A product you can’t find is a product you can’t sell. Give every item a clear home, keep important details easy to spot, and make it simpler to pick and hand over customer orders.
Have an order ready to go? Start on the Send page to see the delivery options and prices that apply to your parcel.
What a reliable stock routine helps you do
When your shelf and stock record agree, you can find the right item, check the details that matter and stage orders for handover with less last-minute searching. A simple routine also helps keep faulty or unverified goods out of available stock.
What to have ready before shelving new stock
- A stock record that staff can update and check.
- A consistent location format, such as aisle–shelf–bin.
- Labels that remain readable where the goods are stored.
- A marked hold area for damaged, doubtful, returned or unverified items.
What details should go on a stock label?
Make the product easy to identify and its location easy to read. Record batch or lot, serial and expiry details when they apply to the item. A product identifier tells you what the product is; batch and serial details help distinguish a particular group or individual item. Keep the label concise enough for staff to read at a glance.
How to shelve new stock: five practical steps
- Check the delivery against the order and supplier documents. Record the product and quantity, and capture relevant batch, serial or expiry details.
- Keep new goods out of available-to-sell stock until your checks are complete. Put damaged, doubtful, returned or unverified items in the marked hold area.
- Assign each shelf, bin or floor position a unique code. Use one format consistently, and record the location against the stock item.
- Label the item or storage position so staff can identify it quickly. If you use a barcode, test-scan it before relying on it.
- When picking an order, go by the recorded location and confirm the product and any relevant batch or serial details. Mark the order packed and staged, then record its handover status.
What should you check regularly?
- Blank, damaged or unreadable labels.
- Items in the wrong location compared with the stock record.
- Expiry dates that need attention.
- Goods still marked as held or quarantined.
- Orders packed but not yet recorded as handed over.
When something is wrong, correct the label and the stock record together. For items on hold, record who placed them there and who approved their release so the next person can follow the status.
Common stock-labelling mistakes to avoid
- Using the same location code for different shelves or bins.
- Putting similar-looking products together without a clear way to tell them apart.
- Recording an expiry or batch detail once, then leaving it off the stock record or label staff use to pick.
- Leaving doubtful goods beside sellable stock without a clear hold status.
- Updating the shelf label but not the inventory record—or the other way around.
Ready to move a packed order?
Once the right item is checked, packed and ready for handover, choose the delivery options that fit your parcel. Moveka is Kenya’s largest courier and one of Kenya’s most deeply connected courier networks. Start on the Send page to view the applicable options and prices.
