Retail inventory you can trust at the shelf.
Every sale, refund and delivery moves the same stock number, and a blind stocktake tells you exactly what went missing and what it was worth.
Why shop stock drifts away from the shelf
The system says there are four pairs left, the shelf has one. Somewhere between a delivery that was never keyed in, a refund that went back to the box without going back into the count, and a little shrinkage, the number stopped meaning anything.
Once staff stop trusting the count they stop checking it, reorders are guessed, and the yearly stocktake becomes a weekend of clipboards that still cannot say where the difference came from.
How Timeo keeps the count honest
Stock is tracked per variant and per location. Sales take stock off, refunds put it back, and every change is written to an inventory movement with its reason, so you can see why a number moved, not just that it did.
Deliveries are counted in by scanning. On Receive stock, each scan adds one of that item to the delivery list; check the counts, then add it all to stock in one go. A barcode the system does not know can be linked to a product by its SKU on the spot.
Stocktakes compare the shelf with the system. Start one per location and tick Blind count so staff without report access do not see the expected quantity while counting. Completing the stocktake sets stock to what was counted, and the Variance report shows the difference and its value.
Turn on stock tracking
- In More features (Settings > Features), turn Starter mode off and switch on Inventory & supply chain.
- Open Inventory > Stock, use Adjust to enter what is on the shelf now, and set a Threshold for items you never want to run out of.
- When a delivery arrives, open Inventory > Receive stock, press Receive by scan, scan each item, then add the items to stock.
- For a count, open Inventory > Stocktake, pick the Location, tick Blind count if you want it, and press Start stocktake.
- Scan or search each item, enter the count, then press Complete stocktake and review the Variance report.
What shoppers notice
Shoppers rarely see the stock screen, but they feel it. When the count is right, the cashier can say whether a size is in the back instead of going to look, and you reorder before a best seller runs out rather than after.
Because refunds return items to stock automatically, an exchange is quick: the returned item is sellable again the moment the refund is done.
Questions
What is a blind count?
In a blind count, staff without report access do not see the expected quantity while counting, so they count what is really there instead of confirming a number.
Can I see how much stock went missing?
Yes. After a stocktake the Variance report compares counted with expected for each item and totals the variance value. You can download it as CSV.
Do refunds go back into stock?
Yes. A line refunded at the POS puts that quantity back and is logged as a Refund movement against the variant.
Can I get warned before an item runs out?
Set a Threshold per item and location. Items at or below it show as Low, and the Low stock only filter lists them all.
What if a delivery has a barcode I have not set up?
Receive stock shows it as not in your products, and you can link that barcode to a product by typing the product SKU.