The delivery lands during the lunch rush, and the invoice says every case arrived. A few steady checks can catch missing or damaged goods before they become tomorrow's inventory mystery.
The delivery truck pulls up just as the shop gets busy. Someone signs for the cartons, stacks them near the back door, and promises to count everything later. By closing time, a case is missing, two packages are crushed, and nobody remembers which box held the short shipment. Sound familiar? The fix is not a complicated warehouse system. It is a receiving routine that gives each delivery a clear owner and a reliable paper trail.
Make a small landing zone
Before the next delivery, choose one place where incoming goods can wait while someone checks them. It might be a clear section of a stockroom table or a marked area near the receiving door. Keep it separate from merchandise that has already been counted and put away. That simple boundary matters: once new stock mixes with the old, it gets much harder to tell whether a quantity was short, misplaced, or already sold.
Keep the purchase order or order confirmation handy, along with the packing slip and a pen or device for recording notes. If the person accepting deliveries changes by shift, write down who owns the check today. The goal is not to add ceremony. It is to avoid the familiar handoff where everyone assumes someone else counted the boxes.
Check the shipment in a useful order
Start with the outside. Look for wet cardboard, crushed corners, broken seals, or signs that a box has been opened. Take a photo of damage before moving or unpacking the item if that is practical. Keep the photo with the delivery record, and note the date and which carton it shows. A quick picture is more useful than trying to describe a dent from memory during a call to the supplier.
Next, compare the delivery with the order, not just with the packing slip. A packing slip tells you what the supplier says they sent. Your order tells you what your shop expected. Check item descriptions and quantities, and mark each line as you verify it. If you ordered six cases and received five, record five as received and note the missing case. Do not quietly change the order record to make the paperwork look tidy.
For a large shipment, divide the work into manageable groups. One person can read the order while another counts, or one person can finish a carton and mark it before opening the next. Choose the approach that fits your team, but avoid counting several similar boxes from memory. That is how a neat stack turns into a confident, incorrect number.
Separate what arrived from what can go on the shelf
Count first, then inspect the product condition. Check for broken packaging, leaks, incorrect sizes or colors, and dates that are too close for the way your shop sells the item. For products where expiration dates matter, make sure the dates are readable and match what you can reasonably use before they pass. If something is questionable, set it aside with a note rather than letting it disappear into the normal stock.
Do not treat every discrepancy the same way. A short shipment, a damaged item, and a wrong item need different notes, even if they all end with a supplier conversation. Write down what you ordered, what arrived, what is affected, and what you did next. Keep the language plain: "Ordered 12, received 10" is more useful than "delivery issue." If the supplier gives you a reference number or promises a replacement, add that too.
Agree on a simple holding rule for uncertain goods. For example, the team might place them in a labeled tote and keep them out of saleable stock until a manager decides what to do. The exact rule depends on the products and supplier agreement. What matters is that everyone knows where the item is and whether it can be sold.
Put stock away in a way the next person can trust
Once the count is checked and exceptions are recorded, update the inventory record using the quantity actually accepted. Then put the goods away in their normal locations. If older items should sell first, place the newer shipment behind them. That small habit helps avoid a shelf with yesterday's stock aging in front while newer cartons get opened first.
Try not to split a delivery between several shelves before anyone has completed the count. If a customer needs an item immediately, note the sale or movement as it happens and return to the remaining count afterward. A quick interruption can be handled; an unrecorded interruption is what makes the final number mysterious.
If your shop uses a point-of-sale system to track quantities, treat the receiving count as the point where the number becomes trustworthy. Do not assume the system knows what came off the truck unless someone entered and checked it. A register can only report the information your team gives it. When a stock figure looks wrong later, a clear receiving note gives you somewhere concrete to start.
Give the delivery a clean finish
Before the paperwork leaves the receiving area, ask three quick questions: Did we check every ordered line? Are shortages, damage, and substitutions recorded? Is every accepted item either put away or clearly waiting for a decision? If the answer to one is no, leave the delivery open and assign the remaining check to a named person. A half-finished count should look half-finished, not complete.
At the end of the shift, review only the exceptions. Check that the supplier has been contacted when needed, that any promised credit or replacement has an owner, and that the affected goods are still set aside. You do not need a long meeting. A short note at handoff is enough: what happened, what is still pending, and who will follow up.
Over time, the notes can also show patterns worth discussing with a supplier. Perhaps the same product arrives short, or certain packaging keeps getting damaged. Keep the examples factual and dated. One problem may be a fluke; a handful of consistent records makes a much clearer conversation.
Make the routine fit the size of the delivery
A small parcel does not need the same attention as a pallet of mixed goods. For a familiar, low-risk order, one person may be able to check the order, count the items, and put everything away in one pass. A large, expensive, fragile, or time-sensitive delivery deserves a slower check and a second set of eyes. Set the level of care before the truck arrives, so a busy afternoon does not make the decision for you.
Start with one page or checklist if your team needs a prompt. Include the delivery date, supplier, person checking it, expected and received quantities, condition notes, and follow-up owner. Keep it short enough that people will actually use it. If the form becomes a tiny novel, trim it until the important details are easy to find.
Receiving is one of those jobs that feels invisible when it goes well. Still, the few minutes spent checking a delivery can save a longer search through shelves, receipts, and half-remembered conversations. Give every shipment a place to land, count what actually arrived, and leave a clear note when it did not match the order. For a shop building better day-to-day routines, you can download M&M POS and see whether it suits your workflow.
Direct URL: https://mmpos.app/download
