Multi-location inventory management is keeping one stock record that shows what each branch holds, and moving goods between branches only with a record. It matters because a healthy total can hide an empty branch. From the day a second branch opens, every product needs its own stock figure, reorder level and count in each branch.
This guide covers the stock side of that change, worked for a shop in Ghana. It sets the new branch's opening stock and reorder levels, then buying, transfers, returns and counts. Running the branches themselves, their cash, staff and weekly figures, is multi-location retail management.
What changes in stock control when a shop opens a second branch?
Six habits that worked in one shop stop working at two. The table sets each one beside what replaces it.
| Habit | One shop | Two branches |
|---|---|---|
| Stock figure | One number per product | One number per product in each branch; the total hides which branch is short |
| Reorder level | One level per product | A level per branch, set by its own sales and how long it waits for stock |
| Buying | Order when the shelf looks low | One buyer per product, and a branch named on every delivery |
| Moving stock | Never needed | A transfer with a record at both ends, and goods on the road in between |
| Returns | Back on the same shelf | Back into the branch that made the sale, then moved if they land elsewhere |
| Counting | One count | One count per branch, with no transfer left open |
A gap at one branch costs more than one sale. In a worldwide study of out-of-stocks by Gruen, Corsten and Bharadwaj, 31% of shoppers bought the item at another store and 9% didn't buy it at all.
Repeat gaps cost more again. After a third stockout, store switching and cancelling together reached 70%, as Grubor, Milicevic and Djokic summarise the study. A new branch with repeated stockouts teaches its first customers to shop elsewhere.
Half-empty shelves lose part of each sale too. A basket the branch can only half fill shows up as a lower average order value, long before anyone counts the gaps.
How much stock should a new branch start with?
Start the new branch lean: two weeks of the sales you expect, on the lines that sell most, topped up every week. Copying the first shop's shelves ties up cash in goods the new branch may never sell.
- Pick the lines. List the products that make most of the first shop's sales; the 80/20 rule in inventory finds them. Leave the slow tail until the branch shows demand for it.
- Expect half the first shop's sales. A new branch has no regular customers yet, so plan its first month on half the first shop's weekly sales.
- Send two weeks of that. One week lasts until the next weekly top-up, and one week is the buffer.
- Send at least two of every line you list, one to show and one to sell.
For example, a cosmetics shop in Kumasi, Ghana, opens a second branch in Sunyani, topped up from Kumasi every week. The figures are illustrative, not a real shop's.
| Product | Cost | Kumasi sells a week | Sunyani expected a week | Opening quantity | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Body lotion, 400 ml | 40 | 42 | 21 | 42 | 1,680 |
| Bar soap, pack of 3 | 20 | 60 | 30 | 60 | 1,200 |
| Hair cream, 250 g | 30 | 24 | 12 | 24 | 720 |
| Perfume, 100 ml | 150 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 600 |
| Nail polish | 15 | 1 | 0.5 | 2, the minimum | 30 |
| Total | 4,230 |
The lean start ties up GHS 4,230. Copying the first shop would cost far more. Six weeks of Kumasi's sales on Sunyani's shelves would tie up GHS 25,290, about six times as much.
After four weeks, replace the guess with the branch's own sales. Lines it sells faster than expected get more stock, and lines it barely sells go back to Kumasi by transfer.
Why does each branch need its own reorder level?
Each branch needs its own reorder level because it sells at its own rate and waits its own time for stock. A quieter branch can need the higher level.
The reorder point formula is daily sales × days of waiting + safety stock. Work it for each branch, with the wait that branch really faces.
| Input | Kumasi | Sunyani |
|---|---|---|
| Sells a day | 6 | 3 |
| Waits for stock | 2 days, from the supplier | Up to 8 days: 7 until the weekly transfer, 1 on the bus |
| Safety stock, 2 days of sales | 12 | 6 |
| Reorder level | 6 × 2 + 12 = 24 | 3 × 8 + 6 = 30 |
Sunyani sells half as much and needs the higher level, because it waits four times as long. A top-up every Monday and Thursday cuts its longest wait to 5 days, and its level to 3 × 5 + 6 = 21.
The total hides all of this. When the stock report shows 45 tubs of lotion, Kumasi may hold 40 and Sunyani 5, which lasts Sunyani less than two days.
