What it is for
In a phone or electronics shop, every device is unique. A product tracked by serial number records the number of each item: when received, sold, returned, transferred and counted. So you always know where a device is, who it was sold to and how long its warranty runs. Other products do not change.
Turning on tracking for a product
Catalogue › the product (sold by the unit) › Tracked by serial number:
- Serial number: letters, digits and - / . _ (64 at most);
- IMEI (phone): 15 digits; the last one is a check digit, verified as you type — a typo is flagged (see IMEI not verified below).
Warranty (months): optional, from 1 to 120; it starts on the day of sale and prints on the receipt with each number. This can also be set in the owner's area and reaches every till.
A product tracked by batch cannot also be tracked by serial number.
Unverified IMEI
If the last digit of an IMEI does not match, check what you typed first (a mistyped digit). Some genuine devices, refurbished or imported, do have a non-standard check digit. When receiving (stock or supplier order) and counting stock, the till then offers to accept it:
- enter the reason (required, for example “IMEI checked on the box and in the phone's settings”);
- a manager or the owner accepts directly; a cashier taps Ask for approval: a manager enters their PIN and authenticator code on the till (valid for these IMEIs and this reason only).
The device is then marked IMEI not verified in stock, in the number search, on the receipt, on the invoice and in the owner's area; the acceptance (IMEI, reason, who approved it) is recorded in the audit log. After that, the device sells, is returned and is transferred like the others, with no further approval. An unverified IMEI that was never received here is still refused at sale (it is a typo).
Turn off tracking removes from the list the numbers still in stock in this shop (stock does not change). If you turn it back on, do Count numbers again before selling.
Receiving devices
Stock › the product › Goods received: scan the number of each device, one per line; the quantity is the number of numbers. The same goes for receiving a supplier order. A number already in stock, in transit or sold is refused (a sold device comes back through its sale's return).
Devices already in stock before tracking was turned on have no number: they cannot be sold until they are counted. Do Count numbers (below).
Selling
Tap the product or scan its barcode: the till asks for the number of the device sold (scan or type it, or pick from the numbers in stock). Scanning the IMEI printed on the box adds the device with its number directly. Each number must be in stock in this shop and can appear only once on the receipt; Add a device adds another, the cross removes one.
The receipt, the invoice and the delivery note print IMEI: … (or Serial no.: …) and Warranty until ….
Return and exchange
In Sales and returns, a device is returned by number: tick exactly the devices returned, among those sold on this receipt and not yet returned. The device goes back into stock and can be sold again. An exchange works the same way: devices returned by number, new ones by number. A sale with serial numbers is returned on the till that made it.
Transfers between shops
In Transfers, tick the numbers of the devices sent: they are in transit. On arrival, the receiving shop ticks the devices received in good condition and the damaged ones (a loss for that shop, never in stock). A device sent but never received (receiving finished with items missing) is no longer in transit: if it turns up in the shop that sent it, do Count numbers.
Several tills in one shop
Each till knows the devices it received. To sell at the counter till a device received on another till in the shop, transfer it to that till first (Transfers, destination: the till). In the owner's area, a device received or sold on two tills is flagged Needs checking.
Stock count: counting serial numbers
Stock › the product › Count numbers: scan every device on the shelf. Numbers missing from the list leave stock (missing), new ones are added; stock becomes the number of numbers. Waste or breakage is recorded in Adjustment, ticking the device concerned.
Finding a device
Serial numbers: type or scan a number (or its last digits) → the product, where the device is, its purchase (supplier, date), its sale (date, receipt, customer), the end of warranty (Under warranty or Warranty expired) and its full history. In the owner's area, Serial numbers searches all shops.