The problem every hardware shop knows
You buy screws in boxes of 100 and sell them by the dozen. Tiles come in boxes of four and customers want six pieces. Wire comes in bundles and goes out by the kg or metre. Each time, someone at the counter does a quick calculation, and over a month those calculations drift.
The result is stock that says you have 12 boxes when you actually have 11 and a half, or shows pieces when you are thinking in boxes. Owners stop trusting the numbers and go back to counting by eye.
Decide a base unit for each item
Every item needs one base unit in which stock is counted. For tiles it might be pieces. For screws it might be pieces. For cement it is bags. Then define the bigger units as multiples of the base. A box of tiles is 4 pieces. A box of screws is 100 pieces.
Once this is fixed, you can buy and sell in any unit and the stock is always counted in the base unit.
Write down the conversions
- Pieces per box for tiles, screws, fittings
- Kg per bundle or coil for wire and rods
- Litres per tin or drum for paint and chemicals
- Sheets per bundle for plywood and laminates
- Metres per roll for pipes or cables, where relevant
Watch for different pack sizes
The same product can come in different pack sizes from different suppliers or batches. A tile that came in boxes of four may arrive next time in boxes of three. Treat different pack sizes as different items or update the conversion carefully. Mixing them silently is one of the most common causes of stock errors.
Price per unit, not per guess
When you sell a loose quantity, the rate should come from the conversion, not from a rough guess at the counter. If a box of 100 screws costs a certain amount, the price for 12 should follow from that, plus any margin you add for loose sales. Decide whether loose sales carry a higher rate and apply it consistently.
Handle broken boxes
Once a box is opened for loose sales, keep the loose pieces in a marked bin. Do not mix them with sealed boxes. When stock is counted, count sealed boxes and loose pieces separately and convert to the base unit. This makes physical counts much easier to match with records.
Breakage and wastage
Tiles crack, paint tins dent and sheets get damaged in handling. Record breakage as soon as it is found, in the base unit, with a short reason. Unrecorded breakage is one of the quiet reasons stock never matches the records in tiles and sanitary shops.
Common mistakes
- Counting some items in boxes and others in pieces without a rule
- Not updating conversions when pack size changes
- Mixing loose pieces with sealed boxes
- Pricing loose items by guess at the counter
- Recording purchases in one unit and sales in another without conversion
Train the counter team
Unit mistakes usually happen at the counter during a rush. Show every staff member how conversions work for your main items, and keep a short printed list of common conversions near the billing desk. When a new item arrives with a new pack size, tell the team the same day.
It also helps to bill in the unit the customer asked for and let the system handle the conversion. Mental maths during a busy hour is where most errors start.
Check after every stock count
After a physical count, compare the result with the system for items that are sold in more than one unit. If the gaps are mostly in those items, the conversion setup or billing habit is the likely cause, not theft or loss.
Set up conversions with your supplier lists
When you add a new item, take the conversion straight from the supplier's invoice or packing slip rather than from memory. Suppliers usually print pieces per box or weight per bundle. Getting it right at setup saves hours of corrections later.
How Lohshala helps
Lohshala has unit conversions built in. You set how many pieces are in a box or kg in a bundle once per item. After that you can buy in one unit and sell in another, and stock is reduced correctly.
Stock is shown across godowns, and invoices carry the unit the customer bought in. For a demo with your own items, message the D&D Technology team at +91 95116 38160.
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