How to avoid out-of-stock items and forecast product usage

It can be difficult to predict customer traffic or the popularity of certain menu items. This often leads to out-of-stock items, inventory discrepancies, and losses.

Based on the most common support requests, we prepared a list of Poster tools that help you:

• always keep stock balances up to date;
• receive alerts about products running low during a shift;
• plan menus and purchasing more effectively;
• track peak hours and prepare for increased customer traffic.

✔️ Low stock email notifications

This is the simplest but one of the most important steps.

To receive notifications about stock balances:

1. Open Settings → General tab in the management console.
2. In the Low stock notifications field, choose when to receive emails: once at the end of each shift, or every time an important item approaches its minimum stock level.
3. Then open Inventory → Stock and set the minimum required stock level for selected products or for all items.

✔️ Tracking the most popular items

Use Reports → ABC-analysis and Reports → Products tabs.

ABC analysis divides menu dishes into three groups based on popularity and profitability. For example, group A contains the most popular and profitable items.

Read more about ABC-analysis and how to use it in the attached article.

The Products tab shows sales quantity for each dish and product during the selected period.

You can review reports for the entire menu, or individual categories.

💡 To view the sales chart for a specific item, click its name. This helps you identify:

• peak sales days and hours,
• revenue and profit from the item,
• the number of receipts and guests who purchased it.

✔️ Smart menu planning

Plan your menu so the same ingredients are used across multiple dishes.

To check where an ingredient is used:

1. Open Menu → Ingredients.
2. Click Details next to the ingredient name.

This helps optimize purchasing and reduce waste.

✔️ Regular inventory checks

To track sales deductions, monitor stock usage, and avoid inventory discrepancies, perform inventory checks regularly.

1. Open Inventory → Inventory checks.
2. Click Add.
3. Select full or partial inventory check, and the inventory time.

Read more about inventory checks in the related article.

✔️ Using the movement report

The movement report is the most convenient way to review incoming and outgoing stock movement for a specific product over any period, including the entire time you have used Poster.

1. Open Inventory → Ingredients movements.
2. In a quick search, enter the product name or select an ingredient category.
3. In the upper-right corner, select the reporting period.

Reviewing product usage on weekdays helps forecast purchases for the following week.

To prepare for holidays, compare product usage with the previous holiday period, and with the same holiday last year.

Check the instructions on how to work with the ingredients movements report.