Navigation:  Key Concepts > Inventory Management > Special Feature Inventory

Each business handles some inventory items which are unique to the industry. POSitive allows you to handle a wide variety of these special inventory items.

Most of the time, when you create a new inventory item you will select "Normal" as the type.  Creation of the item will be very straightforward and easy to complete.

Through the use a combination of options you should be able to define those unique types of inventory.  What follows is fuller documentation for those unique items.  If you still have questions, contact your dealer.

-- Accessories --

When selling an inventory item, POSitive can pop up a list of accessory or related items to the one being sold.  The clerk is reminded to ask the customer if she wishes to purchase any of them.  If so, the clerk can tag what is wanted and automatically add it to the invoice.  Go to .

 

POSitive can print special data to pre-printed forms upon the completion of an invoice, order, or layaway.  This is a valuable feature if you have to complete government paperwork when selling items, like motorcycles or guns, that need to be registered.

See Advanced Printing

-- Age Verification --

A category setting prompting the clerk to confirm that the customer is qualified to purchase select inventory items.  Verification of age can be done in one of several ways and is performed once per invoice per category of items purchased.

See Age Verification

-- Assorted Inventory --

If you are receiving a shipment of assorted items which are slightly different in color or pattern but all use the same SKU, POSitive can distinguish each item in three ways: 1) by using Serial Numbers, 2) by using Selling Prompts and  Print Notes report, or 3) by use of recording the variation on each inventory label,   When printing labels you will be prompted to describe the individual items and the description you type will be printed on the label.

See your dealer for more specific information.

-- AutoSKU --

AutoSKU is a feature of POSitive which can automatically create barcode numbers when adding inventory items.  This is not generally used if your inventory products already have a barcode. This feature is controlled by the Category and the Master Category defaults.  See AutoSKU Setup.

-- Bin (see Stock Location) --

-- Bottle Deposits and Refunds--

If your store sells soda or liquor which require a bottle deposit for recycling purposes, POSitive can automatically calculate the bottle deposit charges on the invoice.  Making refunds when containers are returned is quite simple.

Create a non-tracking inventory item for the Bottle Deposit and another for the Bottle Deposit Refund.
Link the Bottle Deposit to the items requiring them.
See Bottle Deposits

-- Break Apart --

You have inventory which can be packaged and sold in multiple ways.  Inventory such as soda pop is often purchased by the case.  The SKU on the case is different than the SKU on the 6-Pack, and the SKU on the can is different than either of them.  Or maybe they all have the same SKU, but in reality they are all the same product.   POSitive allows you to define and track stock for each type.

 

-- Bulk Items --

You purchase the product in bulk, but sell it in smaller units.  For example, you buy rope on a 100 yard spool and sell by the foot. POSitive will automatically calculate individual item costs and selling prices.  Minimum stock and minimum orders are automatically adjusted.

 

-- Calculate Quantity From Price --

This option allows you to enter the payment amount and POSitive will determine the quantity.  A typical use of this feature is the sale of gasoline or other bulk products.

 

-- Commission -- Not a Feature of Standard Edition

You want POSitive to calculate commissions as some inventory items are sold.  You set an inventory item to track commissions by filling in the commission rate, either a percentage or fixed amount, or both.

 

-- Consignments -- Not a Feature of Standard Edition

POSitive will accept and track items given you by a consignor for sale through your store.  You agree to give the consignor a percentage or fixed amount of the sale. POSitive tracks and processes the payouts  

 

-- Contract Items -- Not a Feature of Standard Edition

Not really a unique inventory item, but a feature to track special pricing for a customer.  You agree by contract to sell designated items at a set price for a specific time period.  The contract pricing is for specified customers only, such as jobbers and contractors.

 

-- Coupons - Coupon Manager --

You may create unlimited numbers of coupons to apply discount percentages or dollars off when an invoice contains qualifying inventory.

 

-- Documented Items --

Some inventory may need special instructions printed out when it is sold.  There are two ways to do this.

1)  Use a Transaction Note which will be added to the customer invoice when the item is sold.  Select Item Notes view of the Inventory Center and enter text into the Transaction Note tab.  This will be printed on the customer invoice when the item is added to the invoice.

2)  Use the Advanced Printing feature of POSitive.  See Advanced Printing

-- Extra Details --

In addition to the typical information about an inventory item, you may track up to six additional details about an item.  For example, if I were selling books, I may want to track author, publisher, reading level, number of pages, subject, etc.  If I were selling jewelry I may want to track clarity, shape, size, color, etc of the stones.  These extra detail fields are created on a per category basis and can be searched for when selecting items for an invoice.  The information can also be printed automatically on the invoice.

 

-- Events --

If you are selling tickets or registration for classes or events, you can track the sales and educate the customer at the same time.

