Customers ask whether Petboost can track retail stock, such as shampoos, treats and toys. Petboost is built around service bookings, such as appointments, packages and courses, not retail inventory. It sells products, but it does not count them.
What you're trying to do
You want to track retail products alongside your services, such as:
Pet shampoo and grooming products
Dog treats and chews
Pet toys and accessories
Leads, collars and harnesses
Training tools and equipment
Pet food and supplements
Reorder alerts when stock is low
Cost of goods sold (COGS) tracking
What Petboost does offer
Petboost is service-first, and it covers the selling side of retail:
What | Where |
Products: a catalogue of priced retail items, such as shampoo, treats and accessories, sold on a booking's invoice beside the services or on their own as a quick sale, with no separate POS | Products in the sidebar |
Packages: prepaid service bundles, such as a 5-pack of grooms or 10 days of daycare. The credits sit on the customer's account, any eligible pet on it can use them, and they never expire unless you set an expiry | Packages, then New and New Package |
Add-ons: optional extras, such as a nail trim, teeth brushing or a flea treatment, priced beside the main service | Services, then New and New Service, with Add-on (extras) as the Service Type |
Courses: multi-week training programmes, such as puppy school or obedience, with enrolment tracking | Courses, then New |
Service pricing that varies by pet, with a service for each size or a surcharge or discount on a pet attribute such as coat type, and rates for chosen weekdays and special dates | A service's Pricing & Payments tab, Pet Attributes and Business Hours |
See Getting Started with Products, Getting Started with Packages, Services: Getting Started and Courses: Getting Started.
Services and products are different
Services are appointments, and they take time: a grooming session, a dog walk, a daycare day, a training class or a boarding night. Products are catalogue items, sold by the unit, such as a bottle of shampoo, a bag of treats, or toys and accessories. Petboost sells products on invoices. It does not track how many you have in stock.
What Petboost doesn't offer
Petboost does not include:
SKU tracking for products
Stock level management or quantity tracking
Reorder point alerts
Supplier management
Cost of goods sold (COGS) tracking
Barcode scanning for retail
A standalone retail point-of-sale (POS) system
Product expiry date tracking
Bundle or kit management for retail
Retail inventory management takes multi-location tracking, purchase orders, supplier catalogues, expiry dates, bundles and seasonal planning. That is a full POS system, a different product from appointment booking. A business with significant retail stock can run a lightweight POS alongside Petboost, and the Petboost product catalogue covers occasional retail sales.
Understanding your retail revenue mix
Before you choose, work out what share of your revenue comes from retail. The retail items differ by business, for example:
Business type | Typical retail |
Grooming | Shampoo, brushes |
Daycare, boarding | Treats, toys |
Dog walking | Leads, poo bags |
Training | Training tools, books |
If retail is under 20% of your revenue, simple tracking or a lightweight POS is enough. Between 20% and 50%, invest in a proper POS system. Over 50%, you are a retail business, and Petboost may not be the right fit.
Recommended alternatives
Choose your approach by the share of your revenue that comes from retail.
Scenario 1: Retail under 10% of revenue
Sell your products through Petboost, which records each sale against the customer, and keep the stock count in a spreadsheet. It suits a small range of products, such as fewer than 20, whose stock you can count by hand.
Add your products to Petboost
Open Products and select New (Add Your First Product while the list is empty).
On Product Details, enter the Product Name, Price, Short Description and Description. All four are required.
Select Next.
Optional: on Image, add a Product Image.
Select Create Product.
Sell a product with a booking
Open Appointments and select the booking.
On the Invoice, select Add Item for the pet.
Choose the product.
Under Notify customer?, choose Send notification or Update silently, then select Save Changes.
The product is charged with the booking, by whichever payment method the customer uses.
Sell a product at the counter
Do this for a customer who buys a product with no booking behind it.
Open Mission Control and select Quick Sale, from Actions when the header is compressed.
Find the pet, then select Continue to Sale.
Select + Add Item, choose the product and set the Qty.
Choose the Payment Method, such as Cash, Card Reader or Other EFTPOS, then select the Record Sale button, which names the method.
Quick Sale is also under Quick Actions in the sidebar. A quick sale is recorded on the customer's Sales tab.
Card Reader sends the amount to a Stripe card reader connected to Petboost, such as a Stripe Reader S700, and records the payment on the sale. See Card Reader Setup.
Keep the stock count in a spreadsheet
Keep your product list, with the stock on hand, in Google Sheets or Excel.
Take each product sold in Petboost off the count.
Check the stock level in the sheet or on the shelf.
Reorder when it runs low.
Scenario 2: Retail 10% to 20% of revenue
While a spreadsheet keeps up with your stock, stay with Scenario 1: sell products in Petboost and take card payments at the counter on a Stripe Reader S700. Petboost sends the amount to the reader and records the payment on the booking or sale, so nobody keys an amount in by hand.
Petboost is our own product, and we make money when you take card payments through it. Weigh this recommendation with that in mind.
When you need stock levels, reorder alerts and barcode scanning, which Petboost does not do, run a retail POS system for your retail sales alongside Petboost. A retail POS takes retail payments on its own card readers, and your services and their payments stay in Petboost.
Option A: Square POS
Square POS is a retail POS system with inventory tracking and stock alerts, barcode scanning, product catalogue management, and sales reporting and analytics. It takes payments on Square's own card readers. Square's plans, card rates and hardware prices are on Square's pricing page.
To use it with Petboost:
Manage appointment bookings, your core business, in Petboost.
