Hardware & building supplies

A hardware store runs as a shop in Kila. Cement by the bag or the pallet, nails by the kilo, kits, tools on hire and quotations for builders all use the shop's own screens.

A hardware store sells building materials, tools, paint, plumbing and electrical goods, to walk-in customers and to builders who buy in bulk and on account. Kila runs it as a shop, with no extra rules: the till is the main screen.

What is special

Nothing is added or taken away for a hardware store. These are the parts of the shop a hardware store leans on, as Mwangi Hardware uses them:

Bags, pallets and lorry loads. A product sells in its own unit, such as the bag, the roll, the sheet or the kilo, and in bigger packs. Rift Valley Cement’s Units and pack sizes (1) say “1 Lorry load (15 pallets) = 15 Pallet (40 bags) = 600 bag”: “scanning a pack barcode or ordering by the pack counts this many base units.” Add a pack under Packaging on the product: see Add products.
Kits. A Bundle or kit, such as Mwangi Hardware’s bathroom starter kit, is one product made of others: “Components leave stock when this is sold.”
Tools on hire. A concrete mixer is a Rental asset: Inventory › Batches and serials has Rentals (2), “which rental units are out on hire”, with each unit’s status, who has it, when it is due back and the hire charge. Mwangi Hardware hires its mixers at KES 2,500 a day, and one is Overdue (3).
Power tools and appliances by serial number: Track batches and serial numbers.
Builders and contractors. Quotations held for a few days, orders with a deposit, and credit accounts with limits: Make a quotation, Take an order and Sell on credit.

Rift Valley Cement 50kg at Mwangi Hardware: Units and pack sizes (1), a lorry load of 15 pallets of 40 bags, 600 bags, and the pallet with its own barcode.

Batches and serials, Rentals (2), at Mwangi Hardware: four concrete mixers hired at KES 2,500.00 a day, with who has each one and when it is due back, and one overdue (3).

How Kila sets it up

The main screen is Till (scan and sell).

Rules it follows:

None. Kila's standard rules apply.

Its words:

Kila's standard words: customer, product, sale, receipt and branch.

Its set-up steps

Business details and KRA PIN
First branch, opening hours and till
Products with prices and VAT
Opening stock
Suppliers
Reorder levels
Staff and roles
M-Pesa till or paybill
KRA eTIMS and item codes
Scanner, receipt printer and drawer
Returns policy and till rules
First sale

Its home page

Sales today against the same day last week
Tills open and their takings
Top sellers today
Low or out of stock
Gross margin and Margin watch
Payments waiting for confirmation
Approvals and reviews waiting
Products without a KRA item code
Licences, permits and returns due
Services due and reminders

Roles it starts with

Till supervisor: Runs the tills on the floor: reviews shifts and counts, approves discounts and voids within limits. No prices, settings or purchasing.
Merchandiser: Keeps products, prices and shelf labels up to date; suggests prices below the minimum margin. No money or tills.

Where to go next

Shops: everything a shop does in Kila, from the till to the reports.
Change quantities and sell by weight: quantities, packs and the kilo at the till.