Retail store and pharmacy stock counts

In a supermarket, pharmacy or store chain, trading hardly ever stops: tills are running, shelves are being restocked and new deliveries keep arriving in the back room. Counting stock accurately in these conditions is hard, and with many branches it gets harder still. Retailers often end up choosing between two bad options: close the store for half a day, or rush through a count that is only roughly right. We count retail outlets without getting in the way of customers and deliver results for every branch in the same structure.

What the service includes

The count covers the whole store, not just the sales floor:

• sales floor, back room, display cases and checkout shelves, counted with barcode scanners;
• returns, damaged and expired goods, listed separately and kept apart from the main stock;
• in pharmacies, batch numbers and expiry dates recorded where agreed;
• counted quantities compared with book stock, allowing for sales made during the count;
• every item with a difference recounted by a second counter;
• for chains, one instruction for all branches, a team schedule and a consolidated report.

How we count without stopping sales

There are two modes, and the right one depends on the store format.

A night count starts after closing and finishes before the doors open in the morning. A small shop or pharmacy is usually counted in one shift, while a large supermarket can be split over two nights. We explain how to plan a night shift in a separate article.

A zone-by-zone count during opening hours suits 24-hour stores and outlets that cannot close at night. The floor is divided into aisles, the time each aisle is counted is recorded, and till sales after that moment are taken into account. Customers shop as usual; only the aisle being counted is not restocked for a few minutes.

Step by step

1. Site visit: floor area, number of SKUs, back room, opening hours and till software.
2. Agreement on the mode, date and cut-off time, and signing of the contract and a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
3. Export of book stock from 1C or Excel: item code, name and quantity.
4. Count by zone plan, with a counter and a checker in each zone.
5. Recount of differences, check against till movements and notes on causes.
6. Paperwork completed with the inventory committee and results handed over as files.

The count usually starts in the back room, where there is little stock movement and it is easy to close off in advance. The sales floor is then counted aisle by aisle. When a zone is finished, the team leader reviews the list of differences and orders recounts straight away instead of waiting for the end of the shift.

What you receive

• count sheets by zone, electronic and with printed copies if needed;
• a variance statement for each branch: shortages, surpluses and recounted items;
• a separate list of expired and damaged goods;
• a consolidated table for the chain that compares branches on the same indicators;
• a results file for import into 1C or for work in Excel;
• a short commentary on the largest differences and their likely causes.

What affects timing and price

Timing depends mainly on the number of SKUs and the floor area, and for a chain also on the number of branches and teams. The price depends on the number of SKUs, the number of branches, the working mode and travel to the regions. The online calculator on this site gives an estimate for a single site: 1,000 SKUs come to roughly UZS 4 million, 10,000 SKUs to about UZS 18 million. Night, weekend or non-stop work carries a surcharge, and the minimum order is UZS 2 million. The exact price and timeline are set in the contract after we have seen the site.

From a single store to a branch network

The service suits supermarkets and convenience stores, pharmacies, and shops selling cosmetics and household chemicals, clothing, footwear, electronics or building materials. A single store can often be done in one night. In a chain the main risk is different: if every branch counts its own way, the results cannot be compared. So the work starts with one standard: the cut-off time, what is recorded separately, the recount rule and the report format are the same in every branch. A trial count is held in one branch first, then teams follow a schedule to the remaining branches, including those in the regions. If you would rather count regularly to a plan than once a year, take a look at our regular outsourced stock counts.