Getting started

This page takes you from nothing to a working catalogue. It assumes you've already created your business account. If you only sell one kind of thing, you'll be done in minutes; if you sell several, repeat the relevant section for each.

The order to set things up

Do it in this order. Each step depends on the ones before it.

1. Locations first. Almost everything — prices, stock, availability, resources — can be specific to a location. Create your location(s) before products so you have something to attach them to. A single-location business still needs one location.
2. Decide what each thing is. For everything you sell, run the decision tree: retail, food, service, or access. This sets the product type, the one choice everything else depends on.
3. Create the products / services. Follow the chapter for each block (below).
4. Add the moving parts. Variants, recipes, availability, resources, add-ons — whatever that block needs.
5. Set prices and policies. Base price, extras, deposits, tax mode. See Pricing & extras.
6. Organize. Put things in categories and collections so customers can find them. See Organizing your catalogue.
7. Choose where each thing sells. Set the channels (in-store, online, and so on).

Your first retail product

For a finished physical thing you hand over.

1. Create a product, type Product. Give it a name, description, image, and a base price.
2. If it comes in one form only (a single mug), you're done — it has one implicit variant.
3. If it comes in sizes or colours, add variant axes ("Size", "Colour") and create only the variants you actually stock. Each variant gets its own SKU and an optional price difference.
4. Set stock levels per variant (and per location if you have several).

Full detail and the rules for when not to use variants: Retail.

Your first menu item (food)

For something you make to order.

1. Create a product, type Product, and mark its inventory as made from a recipe (composition).
2. Add the recipe: each ingredient it consumes, the amount, and a waste percentage.
3. If it comes in sizes that use more of the recipe, add a Size axis, mark it as affecting the recipe, and give each size a multiplier (Large = 1.5×).
4. Add modifiers: small tweaks become add-ons; a fully build-it-yourself item becomes a build-your-own product.
5. Record allergens and calories if relevant.

Full detail: Food.

Your first service (a booking)

For time, a person, or a space.

1. Create a product, type Service.
2. Choose the scheduling mode: within a day (appointments, classes) or multi-day (stays, rentals). Set the duration.
3. Set capacity (how many people one slot holds) — but if real rooms/tables/courts are involved, use bookable resources instead of a plain capacity number.
4. Set availability: the weekly opening hours per location, plus any holiday closures.
5. If it needs a person, add a staff requirement. If it needs a room/table/vehicle, add a resource requirement.
6. Set policies: deposit, cancellation window, no-show fee, reschedule rules.

Full detail: Services and Bookable resources.

Your first access product (membership, course, ticket)

For something that grants access with nothing physical.

1. Create a product, type Digital.
2. Attach a billing plan: a subscription (recurring — monthly membership) or an instalment plan (split a one-off price). A one-time access grant (a single download or ticket) needs no plan.
3. Set any access details (download limits, licence handling).

Full detail: Pricing & extras → Subscriptions and instalments.

A first-setup checklist

• At least one location exists.
• Every item's product type matches what actually moves.
• Retail variants exist only for forms you really stock; SKUs match your inventory.
• Food items have a recipe; sizes that use more are marked as affecting the recipe.
• Services have a scheduling mode, duration, availability, and policies set.
• Anything tied to a physical unit uses a resource type with real units, not a bare capacity number.
• Prices use the right tax mode (inclusive vs. exclusive) for your market.
• Items are in a category, useful collections, and the right channels.

When that's all true, your data describes your business and every surface — storefront, point of sale, agents — will behave correctly.

Common questions

Do I have to create locations even with one shop? Yes — one location. Prices, stock, and availability all hang off a location, so there must be at least one.

Can I change a product's type later? Treat the type as permanent. It determines inventory, scheduling, and fulfilment behaviour, so switching it mid-life is disruptive. Decide it correctly up front using the decision tree.

What if I sell the same physical thing both as retail and inside meals? Track it once as inventory stock, then: sell it directly as a retail product (1:1), and reference the same stock in your food recipes. One stock item, two uses — see the recipe bridge.

I'm an agent doing a bulk setup. What's the safe sequence? Locations → resource types and units (if any) → products with the correct type → variants/recipes → availability rules → requirements (staff/resource) → prices and policies → categories/collections/channels. Create dependencies before the things that reference them.

Next: open the chapter for what you sell — Retail, Food, Services — or read Pricing & extras.