Multi-Store - Transfers Between Locations

Written By Ascend knowledge base (Administrator)

Updated at September 12th, 2024

Multi-store shops are able to request products from their sister locations when needed. Some chains might even have one location do all the buying, and then ship products to the other locations from there.

Multi-store transfers in Ascend help move products between stores with just a few clicks.

Remote Product Lookup

  1. There are a few places you can request a transfer:
    • select Multistore > Remote Product Lookup from the Ascend desktop,
    • in the Multistore tab in a Product record by selecting the Request or Send to checkout icons,
    • and by highlighting a product in a transaction and selecting Products > Remote Lookup.           
      Right now, we're going into the Remote Product Lookup window (which can be accessed from the Ascend desktop or in a transaction).           
      Screenshot of the Remote Product Lookup window
  2. Use the search bar to look for the product using SKU, UPC, or Description.
  3. Narrow your search with the Category dropdown, if needed.
  4. Check the Remote Inventory Only checkbox to see results where at least one other location has at least one item on hand. It won’t show a product if its quantity on hand (QOH) is zero at all other locations - even if your location does have the product on hand.
  5. Highlight a product in the search results to see its Quantity at your other locations.
  6. Highlight one of the locations in the lower part of the screen (ideally one with a QOH greater than zero if you are requesting product).           
    Screenshot of the Remote Product Lookup window with one of the locations in the lower part of the screen selected
  7. Select Request Product to request the highlighted product from the highlighted location or Send to Checkout to send the highlighted product to the highlighted location.           
    When you request an item or send an item to checkout, the Transfer Product window opens.           
    Screenshot of the Transfer Product window
  8. Update the Quantity field, if needed.
  9. Verify the From and To locations.
  10. Add any Comments here (for example: if this is for a specific customer or needed by a certain date).
  11. Click OK to complete the request.

Checking pending items

On the Ascend desktop, the Transfers In and Transfers Out tiles display the number of items which require attention.

Screenshot of the Transfers Out icon, it is blue with a box and an arrow pointing to the upper right. In the upper right is a red box with the number 2 in it.

Find information in the Check In/Out Transfers screens

Check on the status of your pending transfer by navigating to Multistore > Check-In Transfers or Check-Out Transfers. Both screens look the same and have the same icons. Check In just shows items coming into your store, while Check Out just shows items leaving your store.

You can toggle the text size on the Transfers Check-In and Out screens by selecting the Toggle Text Size icon.

Screenshot of the Transfers Check-In and Out screen with the Toggle Text Size icon highlighted. It is a smaller A and a bigger A.

Use the Location dropdown to filter by location, if needed.

Use the View dropdown to filter by the transfer status if you like.

You can also identify a product’s status by the icon to the left of it - which match the icons at the top of the window. Or scroll over to the right to see the dates the status changed. If a status column is blank, the item is still waiting for that step in the process.

Screenshot of the check in transfers window

Another filtering option is by using the search bar to search for specific keywords.

Customize your view.

  • Drag and drop columns into the order you'd like to see them.
  • Right-click on any column header to select the Column Chooser from the dropdown menu to update which columns appear.
  • Use the icons in the upper right corner of each column to filter even further. This includes Date ranges for different statuses, Cost ranges for items, and more.

Screenshot of the Check out Transfers window

You can also split items by clicking Split > Split all Serialized Items, or Split > Split All Items. If you have a product with a quantity greater than one highlighted, Split > Split Individual Item will also be available.

Screenshot of the Split menu with Split All Items selected

Use the icons in the Check In/Out Transfers screen

Even though we’re giving you a run-through of the buttons now, we don’t expect you to have them memorized! If you’re ever unsure what an icon does, just hover your mouse over the icon to receive a helpful prompt.

Screenshot of the Toggle Selection icon, it is a blue box with a green check in it.

You can select all products by clicking the Toggle selection icon here. Or you can select just a few items by holding Control on your keyboard and clicking the products.

Screenshot of the Receive icon, it is an orange arrow pointing down

Once an item has arrived at your shop, you can highlight the product and select the Receive icon (or hit F4) to mark it received and complete the transfer. This icon is only available on the Check-In Transfers screen.

Screenshot of the Pick icon, it is a blue box with two green check marks inside it.

Once a product has been pulled from inventory for transfer, select Pick to change the product status. This icon is only available on the Check-Out Transfers screen.

Screenshot of the Send icon, it is a green arrow that points up.

Then, when the items are being sent to the other location, select Send. And if you’re ready to send the items before they’ve been marked as Picked, that’s okay! Just click Send and you’ll be good to go. This icon is only available on the Check-Out Transfers screen.

Screenshot of the Deny icon, it is a blue circle with an orange x inside it.

If a requested product is not available for transfer, you can click Deny to remove it from your requests. This icon is only available on the Check-Out Transfers screen.

Screenshot of the Remove icon, it is an orange X

If you’d like to cancel a request that was created at your location - for sending or for receiving an item - you can highlight it and select Remove. All deleted products are visible under Abandoned in the View dropdown.

Screenshot of the show Abandoned icon, it is a blue eyeball

If you want to see abandoned requests when you’re viewing All requests, toggle the show Abandoned icon here.