Sell retail products in Square POS.
Read your service revenue in Petboost and your retail revenue in Square.
For accounting, card payments reach Xero through Stripe's bank feed (for Petboost) and Square's own Xero connection, and you reconcile cash by hand.
See squareup.com/au.
For example, a grooming business could take its appointments and their payments through Petboost and sell its retail, such as shampoo, brushes and treats, through Square POS. A customer pays for their groom through Petboost, and for a bottle of shampoo at checkout through Square. Stripe and Square both feed into Xero, and the manager reads service revenue in Petboost and retail revenue in Square.
Option B: Lightspeed Retail, formerly Vend
A professional retail POS with advanced inventory management, multi-location support, integrations with Xero and QuickBooks, customer loyalty features and product variants, such as sizes and colours. It suits businesses with substantial retail stock that need a professional-grade POS. Its plans and prices are on Lightspeed's pricing page.
To use it with Petboost:
Take service bookings in Petboost.
Run retail stock and sales in Lightspeed Retail.
Keep the two systems separate.
Bring the combined revenue together in Xero.
See lightspeedhq.com/au.
Scenario 3: Retail 20% to 50% of revenue
You need a proper POS system. Use Square POS or Lightspeed Retail as your main retail system alongside Petboost:
Petboost: service scheduling and bookings, and their payments
Square or Lightspeed Retail: retail management, with stock, POS and reporting
Accounting: Stripe (for Petboost card payments) and Square each connect to Xero or QuickBooks
For example, a daycare with a retail store could use Petboost for its daycare bookings and Square POS for retail treats and toys, with Square tracking the product range, sending low-stock alerts and scanning barcodes. The revenue comes together in Xero through each system's own connection.
Scenario 4: Retail over 50% of revenue
You are mainly a retail business, not a service business, and Petboost may not be the right fit. Consider:
A full retail POS as your main system, such as Lightspeed, Shopify POS or Square for Retail
Petboost as a second system for a small number of service bookings
Retail-first software with a booking add-on
For example, a pet supply store that earns most of its revenue from retail, with a small grooming side, could run Shopify POS as its main system for retail stock and e-commerce, and use Petboost for the grooming bookings. Retail is its core, so a full retail POS makes sense as the main system.
Example set-ups
These set-ups illustrate how a business might keep track of retail stock alongside Petboost. They are illustrations, not real businesses.
Example 1: A mobile groomer, stock in a spreadsheet
A mobile groomer makes occasional retail sales, such as shampoo bottles and brushes. They use Petboost for grooming appointments and a Google Sheets list of about 15 products, and restock by hand.
They sell the products in Petboost.
They take each sale off the spreadsheet.
They check stock by eye in the van.
They reorder when stock is low, with a bulk order each quarter.
With a small range, a spreadsheet is enough.
Example 2: A grooming business, Square POS for retail
A grooming business sells shampoo, treats and accessories alongside its grooms. It uses Petboost for grooming bookings and their payments, and Square POS for retail.
It sets up its products in Square POS.
Customers pay for their groom through Petboost, on a Stripe Reader S700 at reception, and for retail through Square.
Square tracks stock and alerts the business when it runs low.
Stripe (for Petboost card payments) and Square both feed into Xero.
Example 3: A daycare with a retail store, Lightspeed Retail
A daycare runs a retail store with more than 150 products, such as treats, toys, food and accessories. It uses Petboost for daycare bookings and Lightspeed Retail for retail.
It keeps its product range in Lightspeed Retail.
It scans barcodes at checkout.
It gets reorder alerts.
It sells product variants, such as sizes and flavours.
Its combined financials come together in Xero.
Frequently asked questions
Will Petboost add retail inventory management?
Not in the near term. Retail inventory is a point-of-sale product, a different category from appointment booking, and Square, Lightspeed and Shopify POS specialise in it. Petboost works alongside them.
Can I record retail sales in Petboost?
Yes. Create your products on Products, then add them to a booking's invoice beside the services, or sell them on their own with Quick Sale. Petboost does not track stock quantities, SKUs or reorder points, and it has no retail inventory reporting.
Which POS system should I choose?
Choose by the share of your revenue that comes from retail, as the scenarios above set out. Square POS suits a smaller retail range and a simple set-up. Lightspeed Retail, formerly Vend, suits larger retail operations that need advanced inventory features. Either way, your services and their payments stay in Petboost.
Can Square POS and Petboost share customer data?
Not automatically: they are separate systems. Use Petboost as your main customer database for service bookings, and Square POS for retail transactions. A customer who books a service is in Petboost, and one who only buys retail is in Square. For accounting, Stripe (for Petboost card payments) and Square each connect to Xero.
What if retail is growing and might pass 20% of revenue?
Set up Square POS or Lightspeed Retail while retail is still manageable, before stock gets out of control. Starting on a proper POS early makes growing your retail easier.
Next steps
To keep retail in Petboost (Scenario 1):
Add your products on Products.
Sell them on booking invoices and with Quick Sale, and take card payments at the counter on a Stripe Reader S700.
Keep the stock count in a spreadsheet.
Reorder when stock is low.
To go ahead with Square POS (Scenario 2):
Sign up at squareup.com/au.
Set up your product catalogue.
Turn on inventory tracking.
Start scanning and selling products.
To go ahead with Lightspeed Retail (Scenario 2 or 3):
Request a demo at lightspeedhq.com/au.
Choose a plan on Lightspeed's pricing page.
Import your product catalogue.
Set up barcode scanning.
Train your team on the POS system.
Related guides
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