Knowing what you have.
WHY IT MATTERS
Selling something you do not have produces a cancellation, a refund and a bad review.
WHAT TO TRACK
Quantity per product Quantity per variation, where sizes or colours differ separately
THAT SECOND POINT
Without per-variation stock, an out-of-stock size remains orderable.
Common and avoidable.
WHEN STOCK GOES WRONG
Manual sales not recorded Returns not added back Damaged items not removed Orders cancelled without restoring stock
THE PHYSICAL SHOP PROBLEM
Selling in person and online from the same stock needs a deliberate process.
Otherwise you oversell.
Record every in-person sale in the same system, or hold separate stock.
LOW STOCK ALERTS
Set a threshold so you reorder before running out.
WHAT TO CHECK
Recorded stock against actual stock, weekly for fast-moving items.
Discrepancies indicate a process problem.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT DISCREPANCIES
Find the cause rather than just correcting the number.
