Chapter 16. Inventory
Prism provides a comprehensive set of powerful tools for managing inventory. Inventory records are sent from the RIL Oracle database during initialization. Once Inventory has been loaded into Prism, most inventory-related tasks can be performed in Prism (e.g. adding new items). One thing to keep in mind is that Prism currently has limited style grid functionality. When you add a new item, if the item has the same style definition as an existing item, you are prompted to join the item to the style; however, there is no way to add an entire style via the style grid like you can in RIL Prism Management.
To access Merchandise-related features, click the Retail Pro button and select Store Operations.
Click the Merchandise button. A set of buttons provides access to the following sub-areas:
| Area | Description |
|---|---|
| Inventory | Manage inventory items. You can filter and search the inventory list to display only the item(s) you are looking for. |
| Physical Inventory | Use Physical Inventory to record physical counts of the merchandise in the store. (Note: PI sheets must be updated in RIL Prism Management) |
| Vendors | Vendors are the companies that retailers order merchandise from. Define the vendor contact info, account number and other information. If items are sold by multiple vendors, you can enter each vendor's UPC (or ALU), item cost, and the vendor code in RIL Prism Management. In Prism, you can list the item using the Alternate vendor info, if configured in preferences. |
| Departments | Manage departments. Departments are used to group items (e.g. Womens Travel Shirts). |
| Cost Adjustment Memo | Create a new cost adjustment memo |
| Price Adjustment Memo | Create a new price adjustment memo |
| Quantity Adjustment Memo | Create a new quantity adjustment memo |
| Adjustment Memo Lookup | Search for adjustment memos by a variety of criteria such as Memo Type. |
| Price Manager | Use Price Manager to create markdowns (or markups) of a selected group of inventory items (or all items). |
Inventory Features
- Add new items to inventory
- Edit existing items
- View style information
- View on-hand quantities at other stores
- View item images
- Assign default price level
- Automatically round or adjust prices so that they end in a certain number (for example, .99)
- Enter Min/Max values that can be used to automate replenishment
- Track case quantities for items sold by the case
- Track items by serial number
- Add new departments (groupings of merchandise)
- Add new vendors
- Adjust the Price, Cost, or Quantity of items via adjustment memos
Limitations
- Users can add new items; however, users cannot add an entire new style. The ability to add an entire new style to inventory is scheduled for a future release.
- Ability to add item types via Inventory Type, Serial Type and Lot Type fields is not supported.
- You must select the Inventory resource in the Prism Publisher for new/changed items to replicate to RP 9. If the resource is not selected, new/changed items will not replicate.