Managing Products

A clean product list makes billing faster and reduces price and stock mistakes. In SmartBill POS, product setup should always follow the business system_mode.

Product details to keep ready

Before adding a product, collect the most important details:

• product name
• category
• brand
• unit
• selling price
• barcode, if used in your shop
• stock behavior details
• opening stock quantity

Why mode matters

The Product Create page changes by business mode. SmartBill uses the selected mode to decide which fields to show, hide, or validate.

• retail focuses on simple finished-goods selling
• grocery adds weighted products and decimal quantities
• pharmacy adds batch and expiry-aware stock entry
• restaurant adds menu, kitchen, and production-related behavior
• manufacturing adds recipe and production-ready finished goods

Add a new product

1. Go to the Products section.
2. Select the option to add a new product.
3. Enter the product name clearly.
4. Add the category, brand, unit, and prices.
5. Complete the mode-specific fields.
6. Save the product.

Product setup by mode

Retail

Use these fields:

• name
• category
• brand
• unit
• SKU
• barcode
• purchase price
• selling price
• manage stock
• stock alert quantity
• initial stock

Hide or ignore:

• batch number
• manufactured date
• expiry date
• prescription required
• weighted pricing
• kitchen workflow
• production fields

Grocery

Use these fields:

• name
• category
• brand
• unit
• purchase price
• selling price
• is_weighted
• barcode type
• price per weight unit
• manage stock
• initial stock

Optional when needed:

• batch and expiry fields for packaged goods

Pharmacy

Use the normal product fields plus pharmacy opening stock rules.

Special rule:

• if opening stock is 0, batch details stay hidden
• if opening stock is greater than 0, batch number, manufactured date, and expiry date become required

Restaurant

Use product setup for:

• menu dishes
• beverages
• direct-sale packaged items
• raw materials when enabled

Restaurant products usually work better with modifiers than with large numbers of retail-style variants.

Manufacturing

Use product setup for:

• finished goods
• batch-ready finished items where needed
• recipe-linked products

Manufacturing products often work together with raw materials, recipes, and production logs rather than direct purchase-only flow.

Update existing products

Review products regularly and update:

• prices that changed
• discontinued items
• barcode mistakes
• product names that are unclear at the billing counter
• mode-specific fields that affect stock or billing behavior

Good product management habits

Use simple product names, avoid duplicates, and keep categories consistent. Confirm that the product matches the actual business workflow before saving it.

Related guides:

• System Modes Overview
• Managing Inventory
• Restaurant Mode
• Batch Tracking and Expiry Control