Warehouse Locations

[DavesDailyDeals]

shelf I need to be able to add stock locations in a warehouse so i don't have to search them out, something like "Aisle 4, shelf B, slot 1".

[DinaLRosenberg]

I wish this was something we could have in inventory. The amount of time we spend looking for overstock is ridiculous.. this is truly a must have.

[Candlestore]

@DavesDailyDeals ;

Bin or Shelf Locations is Not available in Square I have requested this for awhile.  My work around since I do not use Square for my Online sales was to add this BB-Row 3- Column 5 - Shelf B for example.  Where BB is Back Barn, Row 3, Column 5 and then Shelf B.  this makes it easy for us to locate our stock.  Now currently I am also using a Free Inventory product From Odoo that lets you have Shelf Locations, but they do not integrate with Square.  So csv transfers etc gets to be a pain to keep counts.  What I have liked so far about it is if I look at Products in Inventory and say I look up XYZ product it shows I have 488 in BB row 2 Column 4 shelf C and 110 in Basement Room 2 Row 7 Column 3 Shelf D.  Just wish they Talked so that Square could see my main restock location for my retail store.

[Candlestore]

@DavesDailyDeals , @DinaLRosenberg ;

 I know this is not in Square for locations of Items, but what I use Odoo currently for is Inventory Tracking and LOCATIONS.... the below Screen shot is with a FREE account.

As you can see I have a total of 10, 1 in SHRM5 and 9 in BB/-----.  I can have as many locations as I want and the SKU number is ed376 for the Item which is in "[****]".  I can either Scan the SKU or GTIN and the Item or in this case Product shows up and shows I have 10 on Hand.  Then if I click the On Hand tab it opens the above Screen shot showing right where the item is.  Since I use a Square Stand, I can use the native Web Browser to look up items.  The only thing I have found out is I can not Scan the barcode into Odoo using my Square Stand.  This also happens in the Ipads Notepad if I scan a SKU or GTIN, the scanner beeps a Good read but does not enter the data to the Ipad.  This is because the USB brick is Square hardware and I am un able to use it for outside of Square.  Now if I keep a Chromebook open to Products in Odoo and a scanner there I can scan the Item into Odoo and see right where it is in 1 Scan and 2 clicks and see all areas and quantities I have.  So for my candles if I keep a Case in the BB and Backup stock in the Basement room 3 of partial cases and some on the Showroom floor I can see them all.

The issue I learned is Odoo is formatted as a Database, so Products do not have counts in them but the shelf Locations have the Product and Count.  So uploading inventory from Square to Odoo is not a 1 step process.  

Trust me I have asked for this feature in Square but seems Square refuses to do it.  Which is why in Square, I use Descriptions for my Bin location.  I have been looking for something to try that fits my needs and so far I like the Inventory option in Odoo.  

Here is a link to more about Odoo's Inventory Module : https://www.odoo.com/app/inventory 

I do not work nor am affiliated with Odoo, just giving my feedback on this as a solution to Squares lack of Bin locations.

[DinaLRosenberg]

this is a great work around... and amazing suggestion.. So many of you are amazing at excel and exporting your data. Taking off my retailer hat and putting on my MBA/Business Analyst hat- I would be VERY wary of this if I were Square.

The fact that end users are exporting their data and manipulating it and/or warehousing it in other software is dangerous to Square as it makes customers less "sticky". The point to having full-functionality in the Square "eco-sphere" is to keep customers within Square.

The fact that some of the most important data retailers have cannot be adequately managed within Square and is leading major users like you @Candlestore to export data and manipulate it in the software is a RED FLAG 🚩for Square. 

I've literally spoken to Square about this very thing.. maybe if I worked for McKinsey they'd take my advice/warning seriously. 

Unfortunately for us, we can't use our descriptions for location. 

Not sure why Square continues to ignore this very important request; without this feature their inventory management is just fluff.

[Candlestore]

@DinaLRosenberg ;

This is exactly why I tried Odoo for inventory.   'Unfortunately for us, we can't use our descriptions for location. '

I did the Inventory Storage in Sqaure in Descriptions, but then I found out I had Cases of item X in warehouse 1, Packs in the basement and some in the retail showroom.  Buy this in descriptions ony gave me in Square the Total amount for my one address.  Even tho I had 3 buildings and multiple storage locations for my inventory.  So when I had an online sale of X items in QTY of Y, I would be short in the showroom, then have to search the basement, and then warehouses on property to find the total amount to be shipped of X item.    Then using Odoo I found out I a can have 1 sheet that shows every location on the property of item X so it saves me time.  Which as being a business owner you understand Time=Money.

Now I had to manipulate Odoo just like I do with Square, as Odoo counts a Warehouse as a diffent address, similar to Square.  But I made it work for me.  

Just like my naming of locations -  BackBarn-Row 4-Column 1-Shelf B

BB or BackBarn is the warehouse inventory behind the main Building

Row 4 is an isle way in the back barn

Column 1 - is divided in to 2 columns or supports for the Rack system

Shelf B - is the 2nd shelf from the floor.

Since we operate on a state highway number that is an Odd #, all my Odd numbered rows run Parallel with that route.

All Even rows run Perpedicular to that route.  Kinda like the Highway system in the USA, Odd numbers run North to South and Even Highways run East to West; Mainly there are exceptions to everything.  Interstate 95 for example runs the East coast, where as Interstate 80 runs from East to West.  I use the KISS accroynm in my business to Keep It Stupidly Simple (I know that is not what it stands for but Sounds better here).  Now Odoo wants you to keep everything in their ecosystem just like Square does, which is why I am going to looking into their accounting system which gets me away from QuickBooks.  Again their is no integration of Squares Sales data to Odoo so it is not just plug and play, or a few taps and its automatic from then on.

[Sam_400º]

Different situation, but I use "kitchen facing names" to 'remind' me what's on each pizza when I give them silly names. 

They don't show anywhere for the customer but even on our side they only show on printed tickets and KDS's - so if you do it all from the app/online then they don't show (as far as I can tell).