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Playbook
Retail Inventory Management Playbook
How to set up inventory tracking, purchasing, and stock management for your retail business.
Retail inventory playbook covering stock tracking, purchasing, multi-location management, and sales-connected inventory.
Roles includedFields & workflowsReports
Who This Playbook Is For
Retail owners and store managers who carry hundreds to thousands of SKUs across one or more outlets. Whether you run apparel, hardware, beauty, or specialty food — the pattern is the same: variants multiply, stock moves between stores, and the shelf hides the system until it is too late.
What "Good" Looks Like
Every SKU has a home location and a reorder policy. Transfers are requested, not phoned in. Counts are cycle counts, not month-end marathons. Reorder is suggested, not guessed. Margin by SKU is visible daily.
| Retail object | Fields to configure | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Product / variant | Size, colour, pack, barcode, cost, RRP, supplier SKU, season | Variant shares cost but price can differ by store |
| Stock location | Back room, floor, reserve, damage | Only "sellable" counts toward availability |
| Reorder | Min, max, EOQ, supplier lead time, MOQ | Alert at min; suggested qty = max − on hand − on order |
| Promotion | Start/end, scope, discount, approval | Price change is versioned, not overwritten |
Workflows
- Transfer: Store A requests → Store B confirms → ship → receive → adjust both locations
- Receiving: Scan PO → count → expiry/batch → putaway → variance flag
- Return / damage: Reason → approval → credit note → supplier
Reports
- Stock-out risk — hits min within lead time, ranked by margin
- Dead stock — no movement 60/90 days, with cost tied up
- Variance — counted vs expected, by store and by counter
- Margin by category, store and supplier
| Store habit | Without config | With ConfigBiz |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle count cadence | Quarterly, painful | Daily 20 SKUs on mobile, rotating A/B/C |
| Transfer trace | Message + memory | Ticket with history + ETA |
| Reorder decision | Gut + supplier push | Policy-driven suggestion you approve |