Overselling, dead stock and lost parcels hurt small shops. A simple weekly inventory system for Bangladeshi sellers, using variants, stock reports and clear routines.
Every seller has had this call: "Sorry, that size just sold out." The customer is disappointed, the confirmation call was wasted, and sometimes the ad money was too. Small stores rarely need complicated warehouse software. They need a simple system they actually follow.
Here is one that works for a store with a few dozen to a few hundred products.
Why inventory goes wrong in small shops
- Stock is sold on Facebook, in a physical shop and on the website, but tracked in only one place.
- Variants (sizes and colours) are tracked as one total instead of separately.
- Returned parcels come back but are never added back to stock.
- Nobody counts physical stock until something is missing.
Step 1: Give every item a SKU
A SKU (stock keeping unit) is a short code for each sellable item. Keep it readable:
TS-BLK-M= T-shirt, black, mediumHNY-500= Honey, 500 g
On Multipurc, each variant has its own SKU. You can see them all in Catalog → Variants, along with stock, price and status. Write the SKU on the shelf or bag where the item is stored.
Step 2: Track stock by variant, not by product
If you have 20 pieces of a shirt but only two in XL, "20 in stock" is misleading. Set up attributes such as Size and Colour in Catalog → Attributes, enable variants in the product editor, and enter stock per variant. Customers then cannot order a size you don't have.
Step 3: One place of truth for all channels
If you sell on several channels, choose one system as the master record:
- Shop counter: the POS plugin (available on all Multipurc plans) records in-store sales against the same stock as your website.
- Facebook/WhatsApp orders: enter them as orders in the dashboard instead of on paper. The orders list has a Channel column showing where each order came from.
- Daraz: on Pro and Elite, the Daraz plugin connects products and orders (check the pricing page).
The rule: if an item leaves the shelf, it must be recorded in the same system.
Step 4: The weekly routine (30–60 minutes)
Pick a fixed day, such as Saturday morning:
- Open Reports → Inventory. Check stock health (healthy, low, out of stock). Use the date range and Compare options to see movement.
- Spot-count your top 10 sellers. Count the physical pieces and compare with the system. Fix differences and note why they happened.
- Process returns. Every returned parcel that is resaleable goes back into stock. Damaged items are recorded separately.
- Reorder. Anything that will run out before your next restock should be ordered now.
- Hide dead stock. Products that are out of stock with no plan to restock should be set inactive rather than shown as sold out forever.
Step 5: Low-stock alerts
On Pro and Elite, the Inventory plugin adds a stock overview, warehouses, stock adjustments and low-stock alerts. If you hold stock in more than one place (home and a small godown, say), warehouses help you know where each item is.
On Starter, the weekly routine and Reports → Inventory still give you a clear picture.
Step 6: Handle returns properly
Returns are where stock quietly disappears:
- Log every return in Orders → Returns, where you can see the RMA number, reason, refund amount and status.
- When the parcel arrives back, inspect it the same day.
- Add resaleable items back to stock immediately.
- Track return reasons. If one product keeps coming back for "size problem", fix the size chart.
Step 7: Plan for seasonal peaks
Before Eid, Pohela Boishakh or winter:
- Look at last season's sales report (Reports → Sales and Reports → Products) to see what sold.
- Order early; suppliers and couriers get busy close to festivals.
- Do a full physical count before the rush so you start clean.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Overselling during sales: if you run a flash sale, double-check stock first.
- Pre-orders without labels: if an item is pre-order, say so clearly on the product page with the expected date.
- Ignoring small differences: two missing pieces a week becomes a hundred a year.
A simple stock sheet for the physical shelf
Even with software, a printed sheet on the shelf helps staff:
| SKU | Location | Opening | In | Out | Closing | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | TS-BLK-M | Rack A2 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 9 |
At the end of the week, match the closing count with the dashboard.
Summary
Good inventory comes down to three habits: track variants separately, record every sale in one system, and count weekly. Set up variants and SKUs properly in your store, check Reports → Inventory every week, and treat returns as stock, not as clutter.
If you're starting a new store, the 14-day free trial is a good time to set up SKUs and variants properly before orders start flowing.