Is BlueCart worth it for your pub?
Last updated: 26 June 2026
Most pub licensees assume ordering software is the same as stock management software—and that’s the mistake that costs you thousands a year without you knowing it. BlueCart is a ordering platform. It’s useful for that job. But if you think it replaces proper stock discipline, you’re about to discover why your wet gross profit is running 2–3 points behind where it should be.
I spent my first six years running my pub on the phone to my rep every time I needed cider or a case of spirits. Then I moved to BlueCart and cut that friction down. Fair play to them. But ordering more efficiently doesn’t tell you whether the stuff you ordered actually made it to your till, or whether your cellar man is pouring free doubles on a Friday night, or whether your draught lines are bleeding 15% waste because nobody’s cleaning them properly. That’s a different problem entirely.
This review is honest about what BlueCart does, what it costs, and crucially—what it doesn’t do. By the end, you’ll know whether it’s right for your pub, and whether you’re missing something far more expensive than a subscription fee.
Key Takeaways
- BlueCart is an ordering platform, not a stock management system—it handles supplier communication and purchase orders only.
- At £99–£199 per month depending on features, BlueCart is subscription-based software that doesn’t cut losses if you’re not counting stock properly.
- Most pubs lose £3,000–£5,000 per year on wet sales through undetected stock loss, but ordering software alone won’t catch it.
- You need two separate disciplines: efficient ordering (BlueCart does this) and disciplined weekly stock counting with weighed spirits and dipped casks (most pubs skip this).
What BlueCart actually is
BlueCart is a mobile and web app that sits between you and your suppliers. It’s a platform for placing orders, tracking deliveries, managing invoices, and communicating with your reps. Think of it as WhatsApp for pub ordering, plus a bit of accounting paperwork.
The app connects you to suppliers—breweries, spirits wholesalers, soft drinks distributors. You build orders in the app, send them, get tracking updates, and reconcile invoices. Some versions integrate with accounting software. It removes the friction of phone calls, email threads, and spreadsheet-based requisition lists.
That’s useful. Phone calls to reps take time. Email chains go missing. A clean ordering system reduces errors and keeps your supplier relationship documented. BlueCart does that job competently.
But here’s the operator insight that matters: ordering is not the same as stock management. You can order perfectly and still lose 2% of your wet sales to unmeasured waste, over-pouring, and line cleaning loss. You can have the fastest, cleanest ordering system in the UK and still not know whether the cask of Guinness sitting in your cellar is actually the one you paid for three weeks ago.
What BlueCart costs in 2026
BlueCart operates on a subscription model. Pricing typically runs between £99 and £199 per month depending on your supplier network and feature access. Some suppliers build their discounts into pricing, so your cost may vary by region or pubco tie.
If you’re tied to a pubco like Marston’s, Greene King, or Punch, your suppliers are often pre-loaded and sometimes the pubco negotiates BlueCart pricing as part of your rent arrangement. If you’re free-of-tie, you’ll pay the full monthly fee. Most small pubs pay somewhere around £120–£150 per month if they’re ordering from multiple suppliers.
That’s £1,440–£1,800 per year.
Compare that to StockTap pub stock app, which is £97 one-off, no subscription, built specifically for weekly stock counts—not ordering. Or worse, compare it to what you’re losing every year through unmeasured stock variance. A 1% loss on wet sales quietly costs a typical pub £3,000–£5,000 annually. Most pubs don’t even know they’re losing it.
What BlueCart does genuinely well
Speed and convenience
Placing an order takes minutes instead of a phone call. You can do it at 11pm on a Sunday when you notice you’re short on Peroni. Your rep gets the notification in real time. Tracking updates come automatically. That matters when you’re staff-down or running late.
Cleaner supplier relationships
Everything is documented in one place. No more “I thought you said Tuesday” arguments. Invoices are attached to orders. Delivery notes are logged. If there’s a dispute about what you ordered versus what arrived, you have a paper trail.
Multi-supplier ordering in one app
If you order from three or four different suppliers, BlueCart lets you manage all of them in one interface instead of juggling apps and phone numbers. That’s genuinely convenient for larger pubs or those with complex supplier networks.
Some integration with accounting software
Depending on your version, BlueCart can push order data into accounting systems, which saves manual entry work. If your EPOS talks to your accountant’s software, reducing manual invoice entry is useful.
What BlueCart fundamentally doesn’t do
It doesn’t tell you if you’re losing stock
BlueCart shows you what you ordered. It doesn’t show you what you sold or what disappeared. The most effective way to prevent stock loss in a pub is weekly physical counting of opened spirits by weight and casks by dip, reconciled against till sales the same day. BlueCart cannot do this. No ordering platform can. It’s not its job.
It doesn’t track cellar discipline
Bad draught line maintenance, poor cellar temperature, and dirty lines can cost you 10–15% waste on volume alone. BlueCart has no way to log line cleans, temperatures, or partial keg handling. You need a separate system for that—or at minimum, a laminated schedule on your cellar wall and someone checking it daily.
It doesn’t measure by-line profitability
The number that actually matters is wet gross profit by product line, not a single headline stock figure. Spirits hide losses in over-pouring—a free-poured 25ml is often 32–35ml in reality. Draught hides it in waste. Soft drinks can bleed into staff giveaways. BlueCart shows you what you bought. It doesn’t show you which line is actually printing money and which one is quietly losing it.
It won’t catch measurement error or forgotten wastage
Most stock “theft” in pubs is not actual theft. It’s measurement error (scales that are 50g out), forgotten or undocumented waste (the bottle that broke, the cask that went off), and over-pouring that nobody tracks. BlueCart can’t prevent any of that because they happen after the order arrives.
BlueCart vs spreadsheets vs proper stock systems
BlueCart vs email and phