A client rang me after a stocktake that “went fine” until it didn’t.
Three warehouse staff had been given WordPress logins so they could “just update the stock.” Someone with Shop Manager access had changed a handful of quantities from their phone, another person had edited products they didn’t mean to touch, and the manager spent the afternoon asking who had written what into WooCommerce.
The count wasn’t the problem. The permissions were.
Warehouse people need to walk the aisle and record what’s on the shelf. They do not need wp-admin. And they should not be the ones who press the button that writes new stock figures into a live shop.
That separation — counter on the floor, supervisor at the desk — is why Inventory Check for WooCommerce has two dedicated roles.
What went wrong when everyone shared admin
I’ve seen the same pattern on more than one Woo shop. Stocktake day arrives. Someone creates a few extra WordPress users “for the team,” copies the Shop Manager role because it seems close enough, and hands out passwords on a shared warehouse phone.
By lunchtime you’ve got floor staff staring at menus they don’t need, plugins they shouldn’t open, and a Products screen where a fat-fingered tap can change more than a count. Even when nobody breaks anything, the manager still has no clean answer to “who confirmed this stock write?”
Spreadsheets don’t fix that. Spreadsheets just move the same ambiguity into a Google Sheet where three people overwrite column D at once.
I built Inventory Check so counting and confirming are different jobs — with different WordPress roles — on the merchant’s own site.
Counter on the floor
Give warehouse staff the Inventory Check Counter role. They sign in with an ordinary WordPress user, then go straight to the stocktaking app at /inventory-check/ on your site. They are not sent into the WordPress admin to poke around.
From the phone or tablet they can:
- Start, pause, and resume a stock check
- Search products by name or SKU (barcode scan is optional — never required)
- Enter the physical quantity in front of them
- Keep counting if the connection drops, then sync when they’re back
- Review differences between counted and expected stock
What they cannot do matters as much as what they can. A Counter cannot hit Update stock. Saving a count only stores the warehouse figure. WooCommerce stock stays untouched until someone with authority confirms.
That is the whole point of the role: let people who know the shelves do the walking, without handing them the keys to the till’s inventory.
Supervisor at the desk
The Inventory Check Supervisor role is for the person who owns the reconcile. They can count if they want to — some managers still walk an aisle — but they are also the ones who see Update stock in the app.
Typical flow on stocktake day:
- Counters finish the floor work and review differences.
- A supervisor opens the same review list.
- They check ready lines, recheck anything flagged as a conflict (for example an order that changed live stock mid-count).
- They tap Update stock and confirm.
- Ready lines are written to WooCommerce. Conflicts are left alone for a recheck — not blindly overwritten.
Shop Managers and Administrators can still do every step if that’s how your team is set up. The dedicated Counter and Supervisor roles exist for shops that want a cleaner split: warehouse users who never need wp-admin, and a named person who authorises the write.
Supervisors can also open the lightweight History screen in wp-admin when they want the operational record or a CSV after a completed check. Counters don’t get those plugin screens — after login they’re aimed at the app.
How I set it up for a client
When I install Inventory Check on a client site, the first conversation after “does it work on our phones?” is usually about people, not features.
We create WordPress users for the warehouse team and assign Inventory Check Counter. We create one or two Inventory Check Supervisor users for the ops lead or shop manager who will approve the update. Everyone gets the app URL — https://their-site/inventory-check/ — bookmarked or added to the home screen.
I remind them of the shared-device rule: on Status, tap Log out before handing the phone to the next person. Roles only help if the next count isn’t still signed in as yesterday’s supervisor.
Then we run a short dry stock check on a quiet aisle. Counters practise search and save. A supervisor practises review and the confirm step — with a clear understanding that confirmation is the only moment WooCommerce stock changes.
Clients who have lived through “everyone had Shop Manager” tend to relax at that point. The floor can move fast. The desk still owns the write.
Wrap Up
A stocktake needs two kinds of trust: trust that the count on the shelf is honest, and trust that only the right person changes live WooCommerce stock.
Inventory Check Counter and Supervisor roles keep those jobs apart. Warehouse staff work in the app, not wp-admin. Only a supervisor (or a Shop Manager / Administrator) confirms Update stock.
The plugin is fully free — there is no Pro or paid tier. Barcode scanning, offline counting, CSV export, and audit history are all included. Product and count data stay on your WordPress site; there is no neilmatthews.com inventory cloud.
Docs and setup: Inventory Check for WooCommerce. Install from the WordPress.org plugin directory.
Need a hand?
If you want Inventory Check set up with the right Counter and Supervisor users on your Woo shop — or you need a developer who thinks about permissions before stocktake day — hire me. Fixed-price quote, no obligation.
Written by Connie, an AI, from Neil Matthews’ notes, archive, and direction. Neil directed and edited this piece and chose to publish it. He did not write these words. Augmented publishing by Neil Matthews.