As your business scales, managing inventory with spreadsheets or manual records breaks down fast. Stockouts, misplaced items, and hours spent searching for products become routine problems. These issues are especially costly when warehouse space is limited and every shelf matters.
Odoo Inventory provides a unified platform for warehouse management. Product cataloguing, storage location planning, and shipment verification all happen in one system. The platform automatically tracks every item's location and quantity, eliminating manual reconciliation.
This guide walks you through the core workflows: product tracking setup, storage location configuration, shipment receiving, and day-to-day stock monitoring.
Different products require different tracking approaches. Getting this right from the start is the foundation of effective warehouse management.
For high-value or tightly managed items (electronics, furniture, machinery parts), configure tracking as follows:
Example: An IT equipment supplier tracking laptops would use "By Serial Number" because each unit has its own warranty period. Keyboards and mice can use "By Quantity" since you only need the total count.
Low-value consumables like screws, stationery, and cleaning supplies are not worth tracking individually. To configure:
These products will not appear in physical inventory counts. When stock runs low, staff can notify procurement manually.
Storage locations create a digital map of your warehouse inside Odoo, recording exactly which shelf holds which product.
When setting up internal storage locations:
WH/Stock/Shelf-A1 instead of Location 1| Type | Purpose | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Internal Location | Physical space | Shelves, bins, and zones inside your warehouse |
| Vendor Location | Virtual | Represents goods "at the supplier" |
| Customer Location | Virtual | Represents goods "shipped to customer" |
| Inventory Loss | Write-off | Records damaged or lost items |
Odoo uses virtual locations to track the full journey of goods: from vendor location to internal location (receiving), then from internal location to customer location (shipping).
The Inventory dashboard is your daily starting point, using colour-coded indicators to highlight what needs attention.
Shows incoming shipments from vendors that need processing:
Displays customer orders being prepared for dispatch. Outgoing shipments are covered in a separate guide.
Daily habit: Check the dashboard first thing each morning. Address red (overdue) items first, then orange (today's arrivals).
When a Purchase Order is confirmed in Odoo, the system automatically creates a corresponding receipt in Inventory. The receiving process has four steps.
If you have the Barcode app, you can also scan the package barcode to open the matching receipt directly.
The receipt form has two key fields:
If the received quantity differs from the order, manually update the Quantity field.
Example: You ordered 20 cartons of office chairs but the delivery only included 12. Change Quantity to 12.
Before validating, set the destination for the received products:
WH/Stock/Shelf-B2)Setting the location before validation avoids the need for a separate relocation step afterwards.
Click Validate to confirm the receipt. If the received quantity is less than ordered, Odoo prompts you to handle the shortfall:
After validation, click the Moves smart button to confirm items were transferred to the correct location with accurate quantities.
Once products are received, regular stock monitoring keeps your warehouse data accurate.
When you discover products stored in the wrong location:
Products created without Track Inventory enabled will not show in the Physical Inventory page, even after a confirmed receipt. To start tracking a product's stock and location, go back to the product form and enable tracking.
| Product Characteristic | Recommended Method | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| High unit value, needs precise counting | By Quantity | Furniture, electronics, appliances |
| Has expiry dates, needs batch management | By Lots | Food products, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals |
| Each unit is unique, needs serial tracking | By Serial Number | Laptops, servers, medical instruments |
| Low-value consumables | No tracking | Screws, stationery, cleaning supplies |
WH/Zone-A/Shelf-01) so that new staff can locate items quicklyWhat if I receive fewer items than ordered?
Update the Quantity field to the actual amount received, then select Create Back Order when validating. Odoo automatically generates a new receipt for the remaining quantity.
Can I process multiple receipts at once?
Yes. Select multiple receipts from the Receipts list and use the batch action features. However, processing one at a time is recommended to ensure quantity accuracy.
How do I fix a product stored in the wrong location?
Find the product in the Physical Inventory page and use the Relocate function to move it to the correct location. The system records the transfer automatically.
How do I adjust stock quantities?
On the Physical Inventory page, edit the On Hand Quantity directly, then click Apply All. Odoo creates an inventory adjustment record for the change.
The core receiving workflow in Odoo Inventory follows four steps:
With these fundamentals in place, you can explore advanced features like Putaway Rules for automatic product routing, Stock Transfers for moving goods between warehouses, and Reordering Rules for automated replenishment.
Zoo AI is a certified Odoo partner in Hong Kong, delivering expert ERP implementation and AI automation for SMEs. Get in touch to learn more.