Merchants with an existing ShopKeep store don’t need to start fresh when setting up a new store location. Learn how to add a new store to your account, copy inventory and customers, and complete setup of the new location.
Opening your very first ShopKeep store? Start with the Sign Up to Sign In article instead.
Table of Contents
Create a New Linked Store
Begin setup in BackOffice by adding a new linked store so the Business Owner can switch between each store’s BackOffice without needing to sign out.
IMPORTANT: Once a new store is linked to your account, it cannot be unlinked.
Sign in to BackOffice as the Business Owner for your existing ShopKeep store.
Select inventory components to automatically copy to the new store from the current store, then click ‘Create'.
To create the new store without copying inventory, click ‘Skip Setup’, then skip the rest of this section. After the store is created, inventory must be copied manually.
If duplicate items prevent inventory from being copied, visit our troubleshooting guide for help resolving the issue.
Basic Items | Copies all basic items except for liabilities. Copied items are given a quantity on hand of 0 and are not assigned to taxes or printer groups. This option is only available if there is at least 1 basic item in inventory. Step 8 below covers how to create liability items, manually update quantities, and assign items to taxes and printer groups. Modifiers | Copies modifiers as they appear in the existing store. This option is only available when ‘Basic Items’ is selected and there is at least 1 item with modifiers in inventory. Raw Goods | Copies raw goods and assemblies as they appear in the existing store. Copied raw goods are given a quantity on hand of 0. This option is only available when ‘Basic Items’ is selected and there is at least 1 raw good in inventory. Step 8 below covers how to manually update raw good quantities. Matrix Items | Copies all items with variants. Copied variants are given a quantity on hand of 0 and are not assigned to taxes. This option is only available when there is at least 1 item with variants in inventory. Step 8 below covers how to manually update variant quantities and assign items to taxes. Button Layout | Copies the item shortcuts panel for basic items and/or items with variants as it appears in the existing store. This option is only available when ‘Basic Items’ and/or ‘Items with Variants’ are selected and there is at least 1 item shortcut on the layout.
Refresh the Locations page to check the status of the inventory being copied to the new store.
Click to Enlarge
When inventory is finished copying, the new store will move to the table containing the existing location(s). It may take up to 10 minutes for this to happen, depending on inventory size.
When inventory is finished copying, switch to the new store and finish setting up its items.
Each step below is optional. Do only what matches your business needs.
aBulk Management to update quantity on hand and other item properties that are different for the new store (e.g. price changes, reorder triggers, etc.)
Copied items are not synced between stores. Each store’s inventory is separate and must be managed independently from that location’s BackOffice.
bEnter the default tax rate, set up additional tax rates and tax groups, and assign items to taxes.
If the new store sells the same products as the existing one and inventory was not automatically copied while creating the new store, manually copy over inventory from your existing store. First review the limitations of this process, then start importing items into the new store.
It is only necessary to copy inventory using the process in this section if you did not automatically copy inventory while creating a new linked store.
Limitations
Most items and item settings can be copied between stores without difficulty, but there are limitations to be aware of before starting this process.
These items and item settings cannot be copied and must be manually set up in each new store:
Modifiers can be copied to the new store by your Account Executive when initially opening the new account.
Barcode labels printed with SKUs from the existing store must be reprinted with SKUs from the new store. Item SKUs do not copy over, so barcode labels from one store cannot be scanned in another.
Copied items are not synced between locations. Each store’s inventory is separate and must be managed independently from that location’s BackOffice.
How to Manually Copy Inventory
From exporting your stock items to importing them into the new store, follow the steps below to learn how to manually copy your inventory using Bulk Management.
In the existing store's BackOffice, click 'Items' and select 'Bulk Manage Items'.
Delete all rows that contain items with variants or liabilities.
You must manually add these items to the new store in a separate process.
Items with variants have text in the Option Name and Option Value columns.
Liabilities are items used to issue gift cards, gift certificates, or deposits. Look for items with names like Gift Card or Bottle Deposit.
Check the formatting of the 'UPC' column.
Some spreadsheet software removes leading 0s or converts numbers to scientific notation. If UPC codes are not 8, 12, or 13 numbers long, adjust the formatting of the cells in this column.
With your inventory imported into the new store, follow these steps to finish setting up the items. Each step is optional, so do only what matches your business needs.
Labels printed using SKUs from the original store will not scan at the new store and must be reprinted.
Manually Copy Customers
If your existing store has customers that visit the new location, manually copy over your customer list to the new store. First review the limitations of this process, then start importing customers.
Limitations
Most customer information can be copied between stores without difficulty, but there are limitations to be aware of before starting this process.
The following customer information cannot be copied to the new store:
Copied customers and their purchases are not synced between locations. Each store’s customer list is separate and must be managed independently from that location’s BackOffice.
How to Manually Copy Customers
The process of manually copying customers is similar to copying inventory with Bulk Management and can easily be done with a customer export spreadsheet from your existing store.
In the existing store's BackOffice, click ‘Customers’ and select ‘Export Customers’.
Click ‘Export Customers’ to export a spreadsheet of the store's customers.
Open the customer export in any spreadsheet software.
If there are customers you do not want to copy to the new store, delete those rows from the spreadsheet.
Steps 5-7 are only required if you have tax exempt customers. Skip to step 8 if this does not apply.
Add a column called ‘Tax Exempt’.
In the ‘Tax Exempt’ column, enter ‘TRUE’ for customers with a ‘Sales Tax Number’ and ‘FALSE’ for customers without one.
Check the formatting of the 'Sales Tax Number' column.
Some spreadsheet software removes leading 0s or converts numbers to scientific notation. You may need to adjust the formatting of this column so sales tax numbers save properly.
