r/u_Cute-Guitar8671

Hey everyone, back with another big issue at our store.

We sell hardware to regular shoppers at the counter, but we also sell in bulk to contractors out of the back room. Because everything moves so fast, our inventory count is almost always wrong.

Here is what keeps going wrong for us:

• Orders getting sold off the floor: A trade account calls in an order for pickup later that afternoon. We write it down or put it in the system, but until someone physically walks into the warehouse to pull it onto a staging pallet, those items are still sitting on the shelf. A walk-in customer comes in, buys them at the counter, and by the time our warehouse guy goes to fulfil the trade order, the shelf is empty.
• Unit of measure errors: We buy hardware in bulk crates, but sell it as individual units, 10-packs, or full master cartons. Staff often scan the outer box barcode when a customer is only buying one inner pack, or vice versa. The system ends up showing negative stock on boxes while showing dozens of single units that don't actually exist on the shelf.
• Bad reorder points: Because our system doesn't track pending quotes, backorders, or multi-pack conversions properly, our inventory reports are completely unreliable. We end up spending hours every week manually counting high-turnover items on the floor just so we don't accidentally miss a supplier reorder deadline.

Our team is constantly stressed, and our customers are getting annoyed when we run out of stock.

For anyone running a shop that does both retail and trade sales:

• How do you keep your inventory numbers updated in real time so counter staff and warehouse staff see the same stock?
• What software do you use that easily handles selling both single items and full boxes without messing up the total count?

Any advice or software suggestions would be awesome!