Onboarding — load your first products

Three ways to build your catalogue on day one — drug database, single add, or CSV/Excel import.

4 min readUpdated 10 September 2026

RxShelf has no separate "onboarding mode" — the three Add product paths ARE the onboarding flow. They're always in the sidebar under Inventory, so returning later to add more feels identical to day one.

Pick the path that matches your catalogue

PathBest for
Drug DatabaseMost Nigerian pharmacies. Search RxShelf's shared master catalogue and add products with all their details pre-filled.
Add ProductA single custom product not in the master database, or a one-off.
Import CSVPharmacies migrating from a spreadsheet or another system.

All three end at the same place — products in your catalogue with zero stock. Stock is a separate step (see Stock in a batch).

Path 1 — Drug Database

Sidebar: Inventory → Drug Database. The fastest path for most pharmacies.

Search the master catalogue and add products in bulk.
Demo coming soon
Search the master catalogue and add products in bulk.

The page has two tabs — Products and Services — each with its own cart.

Products tab

  1. Type the brand or generic name in the search box.
  2. Filter by type (All / Drug / Consumable) if you need to narrow the list.
  3. Click a result to add it to the cart on the right.
  4. When you're done, click Review & Add to Inventory.
  5. In the review modal, set for each product:
    • Category — pick an existing category or create one inline with the + button. Required.
    • Reorder level — defaults to 10. When stock drops below this, you get low-stock alerts.
    • Default markup % — the retail markup that pre-fills when this product is later restocked. Optional.
  6. Save.

Services tab

For non-stock sellables — injections, BP checks, consultations, dispensing fees. Click a service to add it to the services cart, review with a per-service price (leave blank to set later), and save.

Path 2 — Add Product (manual, single)

Sidebar: Inventory → Add Product. A two-step form for adding one product that isn't in the master database.

Add a single product manually — identity, then defaults.
Demo coming soon
Add a single product manually — identity, then defaults.

Step 1 — Identity

  • Product type — Drug or Consumable.
  • Name — the brand name (e.g. Emzor Paracetamol).
  • Unit of measure — tablets, capsules, ml, sachet, etc.

For drugs only (Consumables skip these):

  • Generic name — the active ingredient.
  • Dosage form — tablets, capsules, syrup, cream, injection, etc.
  • Strength — e.g. 500mg.
  • Pack size — units per pack.
  • Card size — units per blister strip.
  • NAFDAC number.
  • Manufacturer.

Click Continue.

Step 2 — Defaults and classification

  • Category — pick or create inline.
  • Reorder level (default 10).
  • Default markup % — pre-fills at restock. Optional.
  • Default wholesale markup % — if you sell wholesale. Optional.
  • Notes.

Click Add product.

Path 3 — Import CSV / Excel

Sidebar: Inventory → Import CSV. A 3-step wizard for bulk import from a spreadsheet.

Bulk import from a spreadsheet — upload, review, import.
Demo coming soon
Bulk import from a spreadsheet — upload, review, import.
  1. Information — read the required columns and download a template.
  2. Upload file — CSV, XLS, or XLSX.
  3. Review & import — the wizard AI-matches your columns to RxShelf fields, flags rows with issues (missing NAFDAC, duplicate identity tuple, unrecognised drug names), lets you fix issues inline, then imports.

Products are created; no batches, no stock — same as the other two paths.

Nothing to sell until you stock in

All three paths only create the product records — the catalogue. Each product starts with zero stock. To actually be able to sell a product, you need to add its first batch through Stock In next.

Next steps