Availability control: how to quickly check stock and prices across the network | Cashier's Guide

Entrepreneurs and business owners often contact technical support with typical problems: cashiers lose customers because they do not know whether the required product size is available in another store of the chain; queues form because the cashier needs to find the current price of an item without a price tag; due to inattention when scanning identical products, misgrading occurs, as well as «negative» stock balances in warehouses. As a result, money is lost due to errors, write-offs increase, and conflicts arise between the checkout and the warehouse. To solve this problem, Torgsoft has special modes for cashiers and sales consultants that allow them to check availability, price and size across the entire chain in seconds, as well as avoid the human factor during sales.

Below is a complete instruction for the cashier on working with verification and control tools.

1. Quick price and stock check without adding the item to the receipt

Often, a customer simply comes to the checkout with a question: «How much does this cost?» or «Is there another one like this?». To avoid adding the item to the current sale, especially if you are already serving another customer, use a quick check:

• Hotkey combination Ctrl + Enter. In the «Sale» form, place the cursor in the «Barcode/Item No.» field, scan the product barcode or enter it manually, and press the Ctrl + Enter key combination.

• The «Product price in stock» window will open immediately, showing the Retail price, Wholesale price and the actual Quantity in stock.

• This action does not add the item to the receipt and does not interrupt the current sale.

• You can also open the full «Stock status» form using the F11 or Ctrl+F11 key directly from the sale window. On this form, you can see all information: price, discount, size, color and quantity.

2. Searching for the required size across the entire retail chain

If the customer needs size «M», but only size «S» is left in your store, there is no need to let the customer leave. You can immediately tell them which nearest store in your chain has the required item.

• Use the Alt + W hotkey: «Model size availability» mode, or Ctrl + W: «Product availability in warehouses».

• In the window that opens, scan the barcode or item number of the model.

• The program will show a table with all accounting centers (chain stores), available sizes and their quantities.

• Thanks to this, the cashier can say: «We do not have this size here, but it is available (2 pcs.) in our store in the city center. I can reserve it for you».

3. Working with the mobile app on the sales floor

If the cashier or consultant works directly on the sales floor near the shelves, it is inconvenient to constantly go back to the computer. For this, the «Torgsoft mobile app» on a smartphone is used.

The «Size availability» mode. This mode on a smartphone allows you to check the availability of the size range for each store in the chain at any time.

• Open the mode, scan the barcode with the smartphone camera or enter the item number manually.

• A list of stores with available sizes and their quantities will immediately appear on the screen. This allows you to consult the customer directly near the fitting room.

The «Price checker» mode. This mode turns a smartphone or a tablet fixed in the sales area into an information terminal.

• In the mobile app settings, enable the «Use mode as Price checker» switch.

• Additionally, enable «Display quantity» so that the stock balance is visible under the price.

• Just bring the product barcode to the camera, and a large product photo, current price and stock balance will appear on the screen. In this mode, it is impossible to accidentally change data or exit to the main menu, so it can even be used as a self-service terminal for customers.

4. Protection against errors: setting up the «Request quantity» notification

One of the most common cashier errors is selling a large quantity of the same item. If a customer buys 15 identical units, the cashier may scan the item 14 or 16 times. As a result, the goods are written off incorrectly, which leads to misgrading and losses.

To avoid this, use the forced quantity request function:

• In the «Sale» window, where the amount payable is displayed, enable the «Request product quantity» checkbox.

• How does it work? After you scan the product barcode, it will not simply be added to the receipt in the quantity of 1 pc. The program will pause and display a quantity entry window. The cashier must manually enter the exact number using the keyboard, for example, «15», and press Enter. In this window, the cashier also immediately sees the current quantity of this item in stock.

• This is a deliberate action that minimizes the risk of error and further shortage. If you need to disable this function for quick sales of individual items, simply clear the checkbox.

Additional level of control

To prevent the cashier from technically selling an item that, according to the program, is no longer in stock, for example, if the item was lost but the customer brought it to the checkout, the owner must set the «Prohibit sale into negative stock» setting: Settings -> Parameters -> Accounting -> What to do if there are not enough goods in stock. In this case, the program will simply block the item from being added to the receipt and display a warning, forcing the staff to deal with the misgrading immediately rather than during the annual inventory.