The web back office · 23 articles

Products, stock and labels in the back office

Build and maintain the catalogue on the web: add, import and bulk-edit products, set up variations, modifiers, units, categories and price groups. Product labels with barcodes are printed from here.

Products23

Find products in the product listProducts › List Products (/products) is where you find, filter and manage your catalogue. Open Filters to narrow by Product Type, Category, Unit, Tax, Brand, Business Location, active or inactive, or Not for selling. Switch to the Stock Report tab for stock by location. Each row's Actions menu lets you view, edit, duplicate, see stock history, set group prices or opening stock, and the buttons under the table work on the products you tick.Add a product in the back officeAdd a product at Products › Add Product (/products/create). Enter the Product Name, leave SKU blank to auto generate it, pick the Barcode Type, Unit, Brand, Category and Business Locations, and tick Manage Stock? with an Alert quantity if you track stock. Restaurants can set a Food Type and diet tags; shops weighing goods tick Enable Weight (sold by weight). Choose the Applicable Tax, Selling Price Tax Type and Product Type (Single, Variable or Combo), enter prices and save.Create a combo productA combo product sells several items together at one price, such as a meal deal or a gift basket. Create it at Products › Add Product with Product Type set to Combo. Search for each item, enter its quantity in the combo, check the total purchase price, set the margin or selling price and save. When a combo sells, stock comes off each item inside it, and the combo's available quantity is worked out from those items.Set up product variationsVariations let one product come in several options, each with its own SKU, price and stock, such as Small, Medium and Large. Save time by creating variation templates first at Products › Variations (/variation-templates): click Add, enter a Variation Name like Size and add the values. Then on Add Product, set Product Type to Variable, pick the template and fill in the price for each value.Create modifier setsModifier sets are groups of add-on choices sold with a product, such as pizza toppings or milk options. Open Products › Modifiers (/modules/modifiers), click Add, give the Modifier Set a name and add each modifier with its price, and optionally a Food Type and image. Then use Manage Products on the set to link it to the products that offer it. In the SeroPOS app, those products show the set when they're added to an order.Import products from a spreadsheetLoad your whole catalogue at once from a spreadsheet at Products › Import Products (/import-products). Click Download template file, fill one product per row in the column order shown under Instructions, then choose the file under File To Import. Click Validate first: every row is checked and nothing is saved, so you can fix all problems in one go. When it passes, click Submit. Tick Update products that already exist to change products by SKU.Import opening stockImport Opening Stock loads starting quantities for products you've already added. Open Products › Import Opening Stock (/import-opening-stock), click Download template file and fill one row per product and location: SKU, Location, Quantity, Unit Cost (Before Tax), and optionally Lot Number and Expiry Date. Save it as .xls, choose it under File To Import and click Submit.Add opening stock to a productOpening stock is the quantity a product starts with at each location before any purchases. Add it from Products › List Products › Actions › Add or edit opening stock, or by clicking Save & Add Opening Stock when you create the product. For each location, enter the quantity and Unit Cost (Before Tax), plus Exp. Date and Lot Number if you track them, then click Save.Bulk edit productsBulk Edit changes many products in one screen. In Products › List Products, tick the products and click Bulk Edit under the table. The Bulk Edit Products page lists each one with its Product Name, Category, Sub category, Brand, Tax and Business Locations, plus a row per variation for Default Purchase Price, x Margin(%), Default Selling Price and group prices. Change what you need and click Update.Deactivate or delete productsDeactivate a product you no longer sell, and delete only products that were never used. In Products › List Products, tick the products and click Deactivate Selected: they disappear from purchases and sales but keep their history, and you can reactivate them later. Delete Selected removes products for good, but only those with no purchases, sales or stock adjustments.Duplicate a productDuplicate Product copies an existing product into a new Add Product form, so a similar item takes seconds. In Products › List Products, open Actions on the product and choose Duplicate Product. The form opens with the same category, brand, unit, tax, locations and other settings filled in. Change the name, SKU and prices, and click Save.Check a product's stock historyProduct stock history shows every movement of a product's stock at