Departments, Sub Departments & Brands

Departments are the top level of your inventory structure — every item belongs to one department, and most VMX reports can be filtered or grouped by it. Sub departments split a department into finer categories, collections group items for your online store, and brands track the manufacturer of an item. All of these are managed from the Inventory section.

The Departments Page

Go to Inventory → Departments to manage your department list. (If your store uses a different word than "Department," the tab shows your store's term.) The page has three sections — Departments, Sub-departments, and Collections — with Jump to: buttons at the top to scroll to each one.

The Departments table shows one row per department. Columns:

Code — the department's internal number. It appears in exports and imports and cannot be changed.
Name — the department name. Click it to open the department's own page (see "The Department, Sub Department, and Collection Pages" below). The magnifying glass beside the name opens Inventory Search filtered to that department instead.
Prefix — text automatically prepended to the description of every item in the department (see "Department Prefixes and Item Descriptions" below).
Employee — up to three employees assigned to the department (its buyers/managers) for the store you're currently viewing.
Annual Turns — the target number of inventory turns per year, used by planning reports.
# Items — how many items are in the department. Click the number to open Inventory Search filtered to that department. A department with no items shows a plain 0 with no link.
$ Cost — total cost value of on-hand inventory in the department (on hand × average cost) at the current store.
$ Retail — total retail value of on-hand inventory (on hand × unit price) at the current store.
% Margin — the overall margin implied by the $ Cost and $ Retail totals.
Stock Sq Ft — floor space allocated to the department (optional, for your own planning).
Stock Months — months of stock target (optional, for your own planning).
Sort — the department's sort position on your online store.
Online — shows ✅ when the department is visible on your online store.

A totals row at the bottom sums # Items, $ Cost, $ Retail, the overall % Margin, and Stock Sq Ft. Every column can be sorted by clicking its header, and the filter row under the headers narrows the list as you type.

Add or Edit a Department

On Inventory → Departments, click + Department to create a department, or click the pencil (edit) icon on a department's row to change it. Adding departments requires the Add Depts employee permission.

The Department Info window has these fields:

Name — the department name shown throughout VMX.
Primary Employee, Secondary Employee, Tertiary Employee — who is responsible for the department. These assignments are saved per store, so each location can have its own department managers.
Annual Turns — target inventory turns per year for planning reports. Saved per store.
Prefix — text prepended to every item description in the department (see the next section before changing this on an existing department).
Warranty — the default warranty applied to items in this department. Leave as Default to use the store-wide default.
Red Margin Range, Yellow Margin Range, Green Margin Range — margin highlighting thresholds (see "Margin Color Ranges" below).
Tag Type — the default tag (price label) type used when printing tags for items in this department. An item's own tag type, or its sub department's, takes precedence when set.
Stock Sq. Ft. and Stock Months — optional space/stock planning figures. Saved per store.
Web Sort Order, Web Name, Web Is Visible, Web Description, Web Title, Web Meta Description, Web Freight — settings for stores with a VMX online shop: whether the department shows online, the name and description shown to shoppers, its position in the shop navigation, and search-engine title/description text.

Click Create (or Update) to save.

The Department, Sub Department, and Collection Pages

Every department, sub department, and collection has its own page, reached by clicking its name on Inventory → Departments. The page opens with the record's name, its item count, the on-hand cost, retail, and margin for the store you're viewing, and whether it is Online. A button at the top right opens Inventory Search filtered to that record's items — use it rather than expecting the items to be listed on the page, since a single department can hold tens of thousands of items.

The page is organized into tabs:

Department / Sub Department / Collection — the record's own settings: its Name, Prefix, Warranty, Tag Type, and the Red / Yellow / Green Margin Range fields. A department also carries Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Buyer, Ideal Annual Turns, Stock Sq Ft, and Stock Months; these are marked (this store) because each store keeps its own values for them. A sub department carries the Department it belongs to, and a collection carries its Parent Collection, Anchored Department, and Anchored Sub. Department.
Attributes — the attribute values that apply to everything in the department or sub department. Collections do not have this tab.
Website — Web Name, Web Title, Meta Description, Description, Web Freight, Sort, and Online, which control how the record appears on your online store. Collections also have an Ext. Description rich-text field.
Attachments — files linked to this record (see the next section).

