Multi-location & groups
Multi-location inventory management in one view
See every store's sales and stock in one place, move stock to where it sells and roll one decision out everywhere.
Esplanda POS and your website are free to start, with no card needed. Multi-location is free on every store that processes with Esplanda and $49 a month on a store that doesn't. Add paid tools only when you want them. See how Esplanda works.
Two ways in
For owners
Several stores, one business
Most owners with three stores are running three businesses: different ordering habits, different prices on the same item and a monthly comparison that comes down to who sold more.
- Transfers with the math. One store clears a product at a discount while another reorders it at full cost. Esplanda finds items sitting dead at one store while another heads for a stock-out, with the value of the move, including whether the labor and the van run make it worth doing.
- Inside your limits. Each transfer waits for your OK, or goes ahead inside the rules you set; anything outside them comes to you first.
- Orders from what sold there. Each store's orders are drafted from its own sales.
- Mixed trades, one view. A liquor store POS system at one site and a convenience store POS system at another, side by side.
See our inventory management for small business and purchase order software.
Illustrative example
One decision, every store
Approve a price, campaign or assortment change once. A store with a reason to differ, say a competitor across the street who changes the math, is flagged with that reason, not quietly skipped.
Limits per store
A settled store can let Esplanda act on its own up to a higher order limit, while a store you just bought stays on advise-only until you trust its data.
Follow-through you can see
What Esplanda prepared, what was approved and what sat, store by store, so a drifting store shows up in week three, not month six. See how we measure results.
Best practices
Multi-location inventory management best practices
Six habits keep stock right across several stores. Esplanda makes each one the default, instead of a weekly job for whoever has time.
Keep one catalog
The same product is the same item at every store, whatever register sells it, so counts and orders compare like for like.
Order each store from its own sales
Each store's orders are drafted from what sold there, not copied from the busiest site.
Move stock before you mark it down
Items sitting dead at one store while another heads for a stock-out are flagged with the value of the transfer, the van run included.
Compare rates, not totals
Gross margin percentage, stock turns, shrink and labor as a share of sales survive a size difference. Total sales don't.
Set limits per store
A settled store can let Esplanda act on its own up to a higher order limit while a store you just bought stays on advise-only until you trust its data.
Check the follow-through
What was prepared, approved and left sitting at each store, so a drifting store shows up in week three, not month six.
Compare
Compare stores on rates, not totals
The biggest store always wins on sales, which says nothing about whether it's well run. Esplanda compares locations on measures that survive a size difference.
| Measure | What a gap between stores usually means |
|---|---|
| Gross margin percentage | Different pricing discipline, or different discounting habits at the counter. |
| Stock turns | One store buys to a forecast, the other to habit. |
| Sales per square foot | Layout, assortment fit, or the location itself. |
| Basket size | Add-on selling and merchandising, usually a coachable difference. |
| Repeat-customer rate | Service, and whether loyalty is actually used at that store. |
| Shrink | Ordering discipline, or a conversation to have with the manager. |
| Labor as a share of sales | Schedules built to a forecast, or copied from last week. |
| Follow-through | Which stores act on what Esplanda prepares, and which let it sit. |
Profit by location splits shared costs, such as the office, the van or the marketing budget, on a basis you set, so the answer isn't distorted by where the overhead happens to sit. Each store's numbers and the group view live in our business reporting software.
Against stores like yours
Your own stores are one comparison. With your opt-in, Esplanda also shows where each store sits in an anonymous range of similar stores, in the same trade and of a similar size, and report cards on your suppliers built from the same pooled data. No store is ever named, and nobody is opted in by default. Both come free with Esplanda POS, and a single store gets them too, without joining a group: see retail benchmarks and supplier intelligence.
Registers
Multi-location POS, one store at a time
A multi-store POS system doesn't mean one register everywhere. Stores on another register stay connected as they are, and Esplanda POS is free on every store.
- The new siteEsplanda POSOpened on it
- The refitEsplanda POSMoved over at the refit
- The store you boughtCloverConnected as it is
- The busiest storeSquareMoves last, when it suits you
One group view Every store's sales, stock and orders side by side, whatever rings them up.
- Connect each store as it is. Square, Clover, Lightspeed or KORONA through our POS integrations. Each store joins the group view as soon as it connects.
- Line up the catalog once. Inventory management for multiple locations starts here: the same product is the same item at every store, whatever register sells it.
- Move when it suits you. New sites and refits onto our POS system with inventory management first, the busiest store last. Run mixed for as long as it takes.
For groups
Buying groups, co-ops and franchises
A member's competitive data never reaches a rival member through the group.
Benchmarking is opt-in, aggregated and anonymized, and nobody is opted in by default.
- One price list, live everywhere. The group publishes the negotiated supplier list once, and every member's ordering reads from it.