one location. In Products › List Products, open Actions › Product stock history, then choose the Business Location (and variation, for variable products). The top summary splits Quantities In (purchases, opening stock, sell returns, transfers in) from Quantities Out (sold, adjustments, purchase returns, transfers out) and gives the Current stock. Below, each line shows its Type, Quantity change, New Quantity, Date and Reference No.Fix a stock mismatchIf a product's stock on hand looks wrong, Product Stock Details compares it with the stock calculated from every movement. It has no sidebar entry: an admin opens /reports/product-stock-details, searches the product, chooses a Business Location and clicks Search. The table shows opening stock, purchases, returns, adjustments, transfers and sales, then Correct Stock (total stock calculated) beside Incorrect Stock (total stock available). Click Fix to set the available stock to the calculated figure.Set up units and sub-unitsUnits say how a product is counted and sold, such as Pieces, kg or litres. Open Products › Units (/units), click Add, enter a Name and Short name, and set Allow decimal to Yes for units you sell in part quantities, like 0.5 kg. To buy in bulk and sell singles, tick Add as multiple of other unit and define it from a base unit, for example 1 Case = 12 Pieces.Set up product categoriesCategories group your products for menus, filters and reports. Open Products › Categories (/taxonomies?type=product), click Add, enter the Category name, an optional Category Code (the same as an HSN code where used), Description and Category Image. Tick Add as sub taxonomy and choose a parent to make a sub-category, or Hide in pos to keep a category off the till.Add brandsBrands let you group products by maker and filter by them later. Open Products › Brands (/brands), click Add, enter the Brand name and an optional Short description, and save. Then pick the brand on each product. You can filter the product list, discount rules and stock and sales reports by brand.Add product warrantiesWarranties record how long you cover a product after sale. Open Products › Warranties (/warranties), click Add, enter a Name, Description and Duration in days, months or years, and save. Pick the Warranty on each product. When it sells, the invoice can show the warranty name, its end date and the description, if your invoice layout has those options ticked.Sell at different prices with price groupsSelling price groups let one product have several prices, such as Retail, Wholesale or VIP. Create the groups at Products › Selling Price Group (/selling-price-group), then enter each product's group price with Add or edit Group Prices, or for many products at once with Export Selling Price Group Prices and import the file back. Use a group as a location's default, link it to a customer group, or pick it on a sale.Set up multiple POS menusPOS menus let you show different sets of categories at the till, such as Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, or Dine In and Catering. Open Products › Multiple Menus (/pos-menus), click Add Menu, type a Menu Name and tick the categories under Map Categories to this Menu, then Save Menu. Click Set as Default on the menu the app should open with. Staff can switch menus on the SeroPOS selling screen.Print product labelsPrint barcode labels and price tags at Products › Print Labels (/labels/show). Search for the products, set the No. of labels for each, and add a Lot Number, EXP Date or Packing Date if needed. Under Information to show in Labels, tick Product Name, Product Variation, Product Price (Inc. tax or Exc. tax) and Business name, choose a Barcode setting that matches your sticker paper, click Preview, then Print.Set up barcode sticker sheetsBarcode settings tell SeroPOS the size and layout of your label paper so labels line up when printed. Open Settings › Barcode Settings (/barcodes) and click Add new setting. Enter a Sticker Sheet setting Name, tick Continous feed or rolls for roll labels, and enter the sizes in inches: margins, Width of sticker, Height of sticker, Paper width, Paper height, Stickers in one row, the gaps and No. of Stickers per sheet. Click Set as default on the one you use most.Track product expiry datesTrack expiry dates for perishable stock by turning on Enable Product Expiry in Settings › Setting › Product. Choose Add item expiry to enter dates directly, or Add manufacturing date & expiry period to enter the MFG Date and let SeroPOS work out the expiry. Then set On Product Expiry to Keep Selling or Stop Selling n days before. Purchases and opening stock then ask for dates, and the Dashboard and Stock Expiry Report warn you before stock goes off.Track lot numbersLot numbers let you trace each batch of stock from purchase to sale. Turn on Enable Lot number in Settings › Setting › Purchases. The purchase screen then has a Lot Number column on every line, next to MFG and EXP dates if expiry is on. When you sell, stock can be taken from a chosen lot, and the Lot Report shows each lot's current stock, units sold, units adjusted and expiry.