 

-- Father - Child --

You have inventory which can be packaged and sold in multiple ways.  Inventory such as soda pop is often purchased by the case.  The SKU on the case is different than the SKU on the 6-Pack, and the SKU on the can is different than either of them.  Or maybe they all have the same SKU, but in reality they are all the same product.   POSitive allows you to define and track stock for each type.

 

-- Food Stamp Qualified --

You may have inventory which qualifies for purchase with food stamps.  Such items are assigned to a category specifically activated for food stamp tracking.  When the item is sold, the tendering screen calculates the total of items qualified for food stamps and the clerk process them first.  (See Food Stamps)

 

-- Freight, Shipping --

Freight and Shipping charges are added as inventory items, but they should not be treated like other inventory items.  The cost is often the same as the selling price and should not be calculated as a profit item. POSitive also does this automatically.

 

-- Gift Cards --

POSitive can process both the selling of and redemption of gift cards and certificates.  See Gift Certificates.

 

-- Internet Items --

Any product can be automatically posted and sold through your web page.  The item can include a full color picture, extended notes in HTML format, and special promo dates.  See Internet Inventory.

 

-- Kits --

A kit is a collection of inventory items being sold as one unit for one price.  You may choose to reveal the components of the kit or to keep them hidden from the customer invoice.  Either way, POSitive will properly track stock counts of all the components.  See Templates

 

-- Labor Charges --

If you are in a service industry, your labor charges are a vital part of your sales. POSitive handles labor charges handily.  You can set up charges for fractional hours and for set fees.  See Inventory Detail.

 

-- Lottery Tickets --

Lottery tickets typically include payouts of winnings in addition to sales of the lottery ticket.  Inventory settings can be defined to make sales and reporting very easy.  See Lottery Tickets

 

-- Luxury Tax Items --

Some items may be deemed a luxury item subject to extra taxation by local taxation laws.  These items are typically grouped together into a category which has a designated tax adjustment.  See Tax Category

 

-- Matrix Items --

POSitive can track items which vary in degrees of color/size. POSitive displays these like items on a 2 dimensional grid for both inventory maintenance and for selling products.  See Matrix Inventory.

 

-- Mix & Match --

This option allows you to create a price break for multiple items which can be purchased separately or together to meet the quantity criteria.

 

-- Multiple SKUs --

An item may have more than one product code.  Generally, the Primary SKU will be the product's barcode, but if there are other product codes or reference numbers they can be attached as additional SKUs.  See Inventory Detail.

 

-- Multiple Vendors --

An inventory item which can be purchased from more than one vendor, is created only once in POSitive, but it can be linked to more than one vendor.  When the item is to be re-stocked, you may select any of the vendors who sell the product.  See Vendor Inventory.

 

-- Non-Discounted --

Some inventory cannot bear any discounting of price while invoicing.  This prevents clerks from lowering the price and prohibits preferred customers with general discount options to buy the item at a discount.  See Inventory Detail.

 

-- Non-Tracking --

Some items just never run out of stock, or they are so insignificant you don't need to worry about ever running out.  This option is used in conjunction with other types is inventory.  See Inventory Detail.

 

-- On-The Fly --

Creating an inventory item while preparing a customer's invoice is not uncommon.  With so many wares to deal with it is easy to overlook something.  With Fast Add you quickly define the basics of the item and then tidy it up when you have more time.  (see Fast Add)

 

-- Override Tax Category --

International Feature: Used for products in child sizes which are assigned to a different tax rate than adult clothing sizes of the same product.  This is commonly used with Matrix Inventory.

 

 

-- Packaging --

Frequently used with Templates or while invoicing, the Package option allows you to offer a collection of inventory items at one package price.  The customer never sees the line item prices, just the lump sum price.  See Packages.

 

-- Pay Outs --

Instead of just opening the register to make a payout for stamps, donuts, lottery winnings, or incidental vendor payments, create one or more inventory items which will print an invoice with details about who, what, and why.  Since these payouts should not affect your daily sales summary, they are assigned to the Freight category and can be reported on individually or as a group.

 

-- Pictures of Inventory --

You can use pictures of your inventory items in POSitive in various ways.  By assigning a picture to an inventory item you can more easily sell the item on a web page, can verify that an item being invoiced matches the item being presented for purchase, and easily show a customer what they are ordering if you are currently out of stock of the item.  See Inventory Pictures

-- Preferred SKU --

If you sell items which change model and mfg frequently, such as keyboards for computer systems, you can designate the latest featured item with a Preferred SKU.  Your sales people never have to learn anything but KB as the SKU for the designated keyboard.  When they run out, assign KB to another keyboard.    See Inventory Detail.

