01Gain
Less waste
You see which shades sit on the shelf for months.
Feature 07 · The colour bar
Salon inventory management for the backbar and the shelf
The colour bar is where salon margin quietly disappears. GetSalonPOS tracks backbar products as stock alongside retail, so you can see what each service uses, reorder before you run out, and stop over-ordering shades nobody uses.
14days free, no card
0%commission on bookings or deposits
0months of contract
28Backbar inventory
What does “backbar” mean?
- Backbar
- Backbar is the professional product a salon uses during services: colour, developer, lightener, treatments, shampoo at the basin. It is not sold to clients, but it is a large cost. Tracking it as stock shows real cost per service and stops waste.
Worked example
A month at the colour bar
| Item | Opening | Received | Used | Closing | Alert |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent colour 7.4 | 18 | 12 | 21 | 9 | at 6 |
| Developer 20 vol 1 L | 6 | 4 | 7 | 3 | at 3 · reorder |
| Lightener 500 g | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | at 2 · reorder |
| Bond treatment | 8 | 6 | 9 | 5 | at 4 |
On the salon floor
Backbar inventory: how it works, step by step
Five steps, in the order the desk meets them.
List your backbar items
Add colour lines, developers and treatments as stock items, not for sale, with cost and unit (tube, bottle, gram).
Count what you have
Enter opening stock per location. Shelf counts can be updated any time with a stock adjustment.
Record what services use
Deduct usage as an internal adjustment per service or per day, or with a standard usage per service.
Reorder on alerts
Set alert levels. When stock is low, raise a purchase order to your distributor and receive it on arrival.
See the cost
Reports show backbar cost by period, so you can check it against colour revenue.
Why salons switch on backbar inventory
02Gain
No emergency runs
Alerts mean the developer doesn't run out mid-Saturday.
03Gain
True cost per service
Price colour services knowing what they really cost.
“Every tube that expires in a drawer was paid for out of a stylist's commission and the owner's margin.”From the GetSalonPOS desk
Out with
What backbar inventory replaces
- Ordering by looking at the shelf
- A clipboard on the colour bar
- Finding out about costs from the distributor invoice
And where it connects
Related features
Retail product salesBarcodes, variants, stock counts and retail commission; the same products go online.
ReportsRevenue by stylist, retail per ticket, deposits, no-shows, stock and tax in one place.
Multi-locationSeveral salons, one account: shared clients, per-location stock and staff, side-by-side reports.
Try it on your own book
See backbar inventory with your own services.
Start the free trial and add your menu, or book a demo and we will set up a sample day using your real services and prices.
14-day free trial, no cardNo contractFree importSalon plan from $49/mo
Feature 07 · FAQ
Backbar inventory: your questions
Stock
Can I track products that are not for sale?
Yes. Mark backbar items as not for sale; they are tracked as stock but never offered at checkout or online.
Can I track partial tubes or grams?
Yes. Use decimal quantities or units like grams and millilitres.
Can I transfer stock between salons?
Yes. Stock transfers move items between locations with a record of who sent and who received.
Does it handle expiry dates?
Yes. Lot numbers and expiry dates can be recorded on purchases, with a report of what is close to expiry.
Ordering
Can I raise purchase orders?
Yes. Create orders per supplier, receive them in full or in part, and the cost and stock update.
Can I see what I spent with each distributor?
Yes. Purchase reports by supplier and period, plus what you still owe if you buy on account.
Plans
Which plan includes backbar tracking?
Backbar inventory and purchase orders are included in Salon and Salon House. Single Chair tracks retail stock.
Do I have to log every gram of colour?
No. Many salons record usage once a day or deduct a standard amount per colour service, then correct with a weekly count. Start simple; the report still shows the trend.