Quick add for new lines
A name, a price and a quantity is enough to add a product. You can fill in the rest later.
Shops
Keep hundreds of low-price lines in order in a variety store
A variety store sells a bit of everything, and almost all of it is cheap. Kitchenware, toys, stationery, cleaning supplies, party goods. With so many low-price lines, no single product is worth much attention, but together they are your whole business. Shopkeepa is built to keep that range under control.
Sound familiar?
There are so many cheap items that tracking each one feels like more trouble than it is worth.
New stock arrives in boxes and cartons, and it is a chore to get it all recorded.
Some lines sit for months while the shelf space could earn more.
You are not sure what all that stock adds up to.
How Shopkeepa helps
Bulk import for big deliveries
Bring in a supplier list or spreadsheet, check the preview and save. No typing item by item.
Slow movers on one report
See which products have barely sold, so you can discount, bundle or stop reordering them.
Inventory value at a glance
Reports show what your stock is worth, based on the costs you have entered.
A till that handles small sales fast
Search, scan or tap a favourite, record the payment and move on. Each sale updates stock.
A day in a variety store
Morning: a carton of new lines
Add a few products with quick add, or import the supplier's list and check the preview.
Through the day: lots of small sales
Customers buy three or four cheap things at a time. Scan or search each one, take payment and carry on.
Afternoon: tidy a shelf
Count a shelf that looks messy and enter the numbers. Any differences are recorded.
Weekly: look at what is not moving
Open the slow movers report and decide what to mark down, bundle or stop buying.
Why low prices make stock harder, not easier
It is tempting to think that cheap items do not need careful tracking. Lose a few and it hardly matters. The trouble is the volume. A variety store may carry a thousand or more lines, each earning a small amount per sale. The margin on any one item is thin, so the money is made by selling a lot of them and not letting stock pile up.
Overbuying is the usual mistake. A box of something looks like a bargain, so you buy it, and then it sits. Cheap items are the easiest to over-order and the easiest to forget about. The result is a back room full of money that is not working.
Getting a big range into the system
The way you start depends on what you have. If your range is in a spreadsheet, import it. If it is not, quick add is the fast way to build it one product at a time as you restock shelves.
- Import a list. Upload a spreadsheet or CSV file, review the preview and fix anything that looks off before saving. Shopkeepa warns you about likely duplicates.
- Quick add as you go. Name, price and quantity. Add a cost or barcode later when you have a quiet moment.
- Work shelf by shelf. Do not try to enter the whole shop in one go. Do one aisle, then the next.
If you sell multipacks and singles, set them up as separate products, each with its own count. That keeps the numbers simple.
Finding the lines that are not earning their space
Shelf space is the real limit in a variety store. A line that sells ten a week deserves more of it than a line that sells one a month. The slow movers report lists products with little or no recent sales, so you can see them without hunting.
| Product | Sold in 60 days | In stock | Option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plastic storage tub | 28 | 40 | Keep |
| Gift bags, pack of 10 | 3 | 36 | Mark down |
| Novelty keyring | 0 | 50 | Stop reordering |
Once you can see them, you can act: bundle slow items with fast ones, mark them down, move them to a better spot, or let them sell out and not buy more. What to do about slow-moving and dead stock goes through each option.
What is all this stock worth?
Many owners can tell you what they sold this week. Far fewer can tell you what is sitting on the shelves. The inventory value report adds up your stock using the costs you have entered, so you can see how much money is tied up and how that changes over time.
It is only as good as the costs you have recorded, so start with your bigger lines and work down. A number that is roughly right still helps you decide how much to buy next. The same costs also let Shopkeepa show gross profit where you have entered them. Gross profit for shop owners explains how.
A checkout built for baskets of small items
Variety store customers pick up several items at once. Each one has to be rung through quickly or the queue builds. Scan with a phone camera or a Bluetooth or USB scanner, search by name, or tap a favourite for the lines that sell all the time.
Payments are recorded as cash, card, bank transfer or other. Shopkeepa records how each sale was paid and does not process the payment. Receipts can be shown on screen, printed or shared by link.
Keep the shelves from drifting
Small, cheap items go missing and get damaged more than anyone notices. Every change to stock is recorded with a reason, such as sale, received, return, damaged, theft or loss, correction or count, so you can see where the stock is going. A rolling count of one shelf at a time keeps the numbers close without closing the shop. See how to do a stock count without closing the shop.
Common questions
How do I add hundreds of products quickly?
Import a spreadsheet or CSV file and check the preview before saving, or use quick add with just a name, price and quantity.
Can I see which products are not selling?
Yes. The slow movers report shows products with little or no recent sales.
Can I see how much my stock is worth?
Yes. The inventory value report uses the costs you have entered. The more costs you add, the more complete the figure.
Can I scan barcodes at the till?
Yes. Use a phone or tablet camera, or a Bluetooth or USB scanner. Scanning finds products you have added to your own shop.
Do I have to enter a cost for every item?
No. Costs are optional. Add them for the products that matter most and the value and profit figures improve as you go.
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.
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