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Creating Items

There are eight ways to create inventory items:

  1. When on the Inventory Items list page, click the blue New Item button on the top right of the page.

  2. When on the Inventory Items list page, click the down angle button next to the New Item button on the top right of the page. Select "Import Items" from the dropdown menu to bulk import new inventory items from a spreadsheet. See Bulk Importing & Updating for details.

  3. When on any page, scan a QR code label with your mobile device's camera by tapping the QR code icon in the header. If the SKU in the QR code is not found in inventory, you'll be prompted to create it.

  4. When on any page, scan a QR code label with a third-party scanner after focusing the cursor in the search bar in the header. If the SKU in the QR code is not found in inventory, you'll be prompted to create it.

  5. When on an order, scan a QR code label with your mobile device's camera by tapping the blue Scan QR Code button. If the SKU in the QR code is not found in inventory, you'll be prompted to create it.

  6. When on an order, scan a QR code label with a third-party scanner after focusing the cursor in the search bar in the header. If the SKU in the QR code is not found in inventory, you'll be prompted to create it.

  7. When on an item's Edit Item screen > Main tab, click Menu and select the "Duplicate Item" option.

  8. When on an item's Edit Item screen > Advanced tab, add one or more replica SKUs to the "Replica SKUs" list. To enter a range of SKUs, enter the first and last SKU separated by a colon like 10001:10003 which will create the SKUs 10001, 10002, 10003.

Recommendations​

Prop houses often have tens of thousands of items to inventory, and so streamlining the cataloging new inventory is important to:

  • Minimize labor costs, and
  • Make the inventory discoverable to customers on the website quickly

We recommend this approach for maximizing efficiency:

Preparation​

  1. Decide on your SKU format using the auto SKU Generator.

  2. Print your QR code labels in advance using the Print QR Code Labels maker. Print several thousand QR code labels by selecting the "A Range of SKUs (existing or not)" option from the Generate SKUs by dropdown menu. Make sure your website domain in your Profile Settings is correct; that it's not the yourname.web.app temporary domain.

  3. Make sure your prop house has a strong WIFI enabled internet connection for the iPad and Dashboard to connect to.

  4. Procure an iPad or iPad Mini and install the Propcart Dashboard. Learn more about recommended devices.

  5. Procure a Socket Mobile DuraScan D740 bluetooth scanners. These are not cheap (about $400 USD) but they scan fast, are durable, reliable and have great battery life.

  6. Pair the bluetooth scanner to your iPad. Test the scanner to make sure it scans the QR codes correctly.

  7. Prepare your photography area. A white background, light colored floor, and warm, natural lighting make a big difference and help our AI integration identify the item. Learn more about Photography Best Practices. You may want two areas, one for small items that are placed on a table and another for large items that are placed on the floor.

Procedure​

In this procedure, we limit the work to only what's necessary when touching the item, such as photographing the item and measuring its dimensions. Adding other item data like title, description, tags and price should be done later on a desktop computer because the data entry is easier than on an iPad.

  1. Position the item in the photography area.

  2. Add the QR code label to the item.

  3. Open the Dashboard in the iPad and place the cursor in the search bar. Scan the QR code label with the bluetooth scanner. The Dashboard shouldn't find the item in inventory and will prompt you to create it.

  4. Click the Add Item button in the prompt to create a new item.

  5. Click "Upload Images" and select "Take Photo" from the dropdown menu to open the iPad's camera.

  6. Aim the camera at the item. For two dimensional items like paintings and signs, aim the camera front and center. For three dimensional items like furniture, shoot from an isometric perspective where the front, right side and top of the item is visible. This shows the width, height and depth of the item providing all three dimensions.

  7. Rotate the iPad so that the aspect ratio of the viewport is opposite the aspect ratio of the item. For example, an item taller than it is wide should be shot with the camera's viewport horizontally. For an item wider than it is tall, rotate the camera so that the viewport is vertical. This approach will make cropping easy later.

  8. There is no zoom on this version of the iPad camera, so position the camera such that the margins or whitespace between the item and the edge of the viewport is minimal but not too tight. The goal is for the item to take up as much space in the photo as possible without getting too close to the edges.

  9. Take the photo.

  10. The Dashboard screen changes once the photo uploads. Notice the item photo and SKU are in the form.

  11. Measure the item and add the dimensions.

  12. Save the item

  13. Crop the photo to a square by tapping the photo, clicking the "Pencil" icon in the toolbar, tapping the 1:1 aspect ratio, then positioning the crop guidelines such that the item is centered in the photo. Save the crop.

  14. Repeat as necessary.