What is a Product?
Products are: Standard tangible and non-tangible items sold on an invoice during a transaction.
Examples: Eye protection, shipping fee, bag of chips, t-shirt, admission fee.
Creating a New Product (individually, without a template, outside of the Catalog System bulk import)
Go to Office > Inventory > Products > Manage Products.
Click the New Product Button
Product Details, Options and Settings
Each product has multiple required fields, a variety of optional fields, and multiple default and preference settings.
You will see all of the following while creating a new product or by going to Office > Inventory > Products > Manage Products, searching for the product you need to adjust and clicking on its part number in blue to edit.
Product Vendor and Vendor Part Number
A product’s vendor is the company that you purchase this item from. Items can have multiple vendors, with a preferred default set for ordering.
If the vendor you need is not listed, click Add New at the bottom to add a new Vendor contact record.
The system will default to have the option “Is the part number the same as the vendor part number” turned ON. This feature is recommended for items with a single vendor.
If you have an internal part number that you wish to use, turn this off and enter in the unique Part Number.
Product Images
Images are used for online sales if you have an integrated Storefront website and are also used for Quick Key display in Point of Sale.
Product Category
Categories are used throughout the system: in search engines as filters and as organizing headers in most sales and inventory reports.
Every item belongs to a category, and every category belongs to a department.
For example: Part Number- SOCK1234; Part Description- Performance Athletic Socks; Category- Socks; Department- Apparel.
Select the product’s category from the Category drop down menu. If the category you need is not available, scroll to the bottom of the category list and select Add New.
If you add a new category, enter its name, a category code (this is used by the database and is typically a two or three character abbreviation), and select the department this category belongs to. Click Create to save the new category.
Place your cursor in the Bar Code field.
Scan or type in the product’s barcode (also known as a UPC code) if there is one available on the package or attached tag.
If the product does not have a manufacturer’s barcode, you can enter a unique code manually or click Generate to allow Orchid POS to create one for you.
Product Model Type or Number
Model is a free-form field and you can enter any text or numbers here that apply to this product.
Model shows on receipts and during the ordering process from your vendor.
Auxiliary Description field is available if desired or necessary. This also shows on the transaction receipts.
If the color you need is not available, click Add New at the bottom of the menu.
To create a new color, enter the color’s name and color code. Color code is used when abbreviation is necessary, such as truncated receipts and labels (e.g., BK for Black).
Secondary and Accent Color fields are available if necessary, to better detail the product.
Select the product’s size if applicable. The size field is used throughout the system including searches ordering and printed information.
If the size you need is not available in the drop down menu, select Add New at the bottom.
To create a new size, enter the size’s name and code.
Size supports both letters and numbers.
Size code may display on certain printed documents like receipts and labels (e.g., LG for Large).
Orchid POS supports multiple price codes (levels) for each product part.
The two most important for each product are Cost (what you pay) and Retail (what your customer pays).
MSRP pricing is used only in conjunction with price formulas.
You can allow the software to calculate any price in the pricing grid using discount or mark up percentages. For example, the above item has its Minimum Price set to 35% below the Retail price, and other discount price levels are set to 10% below Retail.
Bulk Pricing
Split Case
Setting a New Product’s Initial Quantity in Stock
Use the Quantity on Hand field under Miscellaneous Details to tell Orchid POS how many pieces of this product you currently have on hand.
Setting a Product’s Reorder Reminder Level
Setting a Product’s Default Reorder Quantity
Use the Reorder Quantity field under Miscellaneous Details to tell Orchid POS how many of this product you typically order and it will auto-fill the quantity to order field for you when creating a purchase order (this can be adjusted easily at the time of ordering).
OR
Setting a Product’s Preferred Stock Level
Use the Preferred Stock Level field to tell Orchid POS how many of this part you like to keep in stock. During the ordering process, Orchid POS will calculate the difference between this number and your current quantity in stock to help decide how many to order at that time.
Other Product Ordering Defaults and Options
Setting a Product to Print a Label for Each Piece in Stock
If “Print Label for Each Item in Stock” is turned ON in a product’s details, you will get one label for each piece (i.e., you receive quantity 10 and will get 10 labels).
If “Print Label for Each Item in Stock” is turned OFF in a product’s details, you will get one label for each order of this part number (i.e., you receive quantity 10 and will get 1 label). This option is good for smaller items that may just need one display tag for a basket full.
Creating a Service Record / Warranty Reminder When a Product is Sold
You can also tell Orchid POS to enter a Service Record into the customer’s history when a product is purchased by turning the “Warranty Reminder to be Created” option ON.
If the product will require annual inspection or service once it’s sold, Service Records are used in the Service Reminder system.
Service Records are also used in the Work Order system when an item is inspected, repaired, or otherwise serviced.
Setting a Product to be a Miscellaneous Item
If a part will need a different description each time it is sold, you can mark it as a Miscellaneous Item but turning the “Is Miscellaneous Item” option ON.
This option will prompt an automatic popup in Point of Sale when the item is placed on an invoice, with a blank description field ready for entry.
Setting a Product to be a Non-Inventoried Item
If a part number is non-tangible, meaning you cannot hold it in your hand, then you can mark the product as non-inventoried.
A non-inventoried part will still have its total number sold tracked, and you will even be able to place it on a purchase order if necessary, but Orchid POS will not show total quantity in stock and as a result, will never tell you that you’ve run out of stock.
Items set to be non-inventoried will show quantity in stock: N/A
Examples of a non-inventoried product part: Shipping & Handling Fee, Returned Check Fee, Air Tank Fill, License Permit.
Setting a Product’s Sales Tax Status
Product details page will only show active sales taxes, and will default to have all active sales taxes ON.
If an item is always non-taxable, turn OFF all tax options.
Setting a Product’s Popup Notes
Tracking Product Serial Numbers
If a product has a serial number, Orchid POS can track it from the time you receive it into inventory until sold, then it will be retained in the customer’s history.
If the item also has its warranty reminder flag on, the serial number will display in the item’s Service Record entry in the customer’s information.
There are two ways to track product serial numbers:
It will not ask for serial numbers for pieces as they are received into inventory.
It will not check against any list of available serial numbers to ensure accuracy.
It will allow you to view serial numbers that have been sold from a product’s details page.
Setting a product to Serial Number Control Enforced will prompt Point of Sale to collect the item’s serial number as it is sold, with entry being a requirement to proceed with the transaction.
It will expect and prompt for serial numbers to be entered as quantities are received into stock.
It will check against those available serial numbers as the item is sold to ensure accuracy.
It will allow you to view serial numbers that have been sold from a product’s details page, as well as those that are available to be sold.
Click CREATE at the bottom of the part window to save your new product part.