 

-- Price Breaks --

Set special 2fer, 3fer pricing of an inventory item.  Or you can choose to set Quantity price breaks so that when a customer buys more than a specified number then a new price per each will take effect.  See Price Breaks.

 

-- Product Labels --

A standard pricing label can be generated or not for any inventory item.  But some items need special labeling.  You can design your own labels of any size and include long textual descriptions like planting or handling instructions, or Federal Warnings.  See Inventory Labels.

 

-- Promotional --

Special purchase items and clearance items can be designated for promotional pricing.  When used with E-Commerce, the items are simply "featured" items and not necessarily reduced in price.  See Promo Pricing.

 

 

-- Quantity Calculator - Equations --

Some inventory product is sold by the linear or square inch or foot.  An inventory item can be flagged to prompt for Quantity and open a formula box for entering dimensions and the resultant answer will be automatically applied to the quantity field.  In addition, the dimensions are printed as notes on the invoice.  See Equation Editor

 

-- Related Items --

Used primarily with E-Commerce, you can designate additional items as being related to the item found by the web shopper to link them to other purchases.  See Internet Inventory.

 

-- Seasonal Items --

Seasonal inventory is often stored away when the season is over.  These items can be inactivated, that is, made invisible to the lookup by turning off the Active button.  They still exist, but are more or less invisible until the next season.  See Inventory Detail.

 

-- Sell By Weight --

Inventory which is sold by weight uses the weight as the quantity on an invoice.  By turning this switch on, whenever an item is sold you will be prompted to manually enter the weight or to press a key on the keyboard to capture the weight from the attached scale.  See Price/Weight Embedded In SKU

 

-- Serialized Items -- Not a Feature of Standard Edition

POSitive will track a product with a serial number from purchase to sale.  See Serialized Inventory

 

-- Services --

Services are not tangible items that sit on a shelf, but they are very important in your business.  You may create unlimited numbers of services at varying prices with hourly or per minute rates.  See Inventory Detail.

 

-- Special Instructions --

Special instruction notes relating to the item being sold can be automatically printed on the invoice.  This could be a unique policy statement, handling instructions, or general information.

 

-- Special Pricing --

Some items may sell at fluctuating daily rates or because of the antiquity or value of the item, you do not want to set a selling price until the time of the sale.  When you add the item to the invoice, the cursor will stop at the Price field.  The current price will be entered, but you can easily overwrite it.  See Inventory Detail.

 

-- Stock Location --

If your store is quite spacious or if you hire temporary help, you may wish to make note of where specific inventory items are shelved.  You may select multiple locations, however POSitive will not keep stock counts on a per location basis.  The intent is to help you direct your customers to where the items are displayed.

Create a Normal inventory item.

At the Inventory Center: choose Stock Manager: select Stock Location tab

See Stock Location and Stock Locations - Category

 

-- String-Along Items --

When one inventory item is sold, you can link other items to it so that they will automatically be added to the invoice.  Then after selecting the second item, you are prompted to select a third item, etc.  For example, an optical shop will select a frame which the customer likes, POSitive then lists all the lenses which will fit that frame.  After selecting the lens, POSitive prompts for the tinting and RX for each lens (see Screen Prompts).

 

-- Tag Along Items --

When one inventory item is sold, you can link other items to it so that they will automatically be added to the invoice.  For example, selling an alternator will add a core charge or deposit until the old part is turned in.

 

-- Tax Exempt Items --

Some items may be deemed tax exempt by local taxation laws.  These items are typically grouped together into a category which has a designated tax exemption.  See Category Detail Form.

 

-- Template --

You may prepare a list of items in advance which can be sold as one unit.  The items can then be edited, added to or deleted.  See Templates.

 

-- Total Price Items --

Inventory can be sold by entering the total sales price and POSitive will then calculate the quantity.  For example, sales of $10.00 worth of gas will divide the 10.00 by the unit selling price to determine the number of gallons sold.

 

-- Trade In Items --

POSitive will accept products in trade for items you sell.  The trade in becomes your property and can be resold.

 

-- Used Items -- Not a Feature of Standard Edition

POSitive will accept products in trade for items you sell.  If this item is to be linked to an existing product in the Inventory List it will be flagged as a Used Item.

 

-- Vendor SKU --

If the Primary SKU is not the same as the SKU or part number used by the Vendor for ordering purposes, POSitive will allow you to record the vendor part number in a special Vendor Inventory file.  Only when a purchase order or special report is created for the vendor will the vendor SKU be used.  A setting is available so that when scanning a product, POSitive will check the Vendor Inventory List if it is not found in the Inventory List (or press Shift-Enter).  See Vendor Inventory.

 

-- Warranty Products --

Items which have a warranty from either you, the vendor, or manufacturer can have a Warranty Code assigned which will tell you when the product's warranty expires and what it may cover.  See Warranty Record.