Methods of implementing the Torgsoft program in a retail store

Most often, the implementation of the program has to be carried out in an already operating store. This imposes certain features on the process of implementing the program because the goods are continuously sold, and this fact must be taken into account. For an operating store, it makes sense to enter the goods by groups (types). The main rule is that the registered goods should be sold only through the computer in the new Torgsoft® accounting system. For the seller, in this case, the sign that requires processing the goods through the new system is the presence of a new label with a barcode.

The sequence of the program implementation is usually as follows:

1. Building the main product classifier
2. Entering initial balances by product groups
3. Selling the entered goods through the new system

When entering initial balances to speed up the work, you can skip entering the purchase prices. This work can be done later. At the initial stage, the main thing is to establish quantitative accounting of goods and start selling them entirely through the computer. Later, using a special work mode, you can enter the purchase price to calculate the profit. Subsequently, when receiving incoming invoices from suppliers, the purchase price should be entered immediately. The amount of goods at purchase prices is an important criterion for the quality control of information entry. The amount obtained in the computer after entering the goods should match the amount in the supplier's paper invoice. If the prices in the paper invoice include VAT or the final amount includes an overall discount, the Torgsoft® program provides for the possibility of accounting for different purchase conditions. The user can enter prices as indicated in the supplier's invoice, and the system will recalculate them to obtain exactly the same amount as in the supplier's invoice.

To enter the initial balances in the Torgsoft® program, there is a special counterparty «Initial balances» that allows you to enter goods without incurring debt to any supplier.

Product Classification

After installing the new program, the first step is to classify the existing products in the sales area. The result of this work should be a tree of product types reflecting the main groups. It is not a problem if it does not account for all types of goods. Later, as information is entered, this tree can be expanded and supplemented, and its branch configuration can be changed.

It is important to form a general picture of the classifier set by the vertices of its branches. The top level of the classifier should have the names of the main types of goods in your store. For example, «Clothing», «Footwear», «Toy», «Large goods». For large stores, these may be the names of its departments. In the retail network, different stores may handle different types of goods. Summarizing this information on the central computer of the retail network will provide a general picture of the product classifier.

To do this correctly, you need to understand why product classification is needed in the program. The classifier, or the tree of product types, is the main tool for further data analysis. For example, warehouse stock analysis, sales analysis by product types, which allows comparing sales results by types. Moreover, for each product type, different description characteristics can be set. For example, for Clothing, these will be: «Manufacturer», «Season», «Material», «Size», «Color», «Article». For «Toy», it will be «Manufacturer», «Article», «Description». For the product type and all its subtypes, a maximum discount can be set, limiting the customer's discount with a discount card when buying products of this type (this is useful, for example, for low-margin goods where it is not profitable to give a discount).

Proper classification of your product facilitates the further configuration of the program to fit the specific store's features.

Typical Mistakes

Do not overdo it by making the types too detailed. Remember that the product type is an abstract description of many products that share similar characteristics. This makes further group analysis possible. For example, for clothing, it makes sense to divide it into the following subtypes: trousers, jeans, sweater, coat, etc. Do not include color or other product characteristics here. All this can be described when entering specific products.

It is particularly important to emphasize the mistake of entering brands and manufacturers into product types! The Torgsoft® program has a separate directory for this, allowing this information to be stored. Do not mix manufacturers and the products they produce in one tree of types. This is a common mistake, especially for those who previously worked on 1C. In the Torgsoft® program, product types are separated from manufacturers and are connected only when describing a specific product. The product, which has a specific article, belongs to both the type and the manufacturer. For example, the product «T-shirt 116 (r) art.105363 Wenis Turkey» belongs to the product type «Clothing», subtype «T-shirt», and has a reference to the manufacturer directory from which the information about the country and company in this country is obtained.

