Inventory
Godown stock and display stock: why you should count them separately
One stock number hides empty shelves and missing cartons. Track shelf and godown separately, record every movement and give every adjustment a reason.
Almost every shop keeps goods in two places. There is the shelf the customer sees, and there is the godown: a back room, a loft, a storeroom down the lane, or cartons stacked under the counter.
If your stock book or software only shows one number per item, it hides the most common problems in a shop. This guide explains why the two counts should be separate, and how to keep both honest without spending hours on it.
Why one stock number is not enough
Say your records show 120 packs of 1 kg sugar. That sounds fine. But the real picture might be 6 on the shelf and 114 in the godown.
- Empty shelf, full godown. The customer sees an empty rack, assumes you are out, and buys elsewhere. You had the goods. You just didn’t refill.
- Wrong reorder. The salesman asks “sugar chahiye?” You look at 120 and say no, which is correct. But if 30 of those packs are torn or damp in the godown, you are actually short.
- Hidden losses. When the total doesn’t match, you can’t tell whether the gap is on the shelf (theft, damage, billing mistakes) or in the godown (miscounted delivery, rats, water).
Two numbers per item answer the question “where is it?” as well as “how much is there?”.
Two locations, one item
Think of each product as having two buckets:
- Display: what is on the shelf and available to sell right now.
- Storage: what is in the godown, waiting to be moved out.
The total is display plus storage. You buy into storage, move goods to display, and sell from display.
Which movement changes which bucket
| What happens | Display | Storage |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier delivery arrives | No change | Goes up |
| You refill the shelf from the godown | Goes up | Goes down |
| Sale at the counter | Goes down | No change |
| Packs found damaged on the shelf | Goes down (adjustment) | No change |
| Cartons found damaged in the godown | No change | Goes down (adjustment) |
| Goods returned to the supplier | No change | Goes down |
| Customer returns an item in good condition | Goes up | No change |
Once everyone in the shop follows this table, the numbers start to make sense. The most common mistake is putting a fresh delivery straight on the shelf without recording it there, so the shelf count looks too high and the godown count too low.
A daily refill routine
Refilling is where the two counts meet. Keep it simple.
- Morning walk. Before opening, walk the shelves and note gaps and nearly empty rows.
- Pull from the godown. Bring out what is needed and record the move from storage to display.
- Oldest first. Put older stock in front so it sells before it expires. Newer stock goes behind.
- Evening check. Look at the fast movers again before closing, so the morning starts with full shelves.
Set a minimum shelf quantity for your fast movers. If the shelf has fewer than 10 packs of a daily item, it gets refilled, whatever the total says.
Counting: small and often beats once a year
A full stocktake once a year is tiring, and by the time you find a gap, nobody remembers why it happened. Small counts done often are easier and more useful.
- Count 10 to 20 items a day. Rotate through the shop so every item is counted every few weeks.
- Count the shelf and the godown separately. Write two numbers, not one.
- Count fast movers and costly items more often. Oil, ghee, dry fruits and branded goods matter more than a ₹5 sachet.
- Count before opening or after closing, when sales are not changing the shelf.
When your count differs from the records, don’t just overwrite the number. That is how losses disappear without anyone learning from them.
Every adjustment needs a reason
A stock adjustment is any change that is not a sale, a purchase or a move. It is the most important place to be strict.
Use a short fixed list of reasons:
- Damaged or broken
- Expired
- Count correction (counting error found)
- Own use or used in the shop
- Free sample given
- Suspected theft or missing
Then review the adjustments every week. Patterns tell you where to look.
- Lots of “expired” on one category means you are over-buying it.
- Lots of “missing” on the shelf near the door means you need to rearrange.
- Lots of “count correction” on deliveries means someone needs to check the supplier challan more carefully.
Set reorder points on both buckets
You need two different alerts:
- Shelf minimum: time to refill from the godown.
- Total minimum: time to place an order with the supplier.
Mixing these up is how shops end up ordering goods that were sitting in the back room the whole time.
If you run more than one shop
When goods move from one shop to another, record it as a transfer: down in the sending shop, up in the receiving shop. Never record it as an adjustment in one place and a fresh purchase in the other. That breaks your purchase records and hides the movement. Our multi-store page explains how transfers fit into a wider setup.
Quick checklist
- Every item has a display count and a storage count
- Deliveries are recorded into storage first
- Every shelf refill is recorded as a move
- Fast movers have a shelf minimum
- A few items are counted every day, shelf and godown separately
- No adjustment without a reason
- Adjustments are reviewed weekly
How Bazaar IQ handles it
Bazaar IQ counts display (shelf) and storage (godown) stock separately for each item. Stock adjustments need a reason before they are saved, and a stock-adjustments report shows what changed, when and why, so the weekly review takes minutes. With more than one shop, stock transfers move goods between them cleanly.
Separate counts also make it easier to spot goods that are just sitting there. If that is a worry in your shop, read our guide on finding and clearing dead stock.