A gift shop earns most of its year in a few weeks. The rest is how well you remember what sold.

1. 01Stock

   Festival stock bought on a hunch

   What it looks like

   Raksha Bandhan, Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali and the wedding season come one after another. You buy rakhis, idols, diyas and gift boxes in the weeks before each. Last year’s best seller is on your mind, but the numbers are not written down.

   What it costs you

   Example arithmetic: ₹2 lakh of festival stock with a quarter unsold is ₹50,000 tied up in items that will sit until next year or sell at a loss.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each item’s sales by week for each festival are recorded. Verity shows last year’s sell-through next to this year’s opening stock and suggests how much to order for each peak, with the supplier’s lead time.

   See the screen
2. 02Stock

   What is left after the festival

   What it looks like

   The day after Diwali, a corner of the shop holds diyas, string lights and boxes nobody will buy for another year. Someone says they will mark them down. Nobody does, and the stock slowly fades and gets damaged.

   What it costs you

   Seasonal stock loses its value on the day the season ends. Each week you wait costs you more.

   How Verity fixes it

   Verity tracks stock remaining after the season by item and value held. It suggests a markdown date, a bundle or a carry-over, and shows what you actually did last year, so the leftover is a decision and not a pile.

   See the screen
3. 03Stock

   Breakage and shrink in fragile items

   What it looks like

   Glass photo frames, ceramic mugs and decorative items arrive cracked or break on the shelf. A shop assistant moves a box and something rattles. Nobody records which items break and where.

   What it costs you

   Fragile stock bought and never sold, and a pattern nobody sees: the same supplier, the same type of packing, the same shelf.

   How Verity fixes it

   Breakage is logged with a reason in two taps, with the item, supplier and shelf. Verity totals it by supplier and item so a bad pack or a bad shelf shows up, and a credit claim to the supplier has the evidence.

   See the screen
4. 04Custom orders

   A personalised gift with a deadline and a typo

   What it looks like

   A customer orders a mug with a name and a date, a photo cushion for an anniversary, or a name plate for a house. The details are on a pad. The name is spelled differently on the proof. The order is due the next morning.

   What it costs you

   A wrong or late custom item cannot be resold, and the customer is angry on the one day they needed it. The cost is the item, the redo and the customer.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each custom order is a record with the customer, the item, the exact text, the photo, the proof approved, the due date and the status. Staff see what is waiting for approval, what is in production and what is due today.

   See the screen
5. 05Custom orders

   Gifts that have to arrive on a day

   What it looks like

   A birthday cake topper and gift must reach a house at 6 pm. A bouquet and a hamper go to an office at 10 am. A delivery boy has three drops and no list, and the customer calls to ask where it is.

   What it costs you

   A missed delivery on an occasion day is a lost customer, and often a refund. Phone calls to find out where things are take up the same hour you need for packing.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each delivery is a task with the address, the time window, the person carrying it and the status. The counter sees what has left, what has arrived and what is late, and the customer’s call is answered from the record.

   See the screen
6. 06Corporate

   Corporate gifting enquiries answered late

   What it looks like

   An office manager wants fifty Diwali boxes by the 20th. She emails three shops and picks the one that replies first with a clear quote. Yours was in the inbox and you saw it at night.

   What it costs you

   Corporate gifting is about a third of the gifting market in one estimate, and corporate orders are the largest tickets a gift shop sees. They are lost to slow replies and unclear quotes far more often than to price.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each enquiry is a record with an owner, quantity, budget, items, the quote and the next step. Verity lists the ones with no reply and tells the person responsible. Staff still send the quote, and the outcome is recorded.

   See the screen
7. 07Corporate

   Sample approvals and changes that go round and round

   What it looks like

   A company asks for a sample box, changes the chocolate, adds a logo card, then changes the quantity. Each change is a message in a different chat. By the third round nobody is sure what was agreed.

   What it costs you

   The wrong box goes out, or the right one goes late, or you quietly absorb the cost of changes nobody priced.

   How Verity fixes it

   The order record holds the approved sample, the changes with dates, the final quantity and price, and who approved it. Changes after approval are flagged and priced, so the final bill matches what was agreed.

   See the screen
8. 08Corporate

   Corporate payments that take months

   What it looks like

   A firm takes the delivery in October and pays after sixty days. The invoice is in the accounts person’s inbox, someone is on leave, and the follow-up is a call you keep postponing.

   What it costs you

   Example arithmetic: ₹3 lakh of corporate invoices outstanding for 60 days is cash you needed to buy next season’s stock.

   How Verity fixes it

   Corporate buyers are accounts with invoices, due dates and balances. Verity shows what is owed and for how long, and gives the owner a task to chase on the schedule you set, with every promise to pay recorded.

   See the screen
9. 09Hampers

   A hamper whose cost nobody has added up

   What it looks like

   A Diwali hamper holds a box, dry fruits, a candle, a diya set, chocolates and a card. Each was bought at a different rate from a different supplier. The price on the shelf was set by gut feel and a look at the competitor.

   What it costs you

   Example arithmetic: if a hamper sells at ₹1,499 and the parts cost ₹1,050, packing ₹120 and a ₹90 card and ribbon, the hamper earns about ₹240, not the ₹450 you thought.

   How Verity fixes it

   A hamper is a record built from its parts, each at its latest purchase cost. Verity shows the cost, the margin at the price you set, and what changes if the dry fruit rate moves, and takes parts out of stock when a hamper is packed.

   See the screen
10. 10Hampers

    Price tags, bargaining and discounts nobody approved

    What it looks like

    A customer asks for 20 percent off a set. A friend of the owner gets a special price. A salesperson matches a nearby shop. Each is a small human decision, and none is written down.

    What it costs you

    Margin lost and a door open to misuse, with no way to see patterns by person, item or week.

    How Verity fixes it

    Discounts above a limit need a one-tap approval with a reason. Verity totals them by person, item and week, and shows which items are being sold below the margin you set.

    See the screen
11. 11Money

    Different tax rates on items that sit in one bill

    What it looks like

    Handicrafts and paper gift boxes moved to a lower GST rate from 22 September 2025, while other items such as many decorative goods may sit at a different rate. A hamper holds items at more than one rate, and staff are unsure how to show it.

    What it costs you

    A wrong rate on a bill, confused customers and hours of correction by your accountant. Rates and classifications can change again, and sources disagree on some items.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each item carries its tax category, and a mixed bill is split by line as it is made. A hamper records its parts, so your accountant can see what was in it. A rate change is one update to an item’s setup.

    See the screen
12. 12Customers

    The birthday and anniversary customers forget until it is too late

    What it looks like

    A man buys an anniversary gift every October for his wife. A woman sends a hamper to her brother each Rakhi. You know them by face. The staff member who knew the occasions has left, and nobody calls before the date.

    What it costs you

    Occasion buyers are the surest repeat sales in a gift shop. When no one reminds them, they buy from whichever shop or website comes first.

    How Verity fixes it

    A customer record holds the occasions they shop for, the usual budget and what they bought before. Verity lists customers with an occasion coming in the next two weeks, and a task goes to the person who knows them.

    See the screen
13. 13Customers

    Wedding and event orders in bulk, with a long tail of details

    What it looks like

    A family orders return gifts for two hundred guests, a welcome hamper for sixty and a few special items for the couple. The details come over several weeks and several chats.

    What it costs you

    Large orders go wrong in the details: the wrong count, the wrong date, a part missing. The family remembers.

    How Verity fixes it

    The order is a record with phases, quantities by item, the delivery date, the advance and the balance. Staff see what is packed, what is waiting on a supplier and what is due, and the family’s message is answered from the record.

    See the screen
14. 14Money

    Day-end takings do not tie to the bills

    What it looks like

    At closing, cash, card and UPI are counted against the billing report and are off by a few hundred rupees. Nobody can say whether a bill was missed, a refund was given or an advance was recorded in the wrong place.

    What it costs you

    Small daily gaps compound, and the owner stops trusting the numbers on the screen. Advances on custom orders make it worse.

    How Verity fixes it

    The day’s sales and advances by payment mode are compared with what was collected. A mismatch is flagged with the shift and amount, and the person closing records the reason.

    See the screen
15. 15Owner

    Seasonal staff, a second counter and an owner who is the system

    What it looks like

    You hire extra hands for the festival rush and train them in an afternoon. A second counter in a mall or a stall at an exhibition keeps its own sheet. You know what is low, what is due and who owes you. You are also packing.

    What it costs you

    The business cannot grow past what one person can hold in their head, and stock sits idle at one counter while another runs out.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each morning Verity shows a short list of what needs a decision, each with an owner. Counters and stalls are locations in one system with stock, sales and orders side by side, and seasonal staff open only what their role needs.

    See the screen

Illustrative screens with sample data. Layouts, fields, names and terms are set up around how your gift shop works.

1. Week 1

   Discovery and mapping

   What we do

   Spend a morning and an afternoon in your shop, ideally close to a festival. Watch how a custom order, a corporate quote and a hamper move through, how stock arrives and how the day is counted, and note which leaks matter most.

   What we need from you

   Two to three hours of yours and your senior assistant’s. Access to your billing reports, last festival’s purchases and your corporate buyer list.

   What you have at the end

   A written map of your shop: the item range by season, your suppliers, your hampers with their parts, your custom-order steps and the first leaks we will close.

2. Weeks 2 to 3

   Configuration

   What we do

   Set up your items with tax categories, festival calendars, reorder points, suppliers, hamper recipes, custom-order steps, delivery tasks, discount limits and corporate accounts, and build the six screens around your own terms.

   What we need from you

   Check the setup with your senior assistant. Tell us where a hamper recipe or a rule is wrong.

   What you have at the end

   A working Verity with your real items, hampers, buyers and staff, ready for your data.

3. Weeks 3 to 4

   Migration and training

   What we do

   Bring in your item list, supplier rates, corporate buyers with balances, customer contacts with occasions and open custom orders from the sheets and notebooks you use. Train the counter and packing teams during a real shift.

   What we need from you

   Your stock list in whatever form it exists, your customer and buyer contacts, and an opening stock count. One hour with each role.

   What you have at the end

   Your items, orders and buyers inside Verity, and a team that has used it through a busy day.

4. After go-live

   Operations partnership

   What we do

   Stay on after launch. Review the first weeks with you, tune the reorder points and chase rules, and prepare with you for the next festival.

   What we need from you

   A short monthly review of what the numbers say.

   What you have at the end

   A system that keeps matching how the shop runs, with someone responsible for it.

• Owner

  Which seasons and items pay, and who owes us?

  Sales and margin by festival, item and hamper, corporate balances, custom orders and every counter side by side.

• Manager

  What needs sorting this week?

  Stock short for the next peak, custom orders due, quotes waiting, approvals and deliveries.

• Counter staff

  What does this customer need?

  The customer’s occasions and last purchase, open custom orders, and today’s follow-ups.

• Packing and delivery

  What goes out and when?

  Orders to pack by due time, hamper recipes, delivery tasks with addresses and windows.

• Accountant

  What was bought, sold and owed?

  Sales by payment mode and tax category, supplier invoices matched to deliveries, corporate balances and advances.