In-Store Inventory Management App

📋 Overview

One of Portugal’s largest fashion retail groups needed to digitise in-store stocktaking and replenishment. The mobile solution we built lets staff manage stock from the aisle itself, removing paper processes and obsolete handheld terminals.

🎯 The Challenge

Business context In-store stock management ran on ageing PDAs with discontinued software, or on paper lists typed into the central system afterwards. That lag produced constant discrepancies between theoretical and actual stock, costing sales through stock-outs at one end and tying up capital in unsold merchandise at the other.

Technical requirements

• Barcode scanning: fast EAN/QR reading through the phone camera.
• Offline mode: usable in stockrooms with poor Wi-Fi coverage.
• ERP integration: two-way synchronisation with the core stock management system.
• Usability: an interface simple enough for a high-turnover workforce with varying digital literacy.

💡 The Solution

Strategic approach Replace dedicated hardware — expensive PDAs — with standard smartphones running a Power App. The change cut hardware capital expenditure sharply and made software updates possible at a speed the previous model could not approach.

Technical implementation The Power Apps canvas application uses the native scanner component to identify products.

• Counting flow: staff scan the shelf location, then the items; the app validates in real time whether an item belongs in that section.
• Goods receipt: blind validation of delivery notes.
• Replenishment request: an empty shelf triggers an immediate alert to the stockroom.

Integration ran through Azure API Management, connecting the Power Platform securely to the client’s on-premises legacy ERP.

Timeline

• Phase 1 (proof of concept): 2 weeks
• Phase 2 (development): 6 weeks
• Phase 3 (pilot in 2 stores): 2 weeks
• Phase 4 (national rollout): 4 weeks

📈 The Results

Success metrics

• ⚡ Speed: cycle counts twice as fast.
• 📉 Accuracy: human counting error down 90%, through automatic validation.
• 💰 Hardware: €50,000 saved on replacing PDA terminals.

Business impact With real stock visibility, stores could optimise replenishment and keep bestsellers on the shelf, which feeds directly into sales volume.

🛠️ Technology Stack

• Power Apps: scanner-ready mobile interface.
• Azure SQL: staging area for high-transaction data.
• Custom Connector: secure link to the ERP API.

💬 Client Testimonial

“The store teams loved the change. It is as simple as using a social media app, but it completely transformed the control we have over our products.”

Store Operations Director Retail Group