Trade counter software and stock control for shops
For builders and timber merchants, tile and flooring shops, hardware and DIY stores, garden centres, motor factors, bike shops, and plumbing and electrical counters. Live today: goods in against supplier orders, stock across more than one location, and typed Ask IBIOS questions over your live data. Coming soon: shelf locations (shelf stock vs back stock), barcode scanning and the counter sale (EPOS).
Early access by waiting list.
Buying guide
Trade counter software and stock control for shops: what to check before you choose
Written by the IBIOS team. IBIOS was built inside a working bathroom showroom in Northern Ireland, where it runs the business day to day. Last updated 17 October 2026.
How do you choose stock and counter software for a stocked shop?
Work from the shelf outwards: first know where every item lives, then how stock arrives, then how it leaves over the counter, and only then the reports. A shop that cannot answer "where is it?" in one step loses sales at the counter, whether it sells tiles, timber, plants or brake pads.
- Locations. Every item needs a home, from the branch or store it sits in down to the aisle, bay and shelf. IBIOS holds stock across more than one location today; aisle, bay and shelf locations are coming soon.
- Goods in. Book deliveries in against what you ordered, so short and wrong deliveries show up at the door. Live in IBIOS today; barcode scanning at goods-in is coming soon.
- Putaway, moves and picking. Coming soon: a scanner app that tells staff where to put stock, records moves between shelf and back stock, and guides picking.
- The counter sale. Coming soon: scan items to a basket, take payment, and take the stock off the shelf it left.
- Reordering. Know what is running low before a customer asks for it. In IBIOS this is coming soon as an AI reorder agent that suggests orders for a person to approve.
Which shops is this for?
Any stocked shop or trade counter in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland that buys from suppliers and sells from its own shelves: builders and timber merchants, tile and flooring shops, hardware and DIY stores, garden centres, motor factors, bike shops, and plumbing and electrical counters.
What they share is a long range, deliveries most days, and customers who expect the counter to know straight away whether something is in. IBIOS was built inside a business that holds stock, and each IBIOS product can be used on its own.
"Where are the 5mm nuts?" Shelf stock versus back stock
Coming soon: every product gets a location such as "Aisle 4, bay 2, shelf C", and IBIOS keeps shelf stock and back stock apart, so the counter knows whether to walk to the shelf or the store room.
Live today: IBIOS holds stock across more than one warehouse, branch or store, so you can see how many you have and where.
Goods in: catch the short delivery at the door
Live today: deliveries are booked in against the supplier order, so a short or wrong delivery is visible before it reaches the shelf rather than when a customer asks for the missing item.
Coming soon: barcode goods-in with the scanner app, and an AI goods-in checker that compares the delivery note with the order and drafts the query to the supplier.
The counter sale and EPOS
Coming soon: the counter scans items into a basket, takes payment, and IBIOS takes the stock off the shelf location it came from, so the shelf count stays true. Until then, IBIOS does not replace your till.
Live today: staff can type a question to Ask IBIOS about your business and get an answer from your live IBIOS records. Asking out loud at the counter, with the answer added to a basket, is coming soon.
AI agents that do the checking for you
All coming soon. Each one drafts work for a person to approve rather than acting on its own:
- Goods-in checker (coming soon): compares the delivery with the order and flags differences.
- Reorder agent (coming soon): suggests what to order before you run out.
- Coverage calculator (coming soon): turns square metres into packs or boxes for flooring and tiles, with a waste allowance you set.
- Till check (coming soon): compares the day’s counter sales with the payments taken.
Retail EPOS, merchant system, spreadsheet or IBIOS?
| Option | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Retail EPOS / till | Fast counter sales of boxed goods. | Often weak on supplier orders, goods in against orders, and trade accounts. |
| Large merchant or ERP system | Multi-branch merchants with their own IT team. | Long implementations, and a cost and setup sized for big branch networks. |
| Spreadsheet stock list | A very small range in one room. | No locations, no goods-in check, and the numbers drift away from the shelf. |
| IBIOS | Small and medium shops and trade counters that order from suppliers, book deliveries in and hold stock in more than one place. | Early access by waiting list. Shelf locations, barcode scanning, the scanner app, counter sales (EPOS), voice questions and the AI agents are all coming soon. |
What you need in place before you start
- Your product list with supplier codes, and barcodes where the supplier provides them.
- A simple location scheme: aisle, bay and shelf, and where back stock lives.
- Your supplier list, and how each one sends orders and delivery notes.
- Who works the counter, who does goods in, and who may see cost prices.
What it costs
The software fee is rarely the big number. Stock nobody can find, short deliveries nobody spotted, and a counter count that drifts from the shelf cost a shop far more over a year.
Founding prices for waiting-list members are explained on the pricing page.
Last reviewed October 2026.
What people get wrong
- Counting stock without giving it a location, so the count is right but nobody can find it.
- Keeping shelf stock and back stock in one number, so the shelf runs empty while the system says plenty.
- Booking deliveries in without checking them against the order.
- Choosing a till that knows nothing about supplier orders, then keying every delivery twice.
- Selling flooring or tiles by the square metre with no waste allowance, then running short mid-job.
- Believing a demo of a "coming next month" feature. Ask what runs in a working business today.
Related reading
Trade counter software and stock control for shops FAQs
Can IBIOS run a shop counter or EPOS today?
Not yet. Counter sales (scan, basket, pay, stock off the shelf) are coming soon; goods in against supplier orders and stock across more than one location are live.
Does IBIOS separate shelf stock from back stock?
Coming soon. Aisle, bay and shelf locations, with shelf stock kept apart from back stock, are in development; stock held across more than one location is live today.
Can I book deliveries in against the order?
Yes. Goods in against supplier orders is live, so short or wrong deliveries show up at the door.
Is there a barcode scanner app?
Not yet; it is coming soon. Barcode goods-in, putaway, moves and picking are in development.
Can staff ask IBIOS questions at the counter?
Yes, by typing them: Ask IBIOS answers typed questions from your live IBIOS records today. Asking out loud at the counter is coming soon.
How do I get IBIOS?
Join the waiting list. IBIOS is in early access and there is no free trial.
Want to know if IBIOS suits your counter?
Tell us what you sell, how deliveries arrive and how your counter works today, and we will tell you plainly what IBIOS does now and what is still coming.
IBIOS Limited · company no. NI743167 · 10 Ballyclare Road, Doagh, Ballyclare BT39 0PE · Production is hosted in the UK.
Get your counter on the list
Join the waiting list for early access. Tell us what you stock and how your counter works, and we will show you what IBIOS does today and what is coming soon.