Receiving & Stocking: the full procedure

Verify incoming deliveries against paperwork, inspect for damage, then price, tag, and shelve stock using FIFO rotation.

• Applies to: Receiving clerk / stock associate.
• Frequency: Each delivery.
• Scope: Covers every supplier delivery from the carrier’s arrival until stock is priced and placed on the floor or in the stockroom. Proper lifting and ladder use follow the store safety plan.

What you need

• Purchase order
• Packing slip
• Box cutter
• Price gun / label printer
• Discrepancy log

The procedure, step by step

1. Confirm the delivery — Match the carrier’s paperwork to a real open PO before signing — never accept a shipment you can’t tie to an order.
2. Count line by line — Compare physical units to the packing slip and PO line by line, checking quantities, descriptions, and product codes.
3. Inspect for damage — Open a sample of cartons to check for crushed, broken, mislabeled, or expired items before the driver leaves.
4. Log discrepancies — Note any shortages, overages, or damage on the receiving report or bill of lading and photograph damaged goods for the supplier claim.
5. Price and tag — Apply correct retail price tags or labels and scan items into the POS/inventory system so on-hand counts update.
6. Rotate with FIFO — Place new stock behind or below existing stock so the oldest units sell first, especially for dated or perishable goods.
7. Slot stockroom vs floor — Send floor-ready quantities to their planogram location and shelve the overflow in its assigned stockroom slot.
8. Close out — File signed paperwork, lift and use ladders per the store safety plan, and break down empty cartons.

Quality check before you finish

• Every received unit traces back to an open PO.
• Packing slip quantities reconcile to physical count.
• Damaged/short items documented and photographed before the driver departs.
• All new stock priced and scanned into the system.
• FIFO rotation applied (old stock pulled forward).
• Stockroom items in their assigned slots, not blocking aisles.
• Signed receiving paperwork filed.

This is a free, source-anchored standard operating procedure (SOP) you can print and hand to staff. It documents the work sequence for a Small Retail Store business — not safety or regulatory rulings, which defer to the cited authorities, the applicable code, and your own health-and-safety plan. Open the tool above to print it, toggle ink-saver, or (with a free ToolFluency Business account) edit it to match your own workflow.

Sources

• WebstaurantStore — What Is FIFO? (webstaurantstore.com)
• GoAudits — Warehouse Receiving Process (goaudits.com)
• CDR Software — Receiving Inventory (cdrsoftware.com)