The manufacturer directory also has a tree structure, allowing multiple levels to be entered. Typically, the first level indicates the country, the second level - the companies in that country, the third level is rarely used - for storing the names of product collections and specific company brands. For example, the Polish company «Wojcik» produces collectible clothing, and for it, the third level of the directory is usually entered. For example: «Poland» - "Wojcik" - "Best rider". Describing collections in clothing is extremely convenient for selecting stock balances by a specific collection. A collection typically includes heterogeneous products: hats, jackets, trousers, bags, shoes, etc. It will be difficult to combine these products into one list in other ways. Having such a description, you can easily get balances on all clothing from Poland, all balances on the company "Wojcik", and balances on the collection "Best rider".

Clothing accounting also has its nuances related to the indication of sizes by the supplier. The fact is that some suppliers indicate the barcode not for each size but one barcode for the model. That is, all products in the size range will have the same barcode. This makes it impossible to keep size accounting using the supplier's barcode. Here you can either ignore the information about the product size and, as a result, not see the balances considering the size, or replace the supplier's barcode with your own, generated by the Torgsoft® program. This approach is quite often applied in practice. Considering that clothing is rarely repeated in procurement, this, as a rule, does not cause significant inconveniences in accounting. The only requirement that must be followed is to cover the manufacturer's barcode so that sellers do not make mistakes when selling the product.

Returning to the discussion on proper product classification, it should be noted that the Torgsoft® program's product classifier helps form the final product name. The product name consists of a list of all its characteristics. Therefore, when classifying a product by directories of types and manufacturers, its name is actually formed. For example, classifying a product as

«Headwear» -> «Cap» -> «Insulated»

forms the name part &la quo;Insulated Cap». The «Headwear» branch is usually marked in the tree with the sign «not participating in the name» and therefore is omitted by the name formation system. Further, the product name is supplemented by the manufacturer and collection description as well as other characteristics: size, color, material, season, article. Thus, we get the full product name: «insulated cap blue denim 23123 Ukraine 54-56 (r)».

Separating the product type and manufacturer accounting allows making flexible database queries and viewing balances, for example, for all caps in stock, regardless of country and manufacturer. At the same time, it is easy to see the balances of all products from the specified company or country. This approach provides very broad possibilities for selecting information in different sections and subsequently analyzing it. It is very important to understand this at the initial stage of putting the system into operation because systemic errors made at this stage are very difficult to correct, and sometimes they require starting the accounting process over again.

When implementing the program, our company's specialists help correctly build the product accounting system, choose the optimal level of detail for the product description, which is subsequently automatically maintained by the accounting system.

Let's take a moment to consider toy accounting

From the practice of system implementation, the most challenging product classification is children's toys. The enormous variety of their types is difficult to describe.

Attempts at detailed toy classification encounter the expansion of the description branch in the product type tree and the constant need to expand it. Therefore, it can be recommended not to strive to include all possible toy names in the product types. It is better to use the product description field specifically designed to store product-specific information. Toys should be classified into large groups, and the remaining information should be written in the description. For example, the following large groups can be distinguished: Soft toy, Educational toy, Doll, Car, Toy furniture, Sports toy, Bath toy. In Educational toys, there can be such subdivisions as «Constructor», «Puzzle», «Board game», «Science kit», etc. More detailed division is not recommended. For example, there can be many board games. They differ in names, purposes. But at the same time, they are all board games and should belong to the corresponding section of the product type directory. The rest of the game information is specified in the product description: Name, Manufacturer, Description. It is also possible to specify a product photo. The photo is stored together with the product and helps when searching for the desired product, ordering it from the supplier, and selling it to the customer.

Product Articles - What Are They For?

When describing a product, the correct use of the product article is very important. The article is crucial information. This is a unique product code according to its manufacturer or supplier's classification. The convenience of using the article is especially evident for repeat orders. In this case, specifying the article unambiguously identifies the product for its supplier and does not require detailed explanations about what is meant. In addition, the article makes it fairly easy to achieve the necessary uniqueness in the product description.

However, for products without the manufacturer's article, it is desirable to provide a more detailed description that allows unambiguously identifying the product. This is very helpful during inventory.

It is undesirable to invent non-existent articles. They do not contain any useful information. The lack of an article is better compensated for by describing additional product characteristics.

Product Description

Thus, we smoothly transition from product classification to its direct full description. The product description in the Torgsoft® program is necessary to identify it, in other words, to find it. There are several ways to do this.