Each tab saves on its own. Save stays on the page; Save & Back returns to where you came from. Changing a department's or sub department's Prefix rebuilds the descriptions of every item beneath it, and moving a sub department to a different Department moves all of its items with it.

Attach Files to a Department, Sub Department, or Collection

Departments, sub departments, and collections can each hold attached files — a photo for your online store, a supplier spec sheet, a planogram, signage artwork. Open the record's page (click its name on Inventory → Departments) and go to the Attachments tab.

There are three ways to attach a file:

Click Attach file and choose one or more files from your computer.
Click Attach from QR and scan the code with your phone to upload a photo you take right there.
Drag files from your desktop and drop them anywhere on the page.

When you upload, you are asked for an attachment type. The choice matters:

Department Image / Sub Department Image / Collection Image — publishes the file to your online store as that record's photo. Use it only for the picture you want shoppers to see.
Department Misc / Sub Department Misc / Collection Misc — keeps the file internal. Use it for spec sheets, planograms, and anything else that should not appear on your website.

If you attach more than one image, the one with the lowest Sort value is the one your online store shows. The Attachments tab labels it "Published to the website", and marks the others as not currently shown, so you can always tell which picture shoppers see. Change which one wins by editing the Sort value on the attachment (click the pencil icon beside it).

A department, sub department, or collection that still has an attachment cannot be deleted — remove the attachment first.

Department Prefixes and Item Descriptions

Each department — and each sub department — can have a Prefix. VMX builds every item's description automatically by combining, in order: the department prefix, the sub department prefix, and the item's Name, Variety, Color, and Size. For example, a department prefix of SHRUB produces descriptions like SHRUB Hydrangea Limelight 3G.

Because of this, changing a department or sub department prefix rewrites the descriptions of every item in it. The item page shows the current Dept. Prefix and Sub Dept. Prefix as read-only fields in the item's Description section so you can see what will be prepended.

Margin Color Ranges (Red / Yellow / Green)

Departments and sub departments can define margin thresholds that color-code item margins on the item page and in reports. Set them in the Red Margin Range, Yellow Margin Range, and Green Margin Range fields when editing a department or sub department on Inventory → Departments.

Use a dash to specify a range:

-20 = below 20%
20-35 = between 20% and 35%
50- = 50% and above

The colors indicate:

Red = margin too low
Yellow = needs attention
Green = possibly overpriced
No color = acceptable

If an item's sub department has ranges set, those are used; otherwise the department's ranges apply. If neither is set, VMX defaults to red below 15% margin and yellow from 15% to 50%.

Delete a Department

On Inventory → Departments, a trash icon appears on a department's row only when its # Items count is zero — a department that still contains items cannot be deleted. Clicking the trash icon asks:

Are you sure you want to delete the department "…"?

Even when its # Items count is zero, deleting a department is blocked in these cases, with these messages:

This department has a sub department.

This department has an attachment.

This department has customer requests without a PLU.

Delete or move the department's sub departments, remove the attachment, or clear those customer requests first.

To remove a department that still has items, first move its items to another department: edit each item, or move many at once with the Department and SubDept columns on Inventory → Import/Export (see "Move many items into a sub department at once (Import/Export)" below; the same steps work for departments).

Sub Departments

Sub departments divide a department into finer categories (for example, a Trees & Shrubs department with Evergreen and Deciduous sub departments). Manage them in the Sub Departments section of Inventory → Departments — use the Jump to: Sub-departments button to get there.

The table shows: Code, Department, Sub Department (the name), Prefix, Warranty, Tag Type, Sort, Online, plus inventory stats for the current store — # PLUs, $ Cost, and $ Retail.

Click + New Sub Department (top right of the Sub Departments heading) to add one. Each sub department belongs to exactly one Department. For the full steps, including moving items into it, see "Add a Sub Department and Move Items Into It" below.
Click the pencil (edit) icon to change a sub department. In addition to the table columns, the edit form includes Red Margin Range / Yellow Margin Range / Green Margin Range (margin color thresholds that override the department's for items in this sub department) and web fields (Description, Web Name, Web Title, Meta Description, Web Freight) for stores with a VMX online shop.
Moving a sub department to a different department moves all of its items too — the items' department is updated and their descriptions are rebuilt with the new prefixes.
Clicking a sub department's name opens the sub department's own page (see "The Department, Sub Department, and Collection Pages" below). The magnifying glass beside the name, and the # PLUs count, both open Inventory Search filtered to that sub department.

