Running a club shop without a spreadsheet

A club shop sounds straightforward until you need three product types, two payment methods and a cut-off date that everyone ignores until the last hour. And unlike a normal webshop, a club shop does not hold stock. Almost everything is ordered in a batch after the list is final, because the supplier needs one combined order and small quantities are only affordable when you bundle them.

That batch rhythm is the key to designing a shop that works for volunteers. You are not running a permanent store. You are running rounds.

In dodgehub, managers define products once: price, description and custom fields (size, number, dietary note, you name it). Members cannot submit half an order, because the form asks for what you configured. That alone removes a lot of back-and-forth.

Set up the fields before you open the round, not after. A good rule of thumb: if you would otherwise ask a follow-up question in the chat, it should be a field.

• Use a dropdown for sizes so nobody types “mediumish”.
• Use a text field for the name on the shirt and mark it as required.
• Use colour swatches when the same item comes in different colours.
• Attach the supplier's size chart so people can check it while they choose.

Each order round is a session with a title, start and end. While it is open, people shop. When it closes, the list is frozen enough to place the bulk order with your supplier. No one can “quietly add one more” three days later unless a manager reopens things on purpose.

Pick the window length deliberately. Two weeks is enough for most rounds. Shorter windows create urgency, longer ones create stragglers. Announce the closing date once, at the start, and then let the system enforce it.

Active members order inside the club workspace. For friends, alumni or people who only show up for tournaments, you can share an external order link. They order without an account, and you still see their line in the same session list. Learn more about guest and external orders.

Because guests can have their own price, you can sell fan merch at a margin that supports the club while members pay the club price.

When the session closes, managers export the mental load into one view: lines, quantities, variants and who still owes money. The volunteer placing the supplier order is not reconstructing truth from forty-two pinned messages.

dodgehub's totals by product give you quantities per product, split between member and external orders, with the total value. After you place the order, mark it as placed. When the shipment arrives, mark the stock as received and then tick off orders as they are picked up.

Clubs that move away from a spreadsheet tend to trip over the same few things, so it helps to know them in advance.

• Opening the round before the products are finished. Missing size charts and unclear fields cause exactly the questions you wanted to avoid.
• Making the window too long. A month-long round lets everyone postpone the decision until the last day anyway.
• Forgetting the payment instructions. Decide how people pay before the first order arrives, not after the deadline.
• Mixing everything in one round. Jerseys and fan merch often have different suppliers and deadlines. Give each its own session.

Start small. Pick one product, one session and one deadline, and run a single round the new way. Compare how much time you spent compared with the spreadsheet version. For a complete walkthrough, read how to organize a team jersey order without a spreadsheet, or see the club shop feature page.