Bookshops have a stock problem most shops don't: thousands of titles, most with only two or three copies each. A customer asks for a particular novel and someone scrolls a notebook or climbs a ladder to check. When the school session starts, the textbook every class list demands sells out by the second morning, while thirty copies of last year's guidebook gather dust on the top shelf. And the messages keep coming: "Is this book available?"
This guide covers what software a bookstore actually needs, how Saauzi's POS Shop, Online Store and Cashbook fit a bookshop, a sample week in textbook season, and the honest limits.
What software a bookstore actually needs
Most retail software assumes a few hundred fast sellers; a bookshop is a long tail of slow titles plus a few seasonal best-sellers. That changes what matters.
- Fast lookup. Scanning the back-cover barcode beats typing a long title, and searching by part of a title covers the rest.
- Stock by title you can trust. "We have two copies" is useful. "We should have some" is not.
- A view of what isn't selling. Slow titles are cash stuck on a shelf; spot them early enough to mark down or return.
- Supplier records for the several publishers and distributors you buy from.
- A daily cash book covering the drawer, the bank and wallets such as eSewa and Khalti.
How POS Shop, Online Store and Cashbook cover a bookshop
When you sign up and pick Book Store as your industry, Saauzi switches on three apps: POS Shop, Online Store and Cashbook. They share one Products catalog and one live stock count, so a copy sold at the counter is gone from the website too, and you can install other apps later from the hub. The Saauzi page for bookstores shows how the set fits together.
POS Shop at the counter
Scan a barcode (a scanner is optional) or type a few letters of the title. Give a discount on a full school set, split a payment between cash and a wallet, and hand over a thermal-printed or digital receipt. Bills carry your shop's name, address and PAN/VAT. If the internet drops, billing keeps going and syncs when you're back online.
Stock, purchases and suppliers
When a distributor's carton arrives, record a purchase entry against that supplier and stock rises. Purchase payments show what you've paid each distributor, and every title keeps a stock history. The low-stock list tells you what to reorder, stock adjustments record torn copies or returns, and POS reports show best-sellers and slow movers. There's more in our guide to inventory and purchasing in one system.
Online Store
A branded, mobile-first storefront you style without code, listing the same titles at the same stock. Readers pay with eSewa, Khalti, card or cash on delivery.
Cashbook
Every sale posts to Cashbook automatically. Add expenses such as rent and electricity, count the drawer at closing and see any difference the same day. Your accountant gets clean exports.
A week in textbook season (hypothetical numbers)
- Monday: ahead of the new session, a distributor delivers 150 copies of a Class 8 science textbook at NPR 400 each, an NPR 60,000 bill. You record the purchase entry and an NPR 30,000 payment.
- Tuesday to Thursday: parents arrive with school lists. You give 10% off full sets, and many pay part cash, part eSewa. The counter sells 90 science books; 20 more are ordered online, paid by Khalti and collected from the shop.
- Wednesday evening: the Class 8 Nepali grammar book shows up on the low-stock list, so you reorder before Thursday's rush, not after it.
- Friday: three science books turn up torn, so you record an adjustment of minus 3. Stock: 37, and the history shows why.
- Saturday: slow movers show 30 copies of last year's guidebook, so you arrange a return. NPR 30,000 is still due to the science distributor, and the drawer matches Cashbook.
Checklist for choosing bookstore software
- Can staff find any title in seconds, by barcode or part of the name?
- Does one sale reduce stock at the counter and online at the same time?
- Can you see slow movers before they become dead stock?
- Does billing keep working when the internet drops?
- Is the price flat, with no commission on online sales?
Where Saauzi fits and where it doesn't
Saauzi fits independent bookshops, textbook and stationery shops, and small chains of two or three outlets, where each outlet's stock and sales roll up into one view. Our plain-English guide to ERP for small businesses explains the all-in-one idea behind it.
The limits:
- It doesn't connect to publisher or distributor catalogs or ISBN databases. You add each title once yourself.
- There are no stock transfers between branches. Moving 20 copies to another outlet means an adjustment at each end.
- There's no shipping or courier integration. You deliver online orders yourself, or customers collect them.
- Cashbook isn't full accounting software and doesn't file VAT returns.
- There are no SMS or email campaigns to announce new arrivals.
A large chain with a central warehouse and automated distributor feeds will be better served by a heavier retail system.
What it costs
Your first app is free forever, so you can start with POS Shop alone. One flat subscription unlocks every Saauzi app, including Online Store and Cashbook: NPR 1,500 per user per month or NPR 12,000 per user per year (US$20 or US$200 internationally), with no commission on sales. An owner plus one counter assistant on the yearly plan would pay NPR 24,000 a year. See the Saauzi pricing page.
FAQ
Can I scan the barcode already printed on a book?
Yes, once that barcode is saved on the product. A scanner is optional; you can always search by title instead.
Do I need the online store from day one?
No. Start at the counter and open the Online Store later; it uses the same catalog and stock, so there's nothing to re-enter.
Can I sell stationery and gifts alongside books?
Yes. They're more products in the same catalog, with variants where you need them, such as a notebook in several sizes.
If your stock notebook and your shelves stopped agreeing a few sessions ago, see how the three apps fit together on the Book Store industry page, then start with one Saauzi app free.
Comments
Be the first to comment.