Prepare an item for the register

Check which inventory items can be sold at the counter, give an item a barcode or quick key, and mark it as a favorite so cashiers find it fast.

In the sidebar, open Inventory, then Sell at Counter. The page address is /inventory/counter-items. The page heading reads Sell at counter.

Items are created and priced on Products & Parts (the All products & parts tab at the top of this page); see Add a product or part. This page only decides how they behave at the register: whether they can be sold, what barcode scans them, and what the cashier sees.

Before you start

• Anyone with catalog lookup can view this page. Changing merchandising and scan aliases needs the catalog manager permission; without it, a note says only catalog managers can change them.

Steps

1. Type into Search barcode alias, SKU, item, or category, or open the Filters panel and pick a Category, tick Ready only or Favorites only.
2. Press the item, or choose Open item from its row menu. A panel opens with the item's price and alias count at the top.
3. Type a Display name and a Short lane label if the stock name is too long for the register. Badge text and Color hint decorate the item on the lane.
4. To give the item a quick key, fill in Quick key label and Quick key slot.
5. Tick Favorite so the item is listed on the lane before anyone types. Leave Show in lane favorites ticked.
6. Press Save merchandising. Nova shows "POS merchandising updated."
7. Under Add scan alias, pick the alias type (Barcode, PLU, QR, SKU alias or Search alias) and type the Alias value, or scan the barcode into that box. SKU override, Variant code and Variant label are optional, for one pack size or variant of the item.
8. Press Add alias. It stays greyed out until the value box has something in it. Add one alias per pack size if the same item comes in several barcodes.

What you see

• The four counts above the list show Items, Ready, Blocked and Categories.
• The list shows Item, SKU, Category, Price and Lane status. Lane status reads Sellable or Blocked; a blocked item shows as blocked for sale on the lane. Columns adds Favorite and Aliases, the number of barcodes and codes that find the item.
• In the panel, the first alias you add is marked Primary. Remove drops an alias straight away, with no prompt.
• Open inventory item in the panel or row menu opens the item on Products & Parts. Open Low stock goes to the Low stock page.

If something looks different

• An item shows Blocked: it has no unit price, it was deactivated, or its pricing was switched off. The panel does not say which. Press Open inventory item and check Pricing and tax settings there.
• Adding an alias fails with "A POS scan alias with that type and value already exists": another item already uses that code. Search for the code, open that item and press Remove on the alias, then add it again here.
• Save merchandising and Add alias are greyed out and a note mentions catalog managers: your role can look up the catalog but not change it.

Open Sell at Counter