📍 Inventory Location Setup

An Inventory Location is any place where you store stock — a warehouse, a fridge, a shelf, a bin, or even a logical area like “Sales Floor”. ORO POS uses locations to track where each item lives, not just how many you have.

💡 In Simple Terms

If your stock is in 3 different fridges and a walk-in cooler, you want to know which fridge is empty before someone walks 50 feet to check. Locations track that.

📋 In This Page

→ What is a Location?
→ The Default “Store” Location
→ IN vs OUT Locations
→ How to Create a Location
→ Child / Parent Locations
→ Real Examples
→ Best Practices

📦 What Counts as a “Location”?

A location can be anything physical or logical:

Type	Examples
🏠 Physical area	Warehouse, Walk-in Cooler, Dry Storage, Bar, Kitchen
🗄️ Storage units	Shelf, Bin, Fridge #1, Fridge #2, Freezer
📍 Zone	Front of House, Back of House, Patio Bar, Server Station
🧠 Logical area	Sales, Main, Default, Showroom, In-Transit

📌 Identity

Each location has a unique name (or ID) — so the system knows exactly where stock is.

🏪 The Default “Store” Location

ORO POS automatically creates a default location named “Store”. Here’s what it does:

Action	What Happens (with default)
📥 You purchase stock	Added to “Store” (default IN)
📤 Cashier sells item	Deducted from “Store” (default OUT)

For small stores, the default “Store” might be all you need. For bigger setups, you’ll create more locations.

📥📤 IN vs OUT Locations

💡 Two Different Roles

A location can be the default IN, the default OUT, or both — or neither (just a storage spot).

Setting	Meaning
📥 Default IN	Where new purchases land by default (e.g., “Warehouse”)
📤 Default OUT	Where sold items deduct from (e.g., “Sales Floor”)
🚫 Neither	A storage-only location (you transfer stock to/from it manually)

📌 Real Example: Restaurant Setup

Location	Default IN	Default OUT
Main Storage	✅	❌
Kitchen Prep	❌	✅
Bar Cooler	❌	❌ (storage only)

Workflow: Sysco delivers → goes to Main Storage (default IN). Manager transfers to Kitchen Prep. Cashier sells food → deducts from Kitchen Prep (default OUT).

📝 How to Create a Location

Path: Back-Office → Inventory → Locations

Step	Action
1	Click New
2	Enter the location name (e.g., “Walk-in Cooler”)
3	Optionally check Default IN and/or Default OUT
4	Click Ok to save

🌳 Child / Parent Locations

📚 Hierarchical Storage

You can nest locations. For example, a Bin can live inside a Shelf, which lives inside the Warehouse.

📌 Real Example: Warehouse Hierarchy

🏭 Warehouse (parent)
   └─ 📚 Shelf A (parent)
   │     ├─ 📦 Bin A1
   │     ├─ 📦 Bin A2
   │     └─ 📦 Bin A3
   └─ 📚 Shelf B (parent)
         ├─ 📦 Bin B1
         └─ 📦 Bin B2

How to Create a Child Location

Step	Action
1	Click New
2	Name it (e.g., “Bin A1”)
3	Choose Parent Location (e.g., “Shelf A”)
4	Leave Default IN/OUT blank — child bins are storage-only
5	Click Ok to save

💡 Why “Default IN/OUT blank” for child bins?

Child bins are usually just for organization. You don’t want every purchase to dump into a specific bin — manually transfer items from the main location into specific bins as needed.

💼 Real-World Examples

📌 Example 1: Small Café (Single Location)

One small café with everything in one storage area. Just use the default “Store” location. No setup needed.

Total locations: 1 (default)

📌 Example 2: Restaurant with Bar (2 Sales Areas)

Location	Role
Main Storage	📥 Default IN
Kitchen	📤 Default OUT for food terminals
Bar Cooler	📤 Default OUT for bar terminal

Using Location Settings by Terminal (in Inventory Configuration), each cashier station deducts from its own area.

📌 Example 3: Multi-Outlet Restaurant Chain

Location	Type
Central Warehouse	📥 Receives all bulk orders
Outlet A — Storage	Storage only
Outlet A — Sales	📤 OUT for Outlet A
Outlet B — Storage	Storage only
Outlet B — Sales	📤 OUT for Outlet B

Workflow: Stock arrives at Central Warehouse → transferred to Outlet Storage → transferred to Outlet Sales → deducts on customer purchase.

📌 Example 4: Retail Store with Bins

🏪 Showroom (📤 Default OUT)
🏭 Warehouse (📥 Default IN)
   └─ Shelf A
   │     ├─ Bin A1 — Small T-Shirts
   │     ├─ Bin A2 — Medium T-Shirts
   │     └─ Bin A3 — Large T-Shirts
   └─ Shelf B
         ├─ Bin B1 — Caps
         └─ Bin B2 — Mugs

When customers buy a Medium T-Shirt, it deducts from Showroom (default OUT). Restock by transferring from Bin A2 → Showroom.

⭐ Best Practices

Tip	Why
Start with just the default “Store”	Don’t over-engineer; add locations as your needs grow
Use clear, unique names	“Bar Fridge 1” beats just “Fridge”
Only one default IN and one default OUT per terminal	Avoids conflicts
Use Inventory Configuration to set per-terminal locations	Different terminals can use different OUT locations
Use Inventory Transfer between locations	Track movement of stock as it moves around
Don’t make child bins default IN/OUT	They’re for organization, not auto-routing

📚 Related Guides

🔗 Continue Learning

→ Inventory Setup

→ Inventory Transfer

→ Stock In / Out

📞 Need More Help?

Visit our knowledge base at guide.orocube.com or contact support at helpdesk@orocube.net