How to track stock across multiple shops

Once you open a second shop, stock stops being something you can keep in your head. One branch runs out of a fast-moving item while the other has boxes of it in the back. You find out when a customer walks away.

1. Give every product one identity

Start with a single product list shared by all your stores. Each product should have a name, a unit (pcs, kg and so on), a category and, where possible, an SKU or barcode number. If the same item has different names in different shops, your reports will never add up.

2. Keep stock per store, not just in total

Your total stock tells you what you own. Stock per store tells you what you can sell today. You need both. In ApnaKhatta you can view All stores together or switch to a single store with the store selector.

3. Set a minimum level for every fast mover

Decide how many units of each item a store should never go below. When stock falls under that level, the item shows as Low stock. When it hits zero, it shows as Out of stock. Check the low-stock list every morning before you place orders.

4. Move stock instead of buying more

Before ordering from a supplier, check whether another branch has extra. A stock transfer moves items from one store to another and updates both stores' stock at once, with a record of who moved what.

5. Let billing update stock automatically

The biggest source of wrong stock is manual updates. When every bill reduces stock and every purchase increases it, the numbers stay right without anyone typing them in. Use stock adjustments only for damage, returns and physical counts, and always record a reason.

6. Review the history when numbers look wrong

If a count doesn't match, look at the stock history for that product: every change with who did it, when and why. Most mismatches are explained in a few minutes.