Most small shops start with a spreadsheet, a notebook, or a rough idea of what’s on the shelf. That works until the shop has a few hundred products and two people serving. Then you sell something you don’t have, or reorder something you already have six boxes of.
Setting up a proper retail inventory system takes an afternoon, not a month. The order you do things in matters more than the software, so here’s the sequence that works.
Decide how you’ll name and organize things first
Before you enter a single item, settle on a naming convention. Pick one format and stick to it: “Brand - Product - Size” or “Product, Colour, Size”, whichever your staff will actually type and search for. Fixing 400 inconsistent names later is tedious.
Then set up categories. In iMagic Inventory, go to Configure > Item Categories, add your top-level categories, and add sub-categories underneath where they help. A clothing shop might have Tops with sub-categories for T-Shirts and Shirts. A hardware shop might have Fasteners with Screws and Bolts. Each item gets one category and one sub-category, so keep the structure simple enough that you never have to guess where something goes.
Load your existing stock
If your stock list is in a spreadsheet, don’t retype it. Save it as a CSV file and use File > Inventory Import Wizard. You match each column in your file to an iMagic Inventory field, or choose Ignore for columns you don’t need. We cover the details in migrating from spreadsheets.
Only the item Name is required, but fill in more than that. At a minimum, import the barcode, sale price, current quantity, and reorder level. Those four fields drive almost everything else in this post.
If you’re starting from nothing, add items one at a time with Inventory > New Item. It’s slower, but it’s also a chance to count each product as you go.
Get a barcode on everything
Scanning at the counter is faster than searching a list, and it removes the wrong-item errors that come with typing. Plug in a standard USB barcode scanner. It acts like a keyboard, so there are no drivers or settings to configure.
Most packaged goods already carry a manufacturer barcode. Enter it in the item’s Barcode field and you’re done. For things that don’t have one, like loose stock, handmade goods, or items you repackage, open the item and click Print Barcode to make your own label. Our barcode scanning guide covers what to look for when buying a scanner.
Set your price lists
If every customer pays the same price, you can skip this step. Many shops also have a trade or wholesale customer who buys regularly at a lower price. Under Configure > Multiple Item Pricing, add a price list for each customer type. You can rename the default list, so a shop that only sells at retail can leave it alone.
Set each customer’s price list once and every invoice for them uses the right prices. Retail vs wholesale pricing walks through a full example.
Set reorder levels, then check one report
This is the step that stops stock-outs. Each item has a Reorder Level. When the quantity on hand drops to that number or below, the item shows up on the Reorder Report.
To set a sensible level, look at how long your supplier takes to deliver and how fast the item sells. If a product sells ten a week and your supplier takes two weeks, a reorder level of 20 plus a small buffer is a reasonable start. Adjust it after a few weeks of real sales.
If you buy from several suppliers, add them under Vendors > View Vendors and assign a vendor to each item. The Vendor Reorder Report then groups what you need to order by supplier, so one report becomes one order per supplier. The reorder point guide and vendor and purchase order post go further.
Add locations if you have a stockroom
A single shelf doesn’t need locations. A shop with a back room, a basement, and a second site does. Under Configure > Locations and Warehouses, create a Warehouse for each physical site and a Location for each section inside it, like “Back room - Shelf A”. Assign each item when you add it. Stocktakes go faster when everyone knows where to look.
Sell through the invoice screen
Once stock is loaded, ringing up a sale means opening New Invoice, scanning each item, and printing or saving. Quantities drop as items are added to the invoice, so the reorder list stays current without anyone updating it by hand. iMagic Inventory handles stock and invoicing. It isn’t a card terminal or cash drawer system, so if you need that hardware you’ll connect it separately.
Count regularly
Counts drift. Items get damaged, a delivery gets keyed in twice, something walks out the door. The fix is counting often in small pieces instead of once a year in a panic.
Pick one category a week and count it. Scan each item as you count to speed things up. Where the number on the shelf differs from the system, open the item, click Adjust Stock, enter the new quantity, and record a reason. A pattern of the same item coming up short is worth investigating before you adjust it away. The stock count discrepancies post covers how to read the differences.
Start small and tighten as you go
You don’t need every field perfect on day one. Get the items, quantities, barcodes, and reorder levels in, sell a week through the system, and look at where the numbers disagree with reality. Then fix those items first.
Download the free iMagic Inventory trial — 10 fully functional uses, no credit card required — and import a copy of your stock spreadsheet to see how your own catalogue looks.