See what is running out before it runs out
The customer asks for the one size you sold last week. Look at the list before he asks.
The shelf you look at before you order, in three different shops
A look at the list before the lights season
Make each wattage its own item. In the last week before Diwali you open the list and see that nine and twelve watts are low while five and fifteen are plentiful. You order the middle ones first. The shopkeeper who wants ten nine-watt bulbs finds them on your shelf.
The morning list for the distributor's boy
At closing, open the list and see which strips and bottles are low. The next morning's order has them at the top. The tablet that finished at midnight on Tuesday is on the shelf before Tuesday comes again. The distributor's boy writes down what you read out, and the cough syrup is not forgotten.
Red, maroon and gold down to a few before the wedding month
At the start of the wedding month the owner opens the list and sees red, maroon and gold down to a few. The order goes to the dealer that evening, and the tailor in the lane does not walk to the next lane to find his reel. The tailor's wedding work is not held up for want of a reel.
What a stock list works with in a lights shop, a chemist's and a thread counter
Low stock warnings
A rack of nine-watt bulbs, a shelf of cough syrup and a tray of red thread reels are each an item, and a glance down the list shows which of them is nearly gone.
Orders to suppliers
The order for the nine and twelve watt bulbs goes to the distributor from the same phone, and the cartons are noted when they are opened.
Bills on your phone
Make the bill for the ten bulbs at the counter and send it on WhatsApp; the sale is on record when you read the list at closing.
Godown stock
The back room's cartons of nine-watt bulbs have a count of their own, and the shop's shelf has another.
Daily reports
On the last evening before Diwali, read the day's sales beside the list before you order again for the next season.
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The nine-watt bulb, the cold syrup at midnight and the red thread in a wedding month
Nine watts goes first
A lights shop sells the same LED bulb in five, nine, twelve and fifteen watts, and strip lights by the roll. Before Diwali the nine-watt goes first. The shelf still looks full of fives and fifteens, so the owner does not worry. A shopkeeper who wants ten nine-watt bulbs for his shop front is told they are finished, and he walks next door. You find out when he asks. The wattage that sold most is the one he has to guess.
The cold syrup that goes a bottle at a time
The cold syrup is bought through the first cold week, a bottle here and a bottle there. The distributor's boy comes once, the next morning, and he can only bring what you tell him to. What you tell him is the count you did not make the night before.
The red thread in a wedding month
A thread and button counter sells reels in forty colours and zips in as many lengths. In the wedding month every tailor in the lane wants red, maroon and gold, and a zip of the right length with it. A tailor who finds the gold reel but not the matching zip buys neither.
Questions from shops where every wattage, bottle and box is its own item
A lights shop sells a bulb singly and by the carton. Is the carton another item?
Yes, and the list then reads each one apart. Singles can run low while cartons are plenty, or the other way round, and the list shows both so you order the one that is short.
A strip finishes at midnight. Does the list wake me?
No. The list is something you open. Nothing rings at midnight, so open it before closing, and the night's shortfall is on your list for the morning order.
Cartons of bulbs arrive from two distributors. Can I see both added to the same item?
Yes. Note what arrives from each distributor, and the item is one item whichever distributor it came from.
I count the shelf by eye at closing. Do I still need to?
Counting by eye is still the check. The list tells you what your account says, and walking the shelf tells you whether the two agree. A gap between them is worth finding before the order is sent.
How many is low? Who decides?
That is your judgement. The list shows how many are left of each item. Six nine-watt bulbs is low in the week before Diwali, and six rolls of strip light may be plenty. Only you know which items sell fast.
Why shelves run empty, in two reports
Kirana stores depend on wholesalers and face irregular supply, limited range and slow delivery, leading to frequent stock-outs on the shelf, Redseer wrote in 2020. A shop owner sees the empty space before anyone else does, but only after the customer has asked. In a shoe shop, a medicine counter or a bangle store, the empty space shows after the customer has gone.
Most kirana stores still rely on fragmented ordering, manual sales processes and a limited view of stock, Inc42 reported in 2026. The list of what is nearly gone, opened before the order is written, is that view for one counter.