ArmPOS has one Stock Alert per product and checks it in each warehouse. Set it to the higher of the branch levels, here 30. Kumasi then hears about its lotion at 30 instead of 24, a day early, which costs little.
Who should buy for two branches?
Name one buyer for each product, and the branch each delivery goes into. Two people ordering the same line from the same supplier is how a two-branch shop doubles its stock without noticing.
Two set-ups work. Each branch buys from suppliers who deliver in its own town, or one buyer buys for both and sends the second branch its share.
The first suits goods every branch sells each week. The second suits slow or costly lines, where one shared stock beats two half-empty shelves. Both are worked product by product in centralized inventory management and distributed inventory management.
Where is stock while it travels, or when it comes back at the other branch?
Goods on the road belong to neither shelf, and the records must say so. Send them with a transfer, so they leave the first branch's figure when they leave and join the second's when someone counts them in.
Who owns goods on a supplier's lorry, and who bears a loss on the way, is a separate question, covered in in-transit inventory.
Returns follow the sale, not the customer. A return goes back into the warehouse the sale came from, so a Kumasi sale returned in Sunyani joins Kumasi's figure. Move it to Sunyani with a transfer the same day, so the record matches the shelf.
How do you count stock in two branches?
Count each branch on its own sheet, and settle every open transfer first. A transfer still on the road is in neither branch's figure, so its goods look missing in one count or extra in the other.
Before a count, list the transfers that haven't arrived. Mark the ones already on the shelf as arrived; treat the rest as on the road, not as a shortage.
Between full counts, count each branch's best sellers and costly lines on a weekly rota. A branch whose counts keep missing is where to look first.
How to run multi-location inventory in ArmPOS
ArmPOS keeps every branch as a warehouse in one account, with one product list. Your plan sets how many warehouses you can have, and transfers come with some plans only (pricing).
- Add the branch as a warehouse in Settings › Warehouse, with Create. See Your warehouse and its locations.
- Give it its opening stock. Goods from your first shop go by transfer, so they leave one figure and join the other. Goods bought new go on a purchase, with the new branch as its Warehouse (Record a purchase).
- Set each product's Stock Alert to the higher of the branch levels. Product Quantity Alerts lists every product at or below it, warehouse by warehouse (Reports to check every day).
- Turn on low stock alerts for the people who reorder. ArmPOS tells them when stock falls below its alert level. The alerts reach the bell, and push or email where each person switches them on (Get alerts on your phone).
- Top up with transfers. In Transfer › Create Transfer, choose the From Warehouse first. Nothing moves until someone with permission to edit transfers approves it. Sent takes stock out of the sending branch while it travels, and editing it to Completed puts it into the other (Move stock between warehouses).
- Move returns that land at the wrong branch. A return puts items back in the sale's warehouse, so follow it with a transfer (Returns and refunds).
- Count one branch at a time. Products › Count Stock makes a sheet for one warehouse, and one category if you like. Correct the differences with an adjustment in that warehouse (Count and adjust stock).
- Read each branch's stock and sales. The Stock Report shows one warehouse when you pick it, and the Products report totals each product's sales by warehouse (Stock reports).
If a branch's internet drops while its POS is open, it keeps selling. Its sales are kept on the device and sent when the connection returns, and its stock figure catches up then (The POS screen).
Frequently asked questions
What is multi-location inventory management?
It is running one stock record that shows what each branch or warehouse holds, with every move between them recorded. Each location gets its own stock figure, reorder level and count.
Should each location have its own reorder point?
Yes. Work it from that branch's own daily sales and the days it waits for stock. A branch refilled weekly can need a higher level than a busier one its supplier serves in two days.
How much stock should a new branch open with?
About two weeks of the sales you expect, on your best-selling lines, and at least two of each line. Top it up weekly and adjust after the first month of real sales.
How do you track inventory across multiple locations?
Give each location its own stock figure in one system, move stock only by transfer, and count each location on its own sheet. A total across branches is useful for buying, never for knowing what a shelf holds.
List your ten best sellers this week and work out the second branch's opening quantity and reorder level for each. To keep both branches in one stock record, create a free ArmPOS account: the Starter plan is free, with no card needed.
