An online shop's stock: Telegram, Uzum and offline balances

An online shop usually sells through several channels at once: a Telegram channel or bot, a social-media page, a marketplace (such as Uzum), sometimes an ordinary outlet in an office. The stock, however, is one. So counting in online retail is harder: an item that "is on the site" may not be in the warehouse, while an item standing in the warehouse may be booked as "reserved". If a counter counts the shelf and compares it with the list, many differences turn out to be false.

The five "places" of an item

In online retail the same item can be in five states at once:

1. Goods on the shelf. They are counted directly.
2. Reserved goods. A customer placed an order and the goods were picked but not yet dispatched. They are physically in the warehouse, so they are counted, but marked "reserved".
3. Goods with the courier. They have left the warehouse but not reached the customer. They cannot be found in the count, so a separate list is made.
4. Goods sent to a marketplace warehouse. They are no longer in your warehouse. Take the balance from the platform's own report and reconcile it separately.
5. Returned goods. The customer sent them back and they arrived in the warehouse, but they have not been inspected or returned to the books.

An example: the books show 10 pieces. 4 were found on the shelf, 3 are reserved and sit in a box, 2 are with the courier and 1 is returned and awaiting inspection. If the counter writes down only the 4 on the shelf, the report shows a shortage of 6 pieces, though in fact everything is in place.

Pausing the channels before the count

During the count the stock must not change. Where possible, pause order intake for a while or count at night. Send picked orders out before the count, or put them in a separate zone marked "reserved". For a marketplace and Telegram you may need to limit or close the stock for the count period, otherwise new orders interfere. "In stock" announcements in a Telegram channel go stale during a count. If you write for a short time "orders will be picked after the count", the customer will not leave you and the stock will not change. Write down the cut-off date and hour.

Stock in a marketplace warehouse

If goods have been sent to a marketplace warehouse, you cannot count them yourself: a count in the platform's warehouse is usually run by the platform. Your task is to reconcile the balance. On count day, take the balance from the platform's report and compare it with your own records: sent − sold − returned to you should roughly equal the balance on the platform. The platform's report may also show extra states, such as lost or damaged goods. If a difference appears, write to the platform and keep the reply.

Bringing the stock to a single source

In online retail each channel has its own stock figure, and they may differ. After the count the routine is this: the count result is accepted as the single source of truth and entered into the main books (1C or Excel), then the balances in all channels are updated to those figures. Otherwise the last unit is sold in two channels and the second customer is left without goods.

The most common causes of differences

• Overselling. The last unit was sold in two channels at the same time.
• Returned goods not put back. They lie in a back room or a box and are not in the books.
• Courier returned goods, no document. An undelivered order came back to the warehouse, but the document still says "in transit".
• Variant mix-ups. If a product has size and colour variants, a worker ships the wrong variant: one shows a surplus, the other a shortage.
• Gifts and samples. A gift to a customer or a sample taken for a photo shoot was not written off.

The rule for variants: each size and colour is kept as a separate position with its own article number.

Conclusion

Counting an online shop is not just counting shelves: you must account for reserved goods, goods with couriers, goods at a marketplace warehouse and returns. Set a cut-off date, bring the stock to a single source and send the result to all channels. In online retail an exact stock figure directly affects customer trust: it is cheaper than promising goods and then apologising. StockCheck also works in online shops' warehouses: we deliver the count result as Excel, PDF or a file for 1C.