Instantly track stock on hand to keep shelves stocked and checkout fast with Ferbz

Below is a step‑by‑step walkthrough of setting up and using Ferbz to track stock on hand in a typical U.S. general‑retail shop. Imagine Maple Street Market, a family‑owned grocery and household‑goods store in Columbus, Ohio.

1. Add Your Products

1. Log in to the Ferbz dashboard.

2. Click the Customers tab (the CRM).

3. Select Products from the left‑hand submenu.

4. Click Add New Product.

5. Fill in the fields:

   • Name – “Organic Whole Wheat Bread”
   • SKU – “BREAD‑001”
   • Unit – “each”
   • Starting Stock – “68” (the number of loaves on the shelf today)
   • Reorder Threshold – “15” (when the count falls to 15, you’ll want a reminder)

6. Press Save. Repeat for every item you carry—groceries, hardware, stationery, etc.

All product records now sit in the CRM and are ready to be decremented when a sale occurs.

2. Process an Order at the Register

1. From the left navigation, choose Billing → New Sale.
2. Search for the customer by name, phone, or email. If the shopper is new, click Create Customer and fill in basic contact details.
3. In the Add Items field, start typing “Bread”. Select “Organic Whole Wheat Bread” and enter the quantity sold (e.g., 3).
4. Add any other items for the same transaction.
5. Click Complete Sale.

When you click Complete Sale, Ferbz does three things simultaneously:

• Generates a PDF receipt with a shareable link (the link is stored in the customer’s profile).
• Subtracts the sold quantity from the product’s “stock on hand” field (68 → 65).
• Triggers any Automation journeys that listen for “order completes”.

You will see a confirmation toast that says “Order #1024 saved – inventory updated.” The Reminders board now shows the updated stock count for the bread item.

3. View Real‑Time Stock

1. Return to Customers → Products.
2. The list shows a column Current Stock. For “Organic Whole Wheat Bread,” you now see 65.
3. Click the product name to open the detail view. At the top you’ll see a small chart displaying stock changes over the past 30 days, pulled from the Reports module.

Because the update happened at checkout, there is no lag. Store staff can glance at the product list during a shift change and instantly know which items need replenishment.

4. Set Up a Low‑Stock Automation (optional but recommended)

1. Navigate to Automation.

2. Click Create New Journey and type the plain‑English goal:

   “Notify me when any product falls below its reorder threshold.”

3. Ferbz’s AI drafts a two‑step flow:

   • Trigger – “When stock on hand ≤ Reorder Threshold.”
   • Action – “Send WhatsApp message to store manager.”

4. On the visual canvas, replace the placeholder message with your own template:

   “⚠️ Stock Alert: {{product_name}} is now at {{current_stock}} units. Please reorder before it runs out.”

5. Choose the recipient (the manager’s WhatsApp Business number) and click Activate.

Now, when the bread count drops to 15 or lower, Ferbz will automatically deduct the required credit and send the alert. The alert appears in the Reminders board as a “sent” reminder, so you can verify delivery.

5. Monitor and Report

1. Open Reports → Inventory.
2. Select a date range (e.g., last 7 days).
3. The report lists each product, total units sold, opening stock, closing stock, and any low‑stock alerts generated.

For Maple Street Market, the report might show:

Product	Opening Stock	Units Sold	Closing Stock	Low‑Stock Alerts
Organic Whole Wheat Bread	68	23	45	0
All‑Purpose Cleaner (1 gal)	34	19	15	1 (sent 04/12)
Ballpoint Pens – Pack of 12	120	58	62	0

These numbers let you see exactly how inventory moves, spot trends, and make ordering decisions without guessing.

Full Worked Example

Business: Maple Street Market
Date: Tuesday, April 9

Morning shift:

• Cashier rings up Order #1024 for Jane Doe: 3 loaves of bread, 2 bottles of laundry detergent.
• Stock updates: Bread 68 → 65, Detergent 34 → 32.

Mid‑day:

• Order #1025 for local contractor: 5 packs of nails, 1 hammer.
• Stock updates: Nails 120 → 115, Hammer 20 → 19.

Afternoon:

• Order #1026 for a family: 2 loaves of bread, 1 bottle of cleaner.
• Stock updates: Bread 65 → 63, Cleaner 32 → 31.

At 3:15 PM, the Automation journey detects that the “All‑Purpose Cleaner” has hit its reorder threshold of 15 (stock is now 15). Ferbz sends a WhatsApp alert to manager Alex at 3:16 PM:

“⚠️ Stock Alert: All‑Purpose Cleaner is now at 15 units. Please reorder before it runs out.”

Alex sees the alert, places an order with the supplier, and the next morning the new stock arrives. Because the alert arrived instantly, the store never ran out of the cleaner, avoiding a missed sale.

---

Time saved: Before Ferbz, Maple Street Market’s staff spent an average of 12 minutes per shift manually counting shelves and reconciling sales receipts with a paper log. After implementing Ferbz, the same task is reduced to a quick glance at the Products list—saving roughly 45 minutes per week.

Revenue recovered: In the month prior to using Ferbz, the store lost an estimated $1,274 in sales because three items (cleaner, bread, and nails) were out of stock for a total of 4 days. With real‑time stock updates and low‑stock WhatsApp alerts, those out‑of‑stock days dropped to 0, preserving the full $1,274 in potential revenue.

Fewer manual steps: The workflow eliminates three separate processes:

1. Hand‑writing inventory counts.
2. Transferring sales totals from the register to a spreadsheet.
3. Calling the manager when a product looks low.

All three are now automated within the same dashboard.

Improved ordering accuracy: Because each product record includes a Reorder Threshold, the system only notifies you when a true shortage is imminent. In the first 30 days of use, Maple Street Market received 7 low‑stock alerts, compared to the previous 27 ad‑hoc “I think we’re low” comments from staff. That 74 % reduction in unnecessary alerts means the manager can focus on genuine replenishment needs.

Compliance with sales‑tax rules: Since Ferbz tracks each order at the point of sale, the system automatically records the taxable amount for each line item. This ensures that the receipt generated for the customer reflects the correct state‑specific sales‑tax calculation, which is essential for audit trails and for maintaining accurate revenue reports in the Reports module.

Overall, the stock‑on‑hand tracking built into Ferbz’s Billing and Customers modules turns a chaotic, paper‑driven process into a precise, data‑driven operation that keeps shelves full, checkout lines short, and profit margins intact.

---

Ready to stop guessing how much stock you have and start seeing real‑time numbers at the checkout? Sign up for a free trial, import your product list via CSV, and watch the first order automatically adjust your inventory. If you have questions or need a walkthrough, our support team is standing by at support@ferbz.com.

Start now: https://dashboard.ferbz.com/