Screenshot of the Print and Print preview icons, they are a printer and a page with a magnifying glass inside it.

There are also icons for Print and Print preview if you’d like a physical copy of the list. These icons will print the current items you can see, depending on the filters and columns you use.

Screenshot of the Print Labels icon, it is a blue barcode

Click Print Labels to print labels for the selected products.

Screenshot of the Add and Edit icons, they are a green plus sign and a grey pencil.

You can also create a new Transfer Request from here by selecting Add, or edit the highlighted request by selecting Edit. If the request was not created at your location, most of the fields on the Edit Request window will be grayed out.

Create a Batch Transfer

Use the Batch Transfer icon to transfer items.

Screenshot of the Batch Transfer icon, it is two orange boxes with a blue arrow above it

1.    Run the following query in Ascend to get the results from the scanned files:      
WITH SerialNumberScans      
AS      
(SELECT InventoryScan.ItemID, Products.TopicID, [Topic] = Categories.Topic, [ProductID] = Products.ID, Products.Description, Products.UPC, [SKU] = PRoducts.[Store UPC]      
FROM InventoryScan      
LEFT JOIN SerialNos on InventoryScan.ItemID = SerialNos.Id      
LEFT JOIN Products on SerialNos.ProductID = Products.ID      
LEFT JOIN Categories on Products.TopicID = Categories.ID      
WHERE InventoryScan.DateCreated BETWEEN <<StartDate>> AND <<EndDate>>      
AND InventoryScan.ScanType = 1      
AND InventoryScan.Hide = 0)      
SELECT [Qty , UPC/SKU] = CAST(InventoryScan.Count as nvarchar) + ',' +      
CASE      
WHEN InventoryScan.ScanType = 1       
THEN Coalesce(NULLIF(SerialNumberScans.UPC,''),SerialNumberScans.SKU)      
ELSE Coalesce(NULLIF(Products.UPC,''),Products.[Store UPC])      
END      
,[SectionNumber] = InventorySection.Number      
FROM InventoryScan      
LEFT JOIN InventoryGroup ON InventoryScan.InventoryGroupId = InventoryGroup.ID      
LEFT JOIN InventorySection ON InventoryGroup.InventorySectionId = InventorySection.ID      
LEFT JOIN InventoryEvent ON InventorySection.InventoryEventId = InventoryEvent.ID      
LEFT JOIN Products ON InventoryScan.ItemId = Products.ID      
LEFT JOIN SerialNumberScans ON InventoryScan.ItemID = SerialNumberScans.ItemId      
WHERE InventoryScan.DateCreated BETWEEN <<StartDate>> AND <<EndDate>>      
AND InventoryScan.Hide = 0      
ORDER BY InventorySection.Number

2.    Export the results to an XLSX file, and open it in Excel, Google Sheets or Excel online.      
3.    Copy the column titled ‘Qty, UPC/SKU’ without the header      
4.    Paste the column into a blank Notepad.      
5.    Save the document.

Screenshot of a Notepad window with numbers in it      
Then, select the Batch Transfer icon to find and select your document. In the popup window, indicate which locations you are sending the products to, and click Okay.

Screenshot of the Check Out Transfers screen with a Batch Transfer box in the middle and the To dropdown open

If there are any errors during the import, you’ll receive a popup letting you know. Otherwise, the items will simply be added to your Check Out Transfers window.

If you’ve scanned products with an MC2180* inventory scanner, the scan file created is already in this format.      
*The MC2180 device is unsupported by the Ascend support team.      
 

Transfers in purchase orders

Navigate to Database Explorer > Orders and open or create a vendor order.

If you highlight a product in the purchase order, you can easily see if there are any pending transfers for it with the Pending in and out field on the information bar.

Screenshot of the Orders window with the Pending in and out field highlighted

And, if you’re ordering some vendor products for another location, you can easily mark it for transfer here using the Transfer To column. Make sure the In Cell editing icon is active, and then select the dropdown arrow in the Transfer To column for your item. Next, choose the location the item should be sent to.

Screenshot of the Orders window with the dropdown open in the Transfer To column

If you accidently select the wrong one or need to clear this field, just select the field and hit Backspace or Delete on your keyboard.

Save the order to officially mark that item for transfer.

Transfers in a transaction (instead of a Special Order)

In a transaction, if a product that is added to the sale is out of stock, multi-stores have the option to mark the sales item for transfer, instead of marking it for Special Order from a vendor. Article: Handle Special Order items 

  1. When you add the product to the sale, you get the Special Order popup.           
    Screenshot of the Special Order popup           
    Locations with the appropriate quantity on hand display in the lower part of the popup. For example, if you are requesting two of an item, then only locations with two or more on hand will display. You cannot request transfers from multiple locations here.
  2. Select the radio button for Request Transfer from selected store.
  3. Highlight the location you'd like to request a transfer from.
  4. Add any Item Comments if needed.
  5. Click Save.
  6. The Transfer product popup appears.
  7. Verify the information and add Transfer Comments, if needed.
  8. Click OK.

The item is added to the transaction and marked for transfer.

Additional Resources

KB22-192