Article Contents
Introduction
If you have separate items in your venue that are interchangeable, you can group them together as item variations.
These items can be used in all the same menu items, however there may be small differences between them (different supplier, case size, measurement size).
For more detailed information on item variations, please see:
When grouping items, each item becomes an item variation, and you’ll designate which is the default (typically the most common format in your venue).
It will appear as one item in your venue’s item list (using the default’s details), but you’ll be able to inventory and order/receive each item variation.
When it comes to reporting in consumption and variance, you'll see the default variation.
Note: This is different from the “merge” feature, where you are combining items that are exact duplicates to clean up your account. To learn more, see:
Select Items to be Grouped
In this example we'll be grouping together an item that comes in 3 different formats: 750ml, 1L, and 1.75L. Each version of this item is used interchangeably in all the same menu items.
To group items on the WISK Web Portal you can either:
Select all items to group together in the table by clicking the checkboxes beside them
Go into the details for an item and search for items to group it with
Note: You can only group items together that have the same measurement type (volume, weight, or units).
Select from Table
Click the checkboxes beside each item that you want to group together (if you don’t see the checkboxes, you will need to toggle on the “Selection” column)
Click the ‘Group items” button
Search from Item
Place your cursor over an item and click the "Edit" button
Click the "Actions" menu and select "Merge or group "
Type the name of the item you want to group and click the matching search result
Click the checkmark button to add the item
After adding all of the items to be grouped, click "Group Items".
Item Details and Default Item Variation
After you’ve selected the items to be grouped, you can edit the details of the resulting item, and determine which variation will be the default for inventory / par purposes.
To learn more about the default item variation, see:
On the left, you’ll see the resulting item after you group the items. On the right, you’ll see the items that are being grouped
You can copy any details from the items being grouped to the resulting item by clicking on the “Paste” icons, or you can make changes directly in the resulting item. Click the tabs that show the item name to toggle between them
Scroll down to the “Item Variations” section of the resulting item. You’ll see that each item being grouped appears as an item variation. You can click the item variation toggle to switch between them
The variation on the left is assigned as the default, but you can click the tab of another variation and click the “Set as default for inventory / par level” button to change it
When you click the button, that variation becomes the default item variation when the grouping is completed. Moving forward, whenever you take stock counts or want to use par levels for ordering, it will be in the measurement of the default item variation. You should select the variation that is most common in your venue to be the default
Complete the Grouping
After you have made any necessary changes to the resulting item’s details, and set the default item variation, you are ready to complete the item grouping.
Grouping Warning
Grouping is an advanced operation and should only be used with extra care. Before you finalize your grouping, please make sure that the items being grouped are 100% interchangeable and can be used in all the same menu items in your venue.
For more information and examples of item variations, please see:
Furthermore, after the items have been grouped, you will notice the following in your venue:
The item you selected as the default item will remain, and the others will be archived and added as variations of that item
Your "Stock" count for the resulting item won't be accurate until you take your next inventory count. It's advised that you group items just prior to an inventory to have the least impact and not before placing an order. If you need to see the stock count for items that were grouped together, you can check your most recent inventory
The grouping applies as of this point forward. All of your past invoices and inventory counts will display the items before they were grouped (if applicable).
Note: You can undo an item grouping using the "Ungroup" function.
Saving
To complete the item grouping:
Click “Save”
As outlined in the Grouping Warning section above, you'll need to confirm that you want to group these items. Click "OK"
Click “Close”
Post Item Grouping
After you have grouped the items, you’ll see they have been combined into one item on the Item’s page. It uses the information from the item that was selected as the default.
Note: As noted earlier, the “Stock” account won’t update automatically after the grouping. This is because the other items were archived as part of the process. When you next take an inventory, all counts for that item will be converted into the default item variation.
For example, if the 1L variation is the default, and you count 5 1L bottles, and 2x 750ml bottles in the next inventory, that’s a total of 6.5L. The stock count would display as 6.5 1L.
To view the item variations, place your cursor over the item and click the “Edit” button.
You’ll now see the item and its variations:
Ungroup Items
In the event you group together items by mistake, you can undo this action.
Important: You can only ungroup the most recent grouping. If you group 2 separate items together (For example, Item A & Item B), and then group that resulting item with Item C, you can only undo that grouping. Item A & Item B will still be grouped.
Click the "Edit" button beside the item
Click "Actions" > "Ungroup"
Click "OK" on the confirmation screen
The item variations are restored as separate items
Ungrouped Item Stock Counts
If you group and then ungroup items before you take an inventory count, all items are restored to as they were, including the stock count of each item.
If you ungroup items after an inventory count was taken when the items were grouped, the converted stock count displays under the former default item variation.