Overview
Ensuring products are in the right place in inventory is essential to an organized fulfillment and loss prevention workflow. Performing physical inventory checks and cross-referencing with Lister is a critical part of inventory management.
Depending on the size of your inventory and internal loss prevention guidelines, a full inventory check should be completed at least once a year.
This guide outlines how to use Lister to verify what items are in your inventory.
Table of Contents
Required and Recommended Equipment
Completing inventory checks requires access to Lister while inspecting each physical location. In addition, a barcode scanner is highly recommended to speed up the inventory scanning process.
We recommend the following equipment while inspecting inventory:
Laptop or tablet with internet access to Lister
Barcode scanner connected to the laptop or tablet
Inventory cart to relocate or remove products and hold the laptop
An iOS device with Link installed to accurately reshelf or purge products (optional, but recommended)
Planning Inventory Checks
Before starting, create a plan:
Step 1: Estimate Time Commitment
Depending on the size and total number of Products in inventory, a complete inventory may take several days. Plan for 240 items per person per hour (or 1 item per 15 seconds) for a ballpark estimate of how many labor hours it will take to inspect each item and make any adjustments to your Products in Lister.
Note: This estimate may vary significantly based on the type of items, number of items per inventory location, size of your inventory system, and if you regularly purge recycled Products in Link or Lister.
Follow the steps below to determine how many Products are in Lister:
Navigate to the Products page
Add the numbers next to the Active and Recycled tabs together
Optional: Also add the Draft tab number if these items are stored in inventory locations before being listed online (rare)
š”Operational Tip: Use the following formula to estimate the total number of hours to inspect every Product:
Total time (in hours) = (total Active + Recycled Products in Lister) / 240
The example below shows 2723 Products in Lister (2055 active and 668 recycled). Completing a full inventory check would take about 11 labor hours (2723/240=11.35).
š”Operational Tip: The most accurate way to predict how long an inventory check will take is to purge Recycled Products regularly. If recycled Products have been physically removed from inventory but not purged in Lister or Link, the recycled number on your Product page will not accurately reflect items physically present in your inventory. Click here to learn more about purging in Link or Lister.
Step 2: Plan Route Through Inventory
Based on your inventory layout, available labor hours, and the total number of items shown on the Product page in Lister, divide your inventory into sections of work to be completed. Deciding on a route for your inventory check will help eliminate double-handling and backtracking as you perform your inventory check.
If your inventory is organized by item type, consider working on a specific section of inventory that may require additional handling to inspect before moving on to the next section. For example, oversized items and artwork may require extra time per item to inspect than clothing.
Step 3: Create a Completion Tracking Sheet
Create a checklist to track your progress as the inventory check is completed. The person responsible for each section of inventory should add the date they completed each section of inventory.
After every location has been inspected, a manager should complete a final inspection of any missing items.
As an example, a printed checklist may look like this:
Locations | Checked By | Date Inspected |
Oversize 01 - 10 | David | June 1 |
Art 01 - 50 | Jackson | June 1 |
Units 01 - 25 | Siera | June 2 |
Units 26 - 50 | Siera | June 2 |
Units 51 - 75 | Andy | June 2 |
Units 75 - 100 |
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Jewelry 01 - 50 |
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Missing Item Inspection (Manager) |
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How to Verify Inventory
Navigate to the Products>All page in Lister
Click āMore filtersā
Scan an Inventory Location barcode into the āIn locationā filter
Click on the first product in the search results and review the product details and event logs
Locate the item on the inventory shelf
If the item is found on the shelf: Click back on the search results in Lister and select the next item in the results. Continue checking remaining items in the search results in Lister
If the item canāt be found on the shelf: Add a āMissingā tag to the product in Lister
Continue checking each item in the inventory location and matching it to Lister
š” Operational Tip: If an item is missing from the shelf, in addition to adding a āMissingā tag to the Product in Lister, use the Product Notes to leave an internal note on when the item was discovered missing. This helps create a stronger paper trail if the item is later recovered in a different area of inventory.
ā
What to do if an Item is in the Wrong Location
If an item is found on the shelf but doesnāt match the location shown in Lister, reassign the Product to the current location using Lister or Link.
š”Operational Tip: If the SKU doesnāt show any results in the Product>All page, the item may have been purged but not removed from inventory. Try the following to look up the item:
Search the SKU in the Closed>All tab of your Listing Manager
Search the SKU on the Manifests page
Search the SKU in Link using the Search tool
What to do in Lister if a Product is Missing
Add a āMissingā tag to any Products in Lister that are not physically present on the shelf during the inventory check.
During the rest of the inventory checks of other locations, you may discover an item that was previously marked with the āMissingā is in a different location. In these instances, update the inventory location and remove the āMissingā tag.
For example:
A pair of shoes was marked as missing from Location Unit 01 on June 1st
The shoes are then scanned and discovered at Unit 20 on June 2nd
Action: Change the product location and remove the āMissingā tag
Once all inventory locations are inspected, a manager should perform a final inspection of any products that are marked with a āMissingā tag in Lister to determine what action they need. Perform the following steps to complete the inventory check:
Navigate to the Products (All) tab
Click āMore filtersā
Select the āMissingā tag from the tags menu
Click the first item in the results to open the Product Drawer
Review the Event Logs and Product Notes and verify if the inventory location was updated during the inventory check by cross-referencing it to your inventory checklist described above
Perform a final physical inspection of the last known inventory location for the product, as shown in Lister
If the item canāt be found: Purge the Product to remove it from view in the Product Manager. Depending on the Product status, you may need to end any active Listings, end the Listing Strategy, and Recycle the Product before it can be Purged
If the item is found: Ensure the item is assigned the correct inventory location, then determine if anything needs to be done with the item (manually relisted, sent to shipping, recycled, purged, etc.)
Related Guides
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