points explains how to choose the numbers.
Letting staff sell without handing over the books
Hardware counters are often staffed by people with real product knowledge, and they need to be able to look things up and ring them through. They do not need to see what you paid for it.
Cashier access lets them search, scan and sell, while costs, profit and settings stay with the owner. Refunds and voids are kept on record, so a return of a faulty item shows up in the history and not as a mysterious gap in the count.
Keeping the count honest
Small parts go missing: a loose box opened and never recorded, a damaged item thrown out, something that walked. Every change to stock in Shopkeepa is recorded as a movement with a reason, such as sale, received, return, damaged, theft or loss, correction or count.
You do not need to count the whole store at once. Count one aisle or one category at a time, and the differences get recorded as you go. How to do a stock count without closing the shop covers the method.
Common questions
Can I import my existing product list?
Yes. You can import a spreadsheet or CSV file and check it in a preview before anything is saved. Shopkeepa also warns you about duplicates.
Can I sell by the foot, by the metre or by weight?
Not in the first release. Shopkeepa counts stock in whole items, so loose goods work best when you list them as packs or fixed sizes, each as its own product.
Can I scan barcodes?
Yes. Use the camera on a phone or tablet, or a Bluetooth or USB scanner. Scanning finds products you have already added to your own shop.
Can I see everything that needs ordering in one place?
Yes. Products at or under their minimum appear on the restock list with a suggested order quantity.
Can staff use it without seeing my costs?
Yes. Cashiers can sell and look up products, but they cannot see costs, profit or settings.
Is it available now?
Not yet. Shopkeepa is in development, and early access shops will help shape it. Join the waitlist to be one of the first in.
Related
Feature
Scan 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.
FeatureKnow what's in stock without counting shelves
Inventory tracking for small retail. Every sale, delivery, return and loss is kept as a movement, so you can see what is in stock and how it got there.
FeatureLow-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.
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.
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