Pricing for internal transfers: how to set prices and avoid hangs when receiving "Goods in Transit"

In retail businesses with multiple stores or warehouses, goods constantly need to be transferred between locations. Torgsoft uses the internal transfer mode and the «Goods in Transit» buffer warehouse for this purpose, making it possible to control the process from shipment to physical receipt of the goods. 

However, when goods are actively transferred between locations, business owners often have the following questions: 

Understanding the software's algorithms correctly will help you configure pricing properly and avoid interruptions to sales.

Where the price comes from during an internal transfer

Pricing during a goods transfer depends on the settings of the receiving inventory center. In the Settings - Retail Network - Inventory Location Settings menu, there is a «Price Formation During Internal Transfer of Goods to This Inventory Location» field, where you can select one of the following options:

1. Use the price from the source inventory location (if unavailable). If the product has never been stocked at the receiving warehouse before and has no price, the software will automatically use the price from the sender's warehouse. However, if the product has already been stocked at the receiving warehouse, it will retain its previous retail price even if the price at the sender's warehouse has changed.

2. Always use the price from the source inventory center. This is the most important setting for businesses that need prices to be identical across locations. It forces the product price at the receiving inventory center to match the price at the source center. All price parameters are also transferred, including the product discount. If this option is not enabled, the discount at the receiving center may be replaced with an older one or removed entirely during the transfer.

3. Ask the user for the price. If the software cannot find the transferred product at the receiving store and no price is available, it displays a dialog box asking the user to enter the price manually.

If you distribute goods among stores and no price is available at the receiving store, the software will request it only if automatic copying of the price from the source center has not been configured.

Manual price requests and common system freezes

The «Ask the user for the price if unavailable» setting is the most common cause of system-wide Torgsoft freezes in a retail chain.

How does the problem occur?

Imagine the following situation: you open a new inventory center (or warehouse) and transfer a large batch of goods there using the «Goods in Transit» mode. The warehouse worker at the new warehouse opens the invoice and clicks «Accept Invoice». Since the goods have never been stocked at this warehouse before, the software begins displaying dialog boxes one by one, asking the user to enter a price manually for each new item.

Why does the software freeze?

Accepting an invoice is a single database transaction. While the warehouse worker looks at the screen and enters the price, this transaction remains open and locks SQL Server resources. As a result, Torgsoft freezes at all other workstations in the retail chain. Cashiers in other stores cannot scan a product into the «Sales» form or process a receipt because the system is waiting for the invoice acceptance transaction to be completed. In addition, if an invoice contains more than 100-200 items, opening it or confirming the verification results may take up to 15 minutes.

How can the problem be resolved?

The Torgsoft developers have updated the system's operating algorithm. In current versions of the software, when an internal transfer invoice is accepted from the «Goods in Transit» warehouse, the manual price adjustment dialog will not appear at the final inventory center, preventing the transaction from remaining open. During acceptance, prices will be taken directly from the «Goods in Transit» warehouse.

To avoid this problem, we strongly recommend that you:

• Update Torgsoft to the latest version.

• Make sure that automatic price retrieval is configured in the settings of the receiving inventory centers, for example, «Always use the price from the source inventory center», instead of requesting the price manually.

How to avoid errors when accepting «Goods in Transit»

In addition to price-related freezes, business owners often encounter stock discrepancies caused by incorrect staff actions. To avoid them, follow these rules:

• Never edit invoices that have already been accepted. The most common reason for duplicate invoices is the following: the sender creates a transfer, the recipient accepts it, and then the sender remembers that they "forgot something", unlocks the invoice, and adds another product. Partial acceptance of an invoice is not possible. If changes are required, the invoice acceptance must be canceled completely, the changes must be made, and the invoice must then be accepted again.

• Record discrepancies correctly. If the quantity delivered is smaller or larger than the quantity specified in the invoice, always use the «Check Invoice» action before clicking «Accept Invoice».

• Always apply the verification results. If the warehouse worker enters a zero quantity (or changes it) while checking the invoice but simply closes the window without clicking «Apply Verification Results to Invoice» and then clicks «Accept Invoice», this will cause a serious failure. The goods, or their serial numbers, may become "stuck" in the Goods in Transit warehouse.

• Adjustment documents. If the software detects discrepancies, such as a shortage or surplus, when the verification results are applied, it will offer to create adjustment invoices. The goods will automatically be returned to the sender's warehouse according to the original invoice and then transferred to the recipient's warehouse only in the quantity actually confirmed during verification.