Hundreds of small things, a few big seasons. Verity shows what is selling before the season is gone.

1. 01Buying

   The festive buy is made months ahead on instinct

   What it looks like

   In June you order lanterns, torans, diyas and gift sets for Diwali from three suppliers. You buy a bit more of last year's hit and a bit less of what felt slow. After the festival, a third of the lanterns are still in boxes.

   What it costs you

   Example arithmetic: ₹10 lakh of festive stock with a quarter unsold is ₹2.5 lakh at cost sitting in the store room, and it is out of season until next year.

   How Verity fixes it

   Every sale is recorded against the item and the date, so Verity shows last year's sell-through for each category week by week. When you plan the buy, you see how much of each line sold in the festive window, how much was left and what you paid.

   See the screen
2. 02Buying

   A few lines sell out and the shelf stays empty while you wait for the supplier

   What it looks like

   The brass diyas are gone by the second weekend of October. The supplier's next lot takes ten days. Customers walk to the shop next door and buy the rest of their basket there too.

   What it costs you

   A missed sale on a fast mover also loses the other things in the basket. The lost sale never shows in a report, only as a feeling that the week should have been better.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each item has a reorder point set by its recent sales and supplier lead time. Verity flags fast movers with the days of stock left, so reorders are raised while there is still time to receive them.

   See the screen
3. 03Stock

   Hundreds of near-identical items, and nobody knows which are slow

   What it looks like

   Eighty cushion covers, each in four sizes, a hundred frames in various finishes. A price tag peels off. A new staff member prices a vase from memory. The count in the sheet has not matched the shelf since last year.

   What it costs you

   Mispriced items either lose margin or lose the sale. Capital sits in lines that stopped selling long ago and are never cleared because they are never seen.

   How Verity fixes it

   Every item is a record with a code, size, finish, cost and price, and a location (shelf, display wall, store room). Verity lists items by age and sell-through so slow lines surface with the money tied up in them.

   See the screen
4. 04Stock

   Breakage in storage and handling is written off by habit, not recorded

   What it looks like

   A box of glass tealight holders is dropped during unloading. A ceramic planter cracks while being shifted. A customer returns a lamp with a broken base, found only when the box is opened. Each is thrown out and forgotten.

   What it costs you

   Example arithmetic: ₹2,000 of breakage a week is ₹1 lakh a year with no record of where it came from, who handled it or whether a supplier should have paid.

   How Verity fixes it

   A breakage is entered as a stock adjustment with a reason, a photo and the person and stage (supplier delivery, store room, floor, customer return). Verity totals it by cause, so supplier packing problems can be taken up with the supplier.

   See the screen
5. 05Suppliers

   Artisan and workshop orders drift with no visible date

   What it looks like

   You ordered 40 hand-painted planters from a potter in Jaipur and 25 carved wooden frames from Saharanpur. The advance is paid. The delivery date was "after the fair". Nobody has heard from them in three weeks.

   What it costs you

   An advance on an order with no stage or date is money at risk. If the item is for a festive window, a late delivery is the same as no delivery.

   How Verity fixes it

   Each artisan or supplier order has quantities, advance paid, promised date and a status. Verity lists orders past their date and creates a task to call, and when goods arrive they are received against the order, with any shortfall visible.

   See the screen
6. 06Suppliers

   Goods on sale-or-return and consignment are never reconciled

   What it looks like

   A small brand left 60 pieces on consignment in August. Some sold, some were displayed and damaged, and some went to the store room. At the quarter's end they ask what is owed and nobody can say.

   What it costs you

   Under-reporting leads to disputes and lost brands. Over-reporting means you pay for pieces you did not sell.

   How Verity fixes it

   Consignment items are held as the supplier's stock, in your shop. Each sale credits what you owe that supplier. At any date you can print what sold, what is left and the amount due, and returns are recorded against the same list.

   See the screen
7. 07Custom work

   Curtain and blind jobs are tracked in a notebook and run late

   What it looks like

   A customer wants curtains for three windows. The measurements were taken on Tuesday, the fabric was selected on Thursday, the tailor has it for a week, and the fitter is booked on the same day as another job. The customer calls on day nine.

   What it costs you

   Custom jobs carry the highest margins in a decor shop and the highest complaint rate. A job done late or measured wrongly is paid for twice: once in cloth and again in goodwill.

   How Verity fixes it

   A job record holds measurements per window, fabric and lining, stitching instructions, the tailor, the fitting date and the advance. Verity shows each job's stage and flags the ones where the fitting is booked before the stitching is done.

   See the screen
8. 08Custom work

   Measurements and fabric choices are lost between the visit and the workshop

   What it looks like

   The site visit notes say "bedroom, 2 windows, blackout". The tailor reads the notes as 9 foot instead of 7.5. The curtains arrive too long and the fabric cannot be reused.

   What it costs you

   A re-cut piece of good fabric can cost more than the fitting charge. It also means a second visit and a second customer wait.

   How Verity fixes it

   Measurements are entered on the job at the site, with photos of each window, and the tailor works from the same record. A change after approval needs a reason and is visible to everyone on the job.

   See the screen
9. 09Customers

   Shoppers browse, photograph and leave, and no one knows who they were

   What it looks like

   A woman spends forty minutes choosing wall art for her new flat, photographs three pieces and says she will come back after measuring. The shop has no name and no number. She orders from an online seller that week.

   What it costs you

   Decor is a considered purchase made once per room. The shopper who was close to buying is your best lead, and without a record the next conversation starts from zero.