- Rebates tracked as they're earned. Off-invoice, bill-back and year-end rebates accrue as qualifying purchases happen, so the group sees which tier is still in reach. See rebate management software.
- Deviations recorded, not blocked. The group sets the assortment; a member can deviate. A franchise can make it mandatory and see every deviation.
- Shelf prices stay with the member. The group negotiates cost and can suggest retail; the shelf price is the member's call.
- Royalties approved first. Royalty and marketing-fund amounts come from each store's own sales and wait for approval before any money moves.
Who sees what inside a buying group
| Data | The member | Another member | Group office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own sales, costs and margins | Full | Never | Group-level only |
| Customer list | Full | Never | Never |
| Negotiated cost list | Full | Full | Full |
| Retail prices | Theirs to set | Not through the group | Group-level only |
| Benchmark position | Own place in an anonymous range | No names | Pooled ranges |
| Rebate balance | Own balance | Never | Own and group totals |
Pricing
Priced per store, the register free
Every store runs Esplanda POS free: Multi-location $0 on every store that processes with Esplanda, $49 a month on a store that doesn't. The register comes with the migration and 30 days of parallel running, and your website is free: free hosting, then 99¢ per online order, never more than $299 in a month. Paid tools are priced per location per month, and no line is priced per user. No setup fee, no contract and no group rate to negotiate: each location pays the published price. No card needed to start.
See full Esplanda pricing.
Built for groups of stores
- Owners of two or more stores: liquor, grocery, convenience, retail or a mix.
- Groups that grew by buying stores, with a different register at each one.
- Buying groups, co-ops and voluntary chains that want price lists and rebates in one place.
- Franchise systems that publish an assortment and want to see deviations the same week.
Works with what you have
- Your registers: Square, Clover, Lightspeed or KORONA stay connected to Esplanda, with Esplanda POS free whenever a store switches.
- Your group's negotiated terms: Esplanda sends them to every member and reconciles the rebates they earn.
- Your members' shelf prices: cost is a group matter; retail stays with each member.
- Your processors: every store can keep the processor it has. Multi-location is free on a store that processes with Esplanda and $49 a month on one that doesn't.
Questions
Multi-location inventory questions owners ask
What is multi-location inventory management?
Multi-location inventory management tracks stock across every store you run as one business: what each location has, what sells where, and when to move stock between stores instead of marking it down at one and reordering it at another. Esplanda does this alongside the register, pricing and ordering for every store, and you approve what matters.
How do you manage inventory across multiple locations?
Keep one catalog so the same product is the same item at every store, order each store from its own sales, and move stock from a store where it sits dead to one heading for a stock-out before marking anything down. Esplanda does all three and recommends each transfer with its value, including whether the trip is worth making.
Does a multi-location POS mean every store needs the same register?
No. Keep the register you have, or use ours. Esplanda connects to Square, Clover, Lightspeed and KORONA, and different stores can run different registers. Moving stores onto Esplanda POS, which is free, removes the product matching and nightly reconciliation each outside register brings, and you can move them one at a time.
How do I compare stores of different sizes fairly?
Compare rates, not totals: gross margin percentage, stock turns, sales per square foot, basket size, repeat-customer rate, shrink and labor as a share of sales. The biggest store always wins on total sales, which says nothing about how well it's run. Esplanda compares every location on these measures.
What is buying group software, and does Esplanda do it?
Buying group software lets a co-op, voluntary chain or banner send one negotiated price list to every member, track the rebates those deals earn, publish a shared assortment and compare members without exposing them to each other. Esplanda does all four, and a member's competitive data never reaches a rival member through the group.
Does Esplanda work as franchise management software?
Yes, for store franchises: convenience, liquor, grocery and retail. The franchisor can publish a mandatory assortment and see every deviation store by store, royalty and marketing-fund amounts are worked out from each store's own sales and shown before anything is sent, and no franchisee sees another franchisee's numbers.
Does Esplanda work across different types of business?
Yes. A liquor store and a convenience store, for example, sit side by side in one group view: each store keeps the ordering rules of its own trade, and pricing, customers and reports work the same way at every one. Each trade has its own page: liquor store software, grocery store POS system, convenience store POS system, restaurant management software, retail POS system and service business management software.
How is Esplanda priced for several locations?
Every location gets Esplanda POS free, with the migration and 30 days of parallel running, on the computer, tablet or phone it already has. Multi-location software is free on every location that processes with Esplanda and $49 a month on a location that does not. If a location wants new gear, tested POS hardware is a one-time purchase. Paid tools are priced per location per month, no line is priced per user, and there is no setup fee and no contract. There is no group license and no group rate to negotiate: each location pays the published price, on the Esplanda pricing page.
Run every store from one set of numbers
Start free today, or book a demo and we'll walk the group through it.
Esplanda POS and your website are free to start, with no card needed. Add paid tools only when you want them.
