Products, stock and low-stock alerts
Updated
On this page
Sidebar: Products. The page shows four figures at the top — total products, active products, low stock items and retail value — then a searchable table. Search matches name, SKU, barcode, category and brand.
Adding a product
Press Add Product:
- Brand, Product Name (required), Description
- SKU and Barcode or UPC — the barcode is what a scanner looks up
- Category — pick one, or create one on the spot with the plus button
- Selling Price (required) and Cost, which drives profit reporting
- Quantity in Stock (required)
- Low Stock Alert — you are warned at or below this number. Setting it to 0 turns alerts off for that product
- Active — inactive products disappear from checkout but keep their history
In edit mode you can also attach vendors to a product, which links it to your supplier records under Vendors.
Barcode scanning
Both the Products page and the Checkout page listen for a keyboard-wedge barcode scanner. A "Scanner Ready" badge shows it is armed. On Checkout, a scan adds one of that product to the cart. On the Products page, a scan opens the product for editing, or filters the list if you cannot manage products.
Scanning is deliberately disabled while a payment dialog is open, so a stray scan can never change the amount being charged.
How stock moves
- Down when a product is sold at Checkout.
- Back up automatically when a payment is fully refunded. Partial refunds do not restock, because there is no way to know which items came back — adjust those by hand.
- Directly, when you edit the Quantity in Stock field.
There is no separate goods-receiving screen. When a delivery arrives, edit the product and set the new count. Alaga only writes back the stock field if you actually changed it, so a sale that lands while you have the form open is not overwritten.
Where low stock shows up
Three places, all read-only — Alaga does not email you about stock:
- The Low Stock Items figure on the Products page
- Red stock counts on product rows and on Checkout tiles
- The Low Stock Alert report in the report library, under Products
Deleting
A product that has been sold cannot be deleted — deactivate it instead. That keeps past sales reportable.