The most convenient and automatic search is by product barcode. The barcode is a unique number assigned to the product by its manufacturer. The uniqueness of the barcode is ensured by a universally accepted standard worldwide. For retail product accounting, EAN13, EAN8 standards are most often used. By barcode, the program can quickly find a full product description indicating the type, manufacturer, and all characteristics assigned during its initial description. The product is described only once.

Subsequently, when this product is received again at the warehouse or store, the system uses the existing product description. This is why it is most convenient to use the barcodes assigned by the manufacturer. It is enough to scan the product in the incoming invoice, and if it has been encountered before, a ready product card will be shown. You only need to enter the purchased quantity and purchase price. If the purchase price changes and it is necessary to change the current retail price, the system automatically revalues the existing warehouse stocks. If automatic price synchronization with other stores is set, the revaluation will also be done in them.

If the product does not have a manufacturer's barcode, the program automatically assigns one. Since the product is intended for the end consumer, the use of such barcodes is entirely legal and acceptable. However, for wholesale trade, if the buyer uses their own accounting program, there may be conflicts with barcode numbers. The Torgsoft® program has a conflict-free automated information exchange between the seller's and buyer's information systems. This is used when one of the systems is installed with a wholesale seller and the buyer is a retail store.

When receiving products with their own barcodes, it is mandatory to print a label with a barcode for such products. From the practice of use, most stores print labels for all products - both with and without the manufacturer's barcode. With the availability of a specialized printer in the store, this is very convenient, as in addition to barcoding, it solves the problem of a uniform label of good quality and convenient for use. Thus, for the product with the manufacturer's barcode, the barcode is simply duplicated on the label, and for the label with its own barcode, a unique product barcode is generated, which is used for its unambiguous identification.

The label includes the following information: Product name, size, manufacturer, year of manufacture, price, store name, entrepreneur's last name, etc. All this is selected during setup and can be changed at any time using the program's tools.

Features of Book Accounting

Books are described by the following characteristics: Country, Author, Book type, Publisher, ISBN, barcode, title, number of pages, cover type. It is recommended to enter the country and author in the Manufacturer's directory. This is convenient because one participant can have many different books, and using the author directory significantly simplifies the entry of information. The division of books into types or groups should also not be too detailed. It is enough to highlight only the main largest types: story, novel, fairy tale, coloring book, poems, nursery rhymes. All other specific information about the book should be entered directly into the product description, not into directories. This is because this information is practically not repeated in different products, and entering it into any directory leads to its expansion and complicates its further use. For books, it is important to enter the ISBN in the article field. This is used for additional book orders and is analogous to the article in the product.

Features of Stationery Accounting

The most common mistake when describing stationery sold in a children's store is an overly detailed tree of product type classifiers. All the store's stationery can be divided into the following main subtypes:

• album
• paper
• pencils
• paints

        - Watercolor
        - Gouache
 &nbsp ;      - Acrylic
        - Oil
        - Finger paint
    

• brush
• chalk
• plasticine
• markers
• set

More detailed division, for example, of paints, will lead to confusion in the classifier. Here is an example of an INCORRECT classification:

Stationery -> Paints -> Honey watercolor -> 10 colors

Stationery -> Paints -> for face -> 8 colors + pencils.

Stationery -> Modeling clay -> 1000 grams

In these examples, characteristics of the specific product that are no longer needed in the classifier are entered into the tree of types. Such an approach should be avoided. Features like «10 colors» or «1000 grams» should be written in the «Description» field of the specific product.

Mistakes at the Initial Stage of Product Entry

So, it can be concluded that the most common mistake when planning product accounting is compiling an overly detailed tree of types. What can this lead to in subsequent accounting? It causes difficulties in searching for and classifying new products. The type tree should allow the product to be easily assigned to a particular type. When there are too many options or they are overly detailed, ambiguity arises or the desire to continuously expand the classifier with new details, reducing it to each product. In the extreme case, the classifier includes everything, up to the articles of each product. This is incorrect and will complicate subsequent accounting.