Deleting a sub department is blocked if it's still in use. You'll see one of these messages:

This sub department has items in it, so cannot be deleted.

This sub department has an attachment.

Move the items to another sub department (or remove the attachment) first.

Add a Sub Department and Move Items Into It

Creating a sub department does not put any items in it. You add the sub department first, then move items into it, either one item at a time or many at once with Import/Export.

To add a sub department:

Go to the Inventory tab and click Departments.
Click Jump to: Sub-departments at the top of the page to scroll to the Sub Departments section.
Click + New Sub Department at the top right of the Sub Departments heading.
Pick the Department it belongs to and type the Sub Department name. The other fields (Prefix, Warranty, Tag Type, margin ranges, and the web fields) are optional. Leave Prefix blank unless you want text added to the front of every item description in the sub department.
Click Create. The new sub department shows in the table with 0 in # PLUs.

Move items into a sub department one at a time

To move a single item into a sub department (or to a different one):

Open the item from Inventory → Search.
In the item's Classification section, check the Department. The Sub Department list only shows sub departments of the selected department, so change the Department first if the sub department belongs to a different one.
Pick the new Sub Department.
Click Save.

The item's description is rebuilt with the new sub department's Prefix, if it has one. This is the simplest way to move a few items.

Move many items into a sub department at once (Import/Export)

To move a large number of items into a sub department, use Inventory → Import/Export instead of editing each item. The import reads the Department and SubDept columns and moves each item to the sub department named in its row.

Create the sub department first (see "Add a Sub Department and Move Items Into It" above).
Go to Inventory → Import/Export. In the export section, select the departments that hold the items you want to move, make sure the Department and SubDept columns are checked in the column picker (under Identity), and export the file.
In the spreadsheet, type the new sub department name in the SubDept cell of each item you want to move. Type the name exactly as it shows on Inventory → Departments (capital letters do not matter). If the sub department belongs to a different department, change the Department cell to that department's name too.
Do not change the PLU or Time Stamp columns, and do not add or remove columns.
Save the file. In the import section, choose the file and upload it with Actually save the changes left unchecked to preview.
Review the preview. A row with a sub department name VMX cannot find shows "unknown SubDept value" and that item is not moved. Fix the name and preview again.
When the preview looks right, upload the file again with Actually save the changes checked. Saving requires the Edit Inventory employee permission.

Notes on moving items with Import/Export:

The file must include both the Department and SubDept columns. If either is missing, the import does not change any item's department or sub department.
A blank SubDept cell takes the item out of its sub department (it stays in its department).
VMX matches a sub department by its department and name together, so the Department cell must be the department the sub department belongs to.
If someone changed an item's department in VMX after you exported the file, the Time Stamp column protects that newer change. Export a fresh file if you see conflicts.

To move every item in a sub department to a different department, you do not need Import/Export: edit the sub department on Inventory → Departments and change its Department. All of its items move with it.

Collections

Collections group items for your online store independently of departments — an item belongs to one department but can be in many collections (for example, "Deer Resistant" or "Gift Ideas"). Manage them in the Collections section of Inventory → Departments — use the Jump to: Collections button.

The table shows: ID, Collection (the name), Parent Collection, Anchored Department, Anchored Sub. Department, Web Name, Sort, Online, a # PLUs count, and a Sort link that opens the collection's items so you can arrange them.

Clicking a collection's name opens the collection's own page (see "The Department, Sub Department, and Collection Pages" below). The magnifying glass beside the name, and the # PLUs count, both open Inventory Search filtered to that collection.

Click + New Collection to add one. Collections can be nested by choosing a Parent Collection.
To reorder collections on your online store, drag rows into position and click Save Sort.
Items are added to collections on the item page, in the Collections field of the item's Classification section.
To add many items to a collection at once, use the Collections column on the Inventory → Import/Export page instead of editing each item. The column holds each item's collection ID numbers (the ID shown in the table above), separated by commas. See Adding Many Items to a Collection at Once.

