In a fashion boutique every item comes in several sizes and colours, the sale comes twice a year, and exchanges are part of everyday life. Stock and labels should be right too, often in more than one branch. This guide shows how to set up a boutique or another specialist shop with variants in bessa.
Sizes and colours
There are two ways to handle variants:
|
|
Separate article per variant |
Variants as article options |
|---|---|---|
|
Example |
"Blouse Lina S white", "Blouse Lina M white", … |
"Blouse Lina" with the options "Size" and "Colour" |
|
Stock level per variant |
✓ |
✗ |
|
Barcode and label per variant |
✓ |
✗ |
|
Sales reports by size and colour |
✓ |
✓ |
|
Maintenance |
higher, best by import |
low |
Our recommendation for fashion: one article per variant. Only then do you know which size in which colour is still in stock, and staff book exactly the right variant with the scanner. Create the variants by import: one row per variant, each with its own product number. The variants don't need to be on the order screen; they are booked by scan or search.
How variants work as options and when that fits is described in Article options in the example "Sizes and colours in retail".
Labels
For every variant with a product number, print a barcode label, in the bessa Manager as a PDF or directly at the Sales Point, with the quantity from the delivery or the current stock. These labels contain the name and the barcode, no price. Price tags with name and price are printed at the Sales Point with the Article & price template. See Label printing.
Sale
Model a time-limited clearance with a pricing level with a validity period:
-
Create a pricing level "Sale" for the consumption type enabled on your Sales Point.
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Enter the sale price on the reduced articles, with many articles by importing into the pricing level.
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Enable the pricing level on the Sales Point and set the validity period to the duration of the sale.
From the start date the Sales Point sells the articles at the sale price automatically, after the end date at the regular price again. Articles without a sale price stay unchanged. See Set up pricing levels for the Sales Point.
Discount groups are not suitable for a sale: they apply to customers and function keys, not to individual articles, and have no period. Give a spontaneous reduction on a single item, e.g. because of a small flaw, as a discount at the Sales Point, see Apply discounts.
Exchanges and returns
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Situation |
Approach |
|---|---|
|
Return with receipt, money back |
Void the invoice, individual items possible |
|
Return with receipt, voucher instead of money |
Void variant Credit voucher (Voucher Management module) |
|
Return without receipt |
Book the article with a negative quantity |
|
Exchange for another size |
Book the returned article with a negative quantity and the new article on the same receipt; the Sales Point settles the difference |
The procedures in detail are described in Process a return. With inventory management, returned goods go back into stock automatically.
Regular customers and branches
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Regular customers are recognised with the customer management module; a discount group gives loyal customers their discount automatically, see Retain regular customers.
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Several branches each have their own warehouse. If a size is missing in one branch, you see in the bessa Manager whether the other has it and move the goods with Transfer, see From single business to branch chain.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change the prices of all variants of a model at once? Yes, by export and import: export the articles, change the prices in Excel and import with Update.
May the Sales Point sell an item that the system says is no longer there? That is controlled by the Allow negative stock level setting on the warehouse. Enabled, the Sales Point only warns; disabled, it blocks the sale.