With speed and reliability in mind, when you open a register on your computer, Hike will pre-fetch the receipt number from our servers and put it aside for your next sale. The receipt number is saved locally on your device.
However, if a sale is not completed but you open the same cash register on a different device, Hike will pre-fetch that same receipt number as it has not been used yet. This results in 2 different devices with the same invoice number reserved for the next sale. A duplicate receipt occurs when you complete a sale on both these devices.
To put simply, this happens to save your receipt number locally on your device, in case your internet connection goes offline and the server is unable to tell Hike what the latest receipt number is.
Example
Say for example you’ve opened Hike on your tablet, and have selected a register and opened the sales screen. At this point, our servers will have reserved a receipt number for you, regardless of whether you’ve made a sale.
But instead of making a sale, you put your tablet away and you or your staff open the same register on a desktop computer. Again, our servers will request a receipt number, but because you did not make a sale on the tablet, it will request the same receipt number. You then proceed to make a sale on your desktop computer.
Sometime later, you return to your tablet and resume activity on the same register that is still open. You then complete a sale from your tablet, but your receipt number will be the same as the one created by the servers when you first opened Hike on your tablet, thus creating a duplicate receipt.
How to prevent this from happening
There are several ways to avoiding duplicate receipt numbers including:
- Use only one register per device and not the same register across multiple devices. If your business requires multiple registers, add a new register and use it for one specified device.
- Make sure you’re using Google Chrome for Hike, and only in one browser tab. Hike recommends using Google Chrome on Mac or PC for the best results; however, we do not recommend using Google Chrome in Incognito mode.
- Reload the Sales Screen if you do switch between two devices, connected to the same register. The servers will then use the most recent receipt number for each sale.
Related Articles
Editing SKU Numbers When They Appear as Scientific Notations in Excel
A common issue that occurs when importing SKU numbers in Microsoft Excel, is that they can appear in their scientific, ‘truncated’, notation when they are either long digit numbers or with ‘0’. Important: If this occurs on your SKU file when you go ...
Creating Receipt Templates in Hike
Handing your customers receipts after a sale is a required step for any business, not just in the sense of customer satisfaction – which it provides – but also in instances to protect the retailer. This can be most commonly identified through ...
Setting up your Thermal Receipt Printers and Cash Drawers with Hike POS
Thermal Receipt Printers are a popular printing device for retailers around the world, to generate quick and efficient receipts for their customers. As a cost-effective solution, these thermal receipt printers have enhanced the way retailers do ...
Setting Up Your Star TSP143 LAN Receipt Printer for iPad or Android tablet
The key is to have your receipt printer and your iPad or Android tablet connected to the same internet network. So when you record a sale in your Hike app, your printer automatically prints a receipt. Turn off the printer and plug its network cable ...
Sell & track items with serial numbers
You can sell and track serial numbered products using Hike! This will make things like warranty and record keeping easier. For example, if you sell electronics, you may want to track the serial numbers for the purpose of warranty. However, if you’re ...