Adding a New Product
How Adding a Product Works
Access requirements. To see the "+ New item" button on Products → Product list, you need edit access to the "Product list" permission at the store you're currently viewing. If you only have view access, or your edit access is at a different store, the button won't appear there. The wizard can also be opened from receiving and purchase-order screens. Those allow anyone with view or edit access to either "Product list" or "Purchase orders" at any one of your stores. But creating the product at the final step always takes edit access to one of those two, so it's worth checking before you fill anything in.
Two ways in, one way out. You can search a library of known products to auto-fill details, or type in a product manually — either way, you end up at the same "Set prices and costs" step before the item is actually created.
Searching is the faster default. It's the tab you land on first, and a good match saves you from typing in container type, size, and pack details by hand.
Manual entry still parses what you type. Even the "manual" path isn't purely blank fields — type a natural description like "Bud Light 12oz 6pk" and it extracts the product name, size, container type, and pack size for you to review and adjust.
A product can have more than one pack size. A single product — say, a six-pack and a full case of the same beer — can have multiple purchasable sizes set up together, each with its own SKU, UPC, and pricing.
Nothing is created until the last step. You can back out at any point before submitting the final pricing step without leaving a half-created product behind.
Where to Access Each Feature
To… | Go to |
Add a new product | Products → Product list → "+ New item" |
Add a new size to a product that already exists | That product's page → "Add Item" |
Searching for a Known Product
Step 1
Click on "Products" in the left-menu bar, then click on "Product list."
Step 2
Click "+ New item." This opens on the "Search for known products" tab.
Step 3
Choose a "Department" — it's required before you can search.
Step 4
Scan a UPC or type a search query. Including details like volume or pack size improves the match — for example, "Bud 12oz can 6pk" — then click "Search."
Step 5
Review the results. Each one is labeled "In your catalog" if you already carry some version of it, with a note on how many of its pack sizes are already in your catalog versus available to add. Select the one that matches, then click "Next."
If nothing matches, click "Create product manually" instead and skip to that section below.
Step 6
You'll land on one of two screens. If every pack size of the matched product is already in your catalog, there's nothing left to add — you'll only see options to add a custom size or pack size to what you already have, and this wizard stops here. Otherwise, you'll see the sizes available to add: check the ones you want, and fill in "Per case" (how many units come in a full case) and "Distributor ID" (the item number your distributor uses for it) for each before clicking "Set prices and costs."
Creating a Product Manually
Use this when a search doesn't turn up the item you're adding.
Step 7
Click "Create product manually" (either from the search tab, or from the "Can't find it?" link under search results).
Step 8
Choose a "Department," then type a short description of the product — for example, "Bud Light 12oz 6pk" — and click "Go." This parses out the product name, size, container type, and pack size automatically. (Leaving Department blank shows "Department can't be blank.")
Step 9
Review and correct "Product name," "Size" (amount and unit), and "Container type" — all three are required.
Step 10
In the "Pack sizes" table, review the "Pack size" and "Per case" values, and fill in "SKU" (your own item code), "UPC" (the barcode number on the package), and "Distributor ID" for each. Add another row if this product comes in more than one size.
Setting Prices and Costs
Step 11
For each pack size (and each store, on multi-location accounts), enter "Case cost," "Unit cost," and "Price." Click "Margin" or "Markup" to switch which of those two columns is showing — then type into that column to have the price recalculate from it. The "Rounding" shortcuts (99¢, 95¢, 49¢, or None) adjust the price to end in that amount.
Note: none of these fields are actually required. Leaving Price, Case cost, or Unit cost blank doesn't stop you from creating the product — it just creates it priced at $0.00 with no error or warning. Double-check every price before clicking Create, since nothing will catch a blank one for you.
Step 12
Turn "Sellable" and "Orderable" on or off per store if this item shouldn't be available everywhere yet. On multi-location accounts, use the "All stores" row to fill in a value once and apply it everywhere, instead of repeating it per store.
Step 13
Click "Create."
Troubleshooting
A search doesn't return anything useful: switch to "Create product manually" — you don't have to keep refining the search.
The description parser got something wrong: everything it fills in in the manual flow is still editable — correct the product name, size, container type, or pack size before moving on.
You need to add a size to a product you already carry (like a new case size for an existing item): open that product and click "Add Item" instead of creating a brand-new product — that keeps it under the same product rather than creating a duplicate.
Pricing looks off after clicking a rounding shortcut: those recalculate live from whatever's already in the price field, so double-check the underlying cost is right first — the shortcuts adjust price, not cost.
A product got created with $0.00 pricing: Price, Case cost, and Unit cost aren't required fields — leaving one blank doesn't stop the product from being created, it just saves as $0.00 with no warning. Open the product and correct the pricing directly.