Deleting a collection is blocked in these cases, with these messages:

This collection has child collections and cannot be deleted.

This collection has an attachment.

For a step-by-step walkthrough of building a seasonal or featured group — creating the collection, filling it, putting it at the top of your online store, and rotating it out at the end of the season — see Featuring Items Online with Collections.

The Collections Tree View

Click Tree view above the Collections table (Inventory → Departments) to see your collections as a tree instead of a flat list. Collections nest — a collection can have a parent — and the tree shows that structure directly, along with what each collection will do on your online store.

Each row shows:

Name — what shoppers see online. Toggle + internal to also show the internal name from your POS.
★ — this collection is set to display inline on its parent's page (a heading with its items), instead of as a clickable picture tile.
Green number — how many items are assigned to the collection itself. A ~number next to it estimates how many of those are actually visible online right now (in stock, sellable, web-visible). ∑ totals the items in the collection and everything nested under it.
⚓ — the collection is anchored to a department: it appears under that department in the store's side menu. Anchoring changes where it shows, never what's in it.
#sort — the collection's sort position among its siblings. Collections without a sort number sort last, alphabetically.
Greyed row / "hidden" — the collection is switched off online (webIsVisible is off). Shoppers never see it, even if it has items assigned.
⚠ — something about this collection needs attention. Click the row: the panel on the right explains each warning, such as a collection that will render as nothing online because no items are assigned to it.

The right-hand panel also spells out exactly how the selected collection renders on your store, and links to Edit in Collections table to change it.

Above the tree, the collapsible Conventions decoder panel is a reference table for every naming convention and special field the collections system uses — what each one does, where it lives, and what to watch out for (the * inline-display flag, web names, anchoring, sort order, and more).

Brands

Go to Inventory → Brands to manage the brand list used on items. The page shows two tables — Active Brands and, below a divider, Inactive Brands — each with columns Brand Name, Code, Note, Website, Active, and Added.

Click New Brand to add a brand. New brands are created active.
Click the pencil (edit) icon to change a brand's name, code, note, or website, or to change its Active setting.
Only active brands are offered in the Brand dropdown on the item page and in the Inventory Search Brand filter (an item that already has a deactivated brand keeps showing it). To retire a brand without losing history, edit it and set Active to No — it moves to the Inactive Brands table. To reactivate a brand, click the edit icon and check Active.

A brand that is referenced by any item cannot be deleted. You'll see:

This brand cannot be deleted because one or more inventory items reference it. You can deactivate it by editing the brand and unchecking Active.

Departments, Sub Departments & Brands on the Item Page

On an item's page (open any item from Inventory Search):

The Classification section has the Department and Sub Department dropdowns. The Sub Department list only shows sub departments belonging to the selected department. The Collections multi-select in the same section adds the item to online-store collections.
The Description section shows the read-only Dept. Prefix and Sub Dept. Prefix fields — these are prepended automatically when VMX builds the item's description from its Name, Variety, Color, and Size.
The Brand section has the Brand dropdown (active brands, plus the item's current brand if it has since been deactivated) and a Manufacturer # field for the brand's own item/part number.

The department and sub department you choose also determine the item's default tag type for tag printing, its default warranty, and the red/yellow/green margin highlighting shown next to its prices.

Filtering by Department and Brand in Search and Reports

Departments, sub departments, and brands are the main ways to slice VMX data:

Inventory → Search has a Department dropdown — it lists each department, and below a separator each department's sub departments as "Department / Sub Department" entries — plus a Brand dropdown listing active brands.
Sales reports such as Reports → Sales → Departments PTD and Departments PTD vs total sales by department.
Ordering reports — Order Planning, Open to Buy, and Departments Receiving — filter by department, and Order Planning and the Open to Buy reports also offer an All Brands brand dropdown. Reports → Sales → Items includes a Brands multi-select filter.

If a report's numbers look off for one category, check that its items are in the department you expect — an item counts toward whichever department it is assigned to on its item page.