Inventory in Retail Express moves between different statuses as products are ordered, received, sold, allocated to customers, fulfilled and transferred between Outlets. Understanding these statuses helps you distinguish stock that is available to sell from stock that is already committed, in transit or awaiting receipt from a supplier.
In this video we show you through how the inventory movements work in Retail Express. For example, when you order a product from a supplier, or when you sell the product to a customer, and how that impacts the inventory.
Chapters
Timestamp | Chapter |
|---|
00:06 | Overview |
00:24 | Viewing Product Inventory Statuses |
01:38 | Creating a Purchase Order |
02:32 | Understanding On Order Inventory |
03:06 | Receiving Stock Into Available Inventory |
04:46 | Processing a Cash & Carry Sale |
06:07 | Understanding Allocated Inventory |
08:59 | Fulfilling Products From POS |
10:31 | Fulfilling Products From Back Office |
12:24 | Understanding Stock Transfers |
13:25 | Creating and Dispatching a Stock Transfer |
15:19 | Receiving a Stock Transfer |
16:22 | Sourcing Stock From Another Outlet |
18:49 | Reviewing Fulfilment and Source Locations |
20:39 | Sending Automatically Requested Stock |
22:34 | Receiving Transferred Stock at the Destination |
24:06 | Fulfilling the Transferred Product |
25:38 | Inventory Movement Summary |
Transcript
Inventory quantities change as products move through purchasing, selling, fulfilment and transfer workflows. The product Inventory tab shows the quantity held at each Outlet and separates it into statuses such as Available, Allocated, On Order, Transfer In and Transfer Out.
Viewing Product Inventory Statuses
Open the required product in Back Office.
One quick way to open a product is to enter its product code into the product field in the upper-right corner.
After opening the product, select the Inventory tab.
The Inventory tab displays the product’s inventory at each store location and separates the quantities by inventory status.
The main statuses demonstrated in this video are:
- Available: Stock that is currently available to sell.
- Allocated: Stock assigned to a customer order but not yet given to the customer.
- On Order: Stock included on a Purchase Order that has been placed with a supplier but not yet received.
- Transfer Out: Stock dispatched from one Outlet and currently in transit.
- Transfer In: Stock being transferred into an Outlet but not yet received.
The following workflows demonstrate how Retail Express moves quantities between these statuses.
Creating a Purchase Order
To create a Purchase Order, navigate to: Inventory > PO Management > Create a PO
Select the Outlet receiving the products and the relevant supplier.
Search for the product you want to order and enter the required quantity. In the example, 100 units are ordered for the Bondi Outlet.
Place the Purchase Order on order.
Understanding On Order Inventory
After the Purchase Order has been placed, return to the product’s Inventory tab and refresh the product information.
The ordered quantity now appears in the On Order column for the receiving Outlet.
In the example, the inventory changes from zero to 100 units On Order.
This indicates that the stock has been ordered from the supplier but has not yet been received into the Outlet.
The quantity is therefore not yet available to sell.
Receiving Stock Into Available Inventory
To receive the Purchase Order, navigate to: Inventory > PO Management > PO Manager
Select the receiving Outlet and search for Purchase Orders with an On Order status.
Open the required Purchase Order and select Receive.
Enter the quantity received for the product. In the example, all 100 ordered units are received.
Select Receive Stock to receive the products as available inventory.
Return to the product’s Inventory tab and refresh the information.
The 100 units are removed from the On Order quantity and added to the Available quantity at the receiving Outlet.
The products are now available to sell to customers.
Processing a Cash & Carry Sale
Open POS at the Outlet holding the available inventory and begin a new sale.
Add the product to the transaction and enter the quantity being purchased.
Open the Payments tab, take payment and finalise the sale.
When a product is sold as Cash & Carry, Retail Express assumes that the customer is taking the product immediately.
The product’s Available quantity is reduced when the transaction is finalised.
In the example, selling one unit reduces the Available quantity from 100 to 99.
Understanding Allocated Inventory
Allocated inventory is created when products are assigned to a customer order but have not yet been provided to the customer.
To demonstrate this, create another POS transaction and add two units of the product.
Change the product fulfilment method from Cash & Carry to Layby/Store Pickup.
Add a customer to the transaction, take the required payment and finalise the sale.
Because the products have been placed on layby and remain at the store, Retail Express:
- Reduces the Available quantity by two.
- Increases the Allocated quantity by two.
In the example, Available inventory changes from 99 to 97 and Allocated inventory changes from zero to two.
Allocated inventory remains physically within the business, but it is set aside for the customer and cannot be sold to someone else.
The total physical Stock on Hand includes both Available and Allocated quantities. In this example:
97 Available + 2 Allocated = 99 Stock on Hand
Fulfilling Products From POS
When the customer returns to collect part of the order, locate and reopen the original transaction in POS.
One way to locate it is to view the current day’s transactions and open the customer’s sale.
Open the Fulfilment tab.
The Fulfilment tab displays:
- The quantity ordered.
- The quantity already fulfilled.
- The remaining balance to fulfil.
Enter the quantity being given to the customer in the dispatch field.
In the example, one of the two allocated units is given to the customer.
After confirming the fulfilment, the Allocated quantity decreases from two to one.
The remaining unit stays allocated because it has not yet been provided to the customer.
Fulfilling Products From Back Office
Products can also be fulfilled through the Back Office Fulfilment Report.
Navigate to: Inventory > Fulfilment Report
Search for the required product or customer order.
The results display outstanding sales orders containing products that still need to be fulfilled.
In the example, the customer originally ordered two units. One has already been fulfilled through POS, leaving a balance of one.
Open the Dispatch tab and enter the remaining quantity to provide to the customer.
Submit the fulfilment.
After the final unit is fulfilled, the product’s Allocated quantity returns to zero.
Both units have now been removed from inventory because they have been given to the customer.
Understanding Stock Transfers
Stock transfers move products from one Outlet to another.
While a transfer is travelling between locations, the product appears in the inventory transfer columns:
- The sending Outlet shows the quantity as Transfer Out.
- The receiving Outlet shows the quantity as Transfer In.
A transfer can be managed from either Back Office or POS.
Store-to-store transfers can commonly be processed from POS, while Back Office may be used by warehouse, logistics or administrative teams.
Creating and Dispatching a Stock Transfer
To create a transfer from Back Office, navigate to: Inventory > Transfer Management
Create a new stock transfer.
Select:
- The staff member creating the transfer.
- The source Outlet.
- The destination Outlet.
- The product being transferred.
- The transfer quantity.
In the example, one unit is transferred from Bondi to Chapel Street.
Add the product to the transfer and select Dispatch.
Dispatching the transfer indicates that the product has left the source Outlet and is travelling to the destination.
After refreshing the product’s Inventory tab:
- Bondi shows one unit in Transfer Out.
- Chapel Street shows one unit in Transfer In.
The product remains in these transfer statuses until it is received by the destination Outlet.
Receiving a Stock Transfer
To receive the transfer in Back Office, navigate to: Inventory > Transfer Management > Receive Transfer
Enter or locate the required transfer number.
The transfer displays the source and destination Outlets, the product, the dispatched quantity and the quantity available to receive.
Enter the received quantity.
Select Make Available when the stock should be received directly into the destination Outlet’s Available inventory.
Confirm the receipt.
After the transfer is received:
- The Transfer Out and Transfer In quantities return to zero.
- The Available quantity decreases at the source Outlet.
- The Available quantity increases at the destination Outlet.
In the example, Bondi decreases from 97 to 96 Available units, while Chapel Street increases from zero to one.
Sourcing Stock From Another Outlet
Retail Express can also create a stock transfer automatically when a product is sold from one Outlet but sourced from another.
For example, a customer may visit the Bondi Outlet for a product that is only available at Chapel Street.
Begin a new transaction in POS at the selling Outlet.
Open Advanced Product Search and search for the required product.
Select the additional Outlet whose inventory you want to review.
The search results display the available quantity at each selected Outlet.
Choose the required quantity from the Outlet supplying the stock and add the product to the sale.
Retail Express indicates that:
- A stock transfer will be created automatically.
- The product is not being processed as Cash & Carry.
- The product will use a Layby/Store Pickup fulfilment method.
The transaction cannot be treated as Cash & Carry because the product is not physically available at the selling Outlet.
Add the customer and take the required payment.
Reviewing Fulfilment and Source Locations
Before processing the transaction, open the Fulfilment tab.
The fulfilment information identifies:
- The Outlet from which the product is being sourced.
- The Outlet where the product will be provided to the customer.
In the example:
- Chapel Street is the source location.
- Bondi is the location where the customer will collect the product.
Because the product was selected from Chapel Street in Advanced Product Search, Retail Express automatically selects Chapel Street as the source.
Process the sale.
After the sale is processed, the product’s quantity at Chapel Street moves from Available to Allocated.
This prevents Chapel Street staff from selling the same product to another customer. It also indicates that another Outlet has requested the item.
Sending Automatically Requested Stock
The source Outlet must now dispatch the requested stock.
Log in to POS at the source Outlet. In the example, this is Chapel Street.
A transfer alert indicates that stock is waiting to be sent.
Open Transfers and select Send Stock.
Retail Express displays the inventory requested by other locations.
Open the relevant transfer and review:
- The requested product.
- The requested quantity.
- The destination Outlet.
Pack the product and arrange its delivery to the destination Outlet.
Enter the quantity being transferred and select Dispatch.
After dispatch:
- The Allocated quantity at the source Outlet is removed.
- The product appears as Transfer Out at the source.
- The corresponding quantity appears as Transfer In at the destination.
Receiving Transferred Stock at the Destination
When the transferred product arrives, log in to POS at the destination Outlet.
Open Transfers and select Receive Stock.
Locate the transfer arriving from the source Outlet and open it.
The transfer displays:
- The product.
- The quantity dispatched.
- The quantity available to receive.
Enter the received quantity and select Receive Available Stock.
After the transfer is completed, the Transfer In and Transfer Out quantities are cleared.
Because this transfer was created for an existing customer order, the received product is placed into Allocated inventory at the destination Outlet.
It is not made generally available for sale because it is being held for the customer who ordered it.
Fulfilling the Transferred Product
When the customer arrives to collect the product, locate their transaction in POS.
Open the sale and select the Fulfilment tab.
The transaction shows that the transferred product is now available at the destination Outlet and has not yet been given to the customer.
Enter the quantity being collected and update the transaction.
Retail Express records that the product has been fulfilled.
After refreshing the product’s Inventory tab, the Allocated quantity returns to zero because the product has now been provided to the customer.
Other Inventory Adjustments
Inventory can also be changed using stock adjustment features.
For example:
- Completing a stocktake can increase or decrease inventory to match the counted quantity.
- A stock adjustment can move a product into a faulty status.
- Other inventory corrections can be entered when the recorded quantity does not match the physical stock.
These adjustments affect inventory differently from purchasing, sales, fulfilment and transfers, but they also contribute to the product’s overall stock position.
Inventory Movement Summary
The key inventory movements demonstrated in this video are:
- Creating and placing a Purchase Order increases On Order inventory.
- Receiving the Purchase Order removes the On Order quantity and increases Available inventory.
- Completing a Cash & Carry sale reduces Available inventory.
- Creating a layby or unfulfilled customer order reduces Available inventory and increases Allocated inventory.
- Providing the product to the customer reduces Allocated inventory.
- Dispatching a stock transfer creates Transfer Out at the sending Outlet and Transfer In at the receiving Outlet.
- Receiving a transfer clears the transfer quantities and places the stock into Available or Allocated inventory, depending on the purpose of the transfer.
- Fulfilling a transferred customer order removes the final Allocated quantity.