How do I share one price list across two branches?

Keep one master price list for the business and let both branches quote from it, rather than keeping a copy in each shop. Put every product, fabric band, lining, fitting charge and minimum charge in that one list, and give one person the right to change it. If a branch really does need a different price, such as a higher fitting charge because the drive is longer, set that as a written rule on top of the master list, not as a second list. Then a price change is made once and both branches quote the same number the next morning.

Why two price lists drift apart

A supplier puts prices up. One branch updates its sheet, the other is still quoting the old price three months later.
Someone fixes a mistake in one shop. A wrong band on a Roman blind gets corrected in one branch and stays wrong in the other.
Each manager adds their own extras. One shop charges blackout lining by the metre, the other adds a flat amount.
A customer asks both branches. They get two prices for the same blind and trust neither of them.

How to set up one list for both branches

Pick the more up to date of the two lists and make it the master. Go through the other one line by line and bring across anything that is missing.
Decide who can change prices. The owner and one manager is enough. Everyone else quotes from the list but cannot edit it.
Write down the rules around the prices: how you round widths and drops, minimum charges, fitting per window or per visit, and how discounts are given.
Pick one day for supplier increases. When a new supplier price list arrives, update the master list once, on that day, and tell both branches.
Keep the branch differences short and in writing. If the list of differences grows past a few lines, you have two price lists again.

What can be different in each branch

Most businesses with two shops keep product prices the same and let only a few things change by branch. This is an example, so decide your own:

Item	Same in both branches?	Why
Blind, curtain and fabric prices	Yes	One customer, one price for the same blind
Linings, motors and extras	Yes	These are where small differences creep in first
Fitting charge	Sometimes	One branch may cover a bigger area or pay its fitters differently
Minimum charge	Usually	A different minimum is hard to explain to a customer
Quote layout and terms	Yes, apart from the address	Branch name, address and phone change, the rest stays the same
Discounts	Yes	The same rule, and the same person approves anything bigger

Check it once a month

Price the same small job in both branches: one Roman blind, one pair of lined curtains and one roller blind, with fitting. If the two totals are not the same, or not different by exactly the rule you agreed, find out why before a customer does.

Doing it in quoting software

A shared spreadsheet works until two people have it open at once, or someone saves a copy to their desktop and quotes from that. In InterioApp your products, prices and rules sit in one app that both branches quote from, so a change is made once. You decide who can change prices, showroom staff quote and managers approve. It costs £99 a user a month, in any branch, with unlimited products and branches. Setup is from £1,800, and in it we load your products, fabrics and price lists, or your supplier libraries, for you.

See it with your own prices

If you run two shops and want to see one price list working for both, book a 30-minute demo and bring the price list from each branch.

First published on the InterioApp blog.