   How Verity fixes it

   Enquiries are recorded with the customer, the pieces they looked at, room and budget, and the date they plan to decide. Verity lists enquiries going cold and assigns a follow-up to the person who served them.

   See the screen
10. 10Customers

    Gifting and festive repeat buyers are not recognised

    What it looks like

    A family office buys 50 Diwali gift hampers from you every year. A regular buys a house-warming gift for a different friend every spring. The shop has no memory of either and does not call before the season.

    What it costs you

    Repeat and occasion-led buyers are the cheapest sales you can win, but only if someone remembers them. Without a record you wait for them to remember you.

    How Verity fixes it

    The customer record keeps past orders, occasions, budgets and the person who handled them. Verity lists buyers who bought last season and have not yet been in touch, so the call goes out in time for the buy.

    See the screen
11. 11Trade

    Designer and bulk quotes take hours and are lost in WhatsApp

    What it looks like

    An interior designer sends a list of 120 pieces for a client's villa and asks for a trade price by evening. A hotel wants 200 cushion covers in one colour with a delivery date. The quote goes out from a spreadsheet and the revised one from a phone.

    What it costs you

    Large quotes decide the quarter. If the price, stock check and delivery promise are not worked out together, you either lose the order or win one you cannot fulfil.

    How Verity fixes it

    A quote is a record that checks the items against stock and supplier lead times, applies the trade price list you set, and tracks versions and approvals. The accepted quote becomes an order with its own delivery plan and balance.

    See the screen
12. 12Money

    Exchanges, returns and discounts are decided on the spot

    What it looks like

    A customer brings back a lamp because the shade does not match her wall. Another asks for a markdown because the cushion has a small stain. A manager gives both a credit note on a bill slip.

    What it costs you

    Without a policy on the record, exchange practice differs by person. Credit notes are forgotten, and discount exceptions rise at the end of the season.

    How Verity fixes it

    Returns and exchanges are recorded against the original sale and the reason. Discounts above a limit need approval with a reason, and open credit notes are listed with their balance and expiry.

    See the screen
13. 13Staff

    Festive temps and shop staff run on different knowledge

    What it looks like

    You add four extra people for the two weeks around Diwali. They do not know the price list, which items are reserved for customers or which fragile pieces to pack separately.

    What it costs you

    Wrong prices and unpacked glass breakage are the typical cost of the first week of a festive rush. Regular staff spend the peak teaching instead of selling.

    How Verity fixes it

    Every item carries its price, notes (fragile, reserved) and location in one place that all staff read from. Shifts and extra hands are on the roster, and sales are recorded per person so incentives are worked out from records.

    See the screen
14. 14Owner

    A second shop or an Instagram page doubles the confusion

    What it looks like

    The same lamp is posted on Instagram, sold in the shop and promised to a designer. The page says available, the shop says reserved, and the second branch has two in the back.

    What it costs you

    An item sold twice means an apology and a refund. Stock sitting in one place while it is wanted in another loses sales.

    How Verity fixes it

    Each shop and the store room is a location in one system. A promise to a customer or designer reserves the piece, and a transfer between locations is recorded. Enquiries from Instagram are logged as enquiries so staff see them in one list.

    See the screen

Illustrative screens with sample data. Layouts, fields, names and terms are set up around how your home decor store works.

1. Week 1

   Discovery and mapping

   What we do

   Walk the shop floor, the store room and the curtain workshop. Follow a festive order, a custom job and a consignment piece from start to finish, and see how stock and prices are kept now.

   What we need from you

   Two to three hours from you, and an hour from whoever runs the workshop and the store room. Your price lists, stock sheet and job notebook.

   What you have at the end

   A written map of your categories, suppliers, custom work, seasons and the ranked list of problems we start with.

2. Weeks 2 to 3

   Configuration

   What we do

   Set up your item list with sizes and finishes, locations, reorder rules, trade price lists, consignment suppliers, custom job stages and approval limits, and build the screens above around them.

   What we need from you

   Check the item list and job stages with your senior staff. Tell us where a rule is wrong.

   What you have at the end

   A working Verity holding your items, suppliers, jobs and rules, ready for your data.

3. Weeks 3 to 4

   Migration and training

   What we do

   Bring in your item list with cost and stock, last year's sales, open supplier orders, consignment holdings, open custom jobs and your customer list. Train the floor staff and workshop on live work.

   What we need from you

   Your stock sheet, sales data and notebooks in whatever form they exist. One hour with each team.

   What you have at the end

   Items, jobs and orders inside Verity, and a team that has recorded real sales and a real breakage on it.

4. After go-live

   Operations partnership

   What we do

   Stay on through the next festive season. Review sell-through with you before you place the buy, tune reorder points and handle changes as the shop grows.

   What we need from you

   A short monthly review of sales by category, slow stock and open jobs.

   What you have at the end

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

• Owner

  What is earning, what is stuck, and what should I buy for next season?

  Sales by category, sell-through, slow stock, supplier orders, consignment dues and every shop side by side.

• Shop manager

  What needs doing today?

  Fast movers short, approvals, enquiries going cold, staff roster and open credit notes.

• Floor staff

  Do we have it, where is it, and what is it?

  Item records with price, size, location and notes, and their own sales.

• Workshop lead

  Which jobs are due and what are the measurements?

  Custom jobs by stage, measurements, photos, tailor and fitter schedules.

• Accountant

  What came in and what is owed?

  Sales by tax category, supplier and artisan payables, consignment statements, credit notes.