Organize spare parts and warehouse products into custom categories and subcategories, shared across all shops: faster search in the lab, at checkout, and in reports.
Product categories are the tool a smartphone and PC repair shop uses to organize its warehouse: instead of having hundreds (or thousands) of spare parts listed with no clear order, every product is assigned to a category and, if needed, to a subcategory. The result is a catalog that technicians, warehouse staff, and checkout staff can browse quickly, even as the number of items grows over time with new suppliers and new device models.
Why it matters for a repair shop
A smartphone and PC repair shop typically manages very diverse families of spare parts: glass and displays, batteries, charging connectors, cameras, speakers, flex cables, plus accessories sold at the counter such as cases, cables, and chargers. Without a clear classification, finding the right part during an urgent repair becomes slow, especially for less experienced technicians or staff at a newly opened shop. Product categories solve this at the root: they structure the warehouse with a shared logic, reduce picking errors, and speed up both lab work and checkout sales.
How it works
Categories are organized on two levels: the main category (e.g. "Screen parts", "Batteries", "Charging connectors", "Accessories") and, inside each one, optional subcategories for further detail (e.g. inside "Batteries", the subcategories "iPhone batteries" and "Samsung batteries"). This two-level structure lets you stay general when that is enough, and go into detail when the volume of products requires it.
Categories and subcategories are configured at company level, not per shop: this means all the shops of your company share the same classification scheme. A "Screen parts" item stays the same in every shop of the network, which keeps reports and comparisons between shops consistent, because everyone speaks the same warehouse language.
Each category shows a usage counter: the number of products currently using it. This counter also protects the integrity of the catalog, because a category that has assigned products or subcategories inside it cannot be deleted directly: you first have to move the products to another category or remove the subcategories, so that warehouse items never end up without a classification from one moment to the next.
Assigning the category (and any subcategory) to a product happens directly from the product record in the Warehouse catalog: you pick the most suitable category and, if available, the specific subcategory. From then on, that product can be filtered by category both in the warehouse catalog and in the product search at checkout (POS).
Quick guide
- Go to Company > Product categories.
- Click "New category" and give it a clear, recognizable name (e.g. Screen parts, Batteries, Charging connectors, Accessories).
- If the volume of products requires it, open the category and create one or more subcategories (e.g. inside "Batteries": iPhone batteries, Samsung batteries, Xiaomi batteries).
- Go to the Warehouse catalog and open the record of each product you want to classify.
- Assign the correct category (and subcategory, if any) to each product, starting with the parts you move the most.
- Use the "in use" counter in the category list to see which ones are the most populated and which need to be reviewed or merged.
- Rename an existing category via the edit icon when internal terminology changes, without having to recreate it from scratch.
- Before deleting a category you no longer need, move its products to another category and remove any remaining subcategories.
Real use cases
A smartphone repair shop that fixes dozens of different models every week organizes its parts into categories such as "Screen parts", "Batteries" and "Charging connectors", with subcategories by brand (Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi). During an urgent repair, the technician quickly filters the warehouse by category and subcategory instead of manually scrolling through hundreds of product codes, cutting down the customer's waiting time in the shop.
A network of three repair shops that centralizes purchasing from suppliers uses the same shared categories across all locations: this makes it possible to compare in reports how much each shop consumes in "Screen parts" or "Batteries" over the same period, spotting the shop with the highest turnover and planning orders accordingly.
A shop that, besides repairs, sells accessories at the counter (cases, screen protectors, cables, chargers, power banks) keeps the "Retail accessories" category clearly separate from the repair parts categories: this way staff instantly recognize, both in the warehouse and at checkout, what is meant for the lab and what is ready for direct sale to the customer.
Tips and best practices
Keep the number of top-level categories limited and use subcategories for detail: a tree that is too wide on the surface is just as hard to browse quickly as one that is too deep. Choose short names that a technician or a new hire can recognize on their first day, avoiding internal abbreviations only the people who created them understand. If you run multiple shops, coordinate with the other shop managers before creating new categories, to avoid duplicates with slightly different names but the same meaning. Periodically review categories with low usage: sometimes they are a sign of an outdated classification that should be merged into a more general one.
Common mistakes to avoid
One of the most frequent mistakes is creating nearly identical categories with slightly different names (e.g. "Glass" and "Screen glass"), which end up splitting the same products across two parallel classifications. Another common mistake is leaving products uncategorized: a warehouse with many "uncategorized" items makes filters and reports far less useful than they could be. Finally, avoid trying to delete a category still linked to active products: the system blocks the operation until the products are moved elsewhere, precisely to prevent warehouse items from being left without a classification.
Frequently asked questions
Are categories shared across all the shops of my company? Yes, product categories (and subcategories) are configured at company level and are automatically available in every shop, without having to recreate them shop by shop.
Can I create multiple levels of subcategories, e.g. a subcategory inside another subcategory? No, the structure has two levels: the main category and, inside it, its direct subcategories.
Can I delete a category that still has products assigned to it? No, you first need to move all the linked products to another category (or delete the subcategories inside it), then the category becomes deletable.
Can a product belong to more than one category at the same time? No, each product is assigned to a single category (and at most one subcategory), to keep the classification clear and unambiguous.
Are categories useful at checkout too, not just in the warehouse? Yes, a product's category is also used in the catalog search at the POS, making it faster to find the right item during a sale.
Who can create or edit product categories? Managing categories is an administrative company function, meant for whoever organizes the warehouse at the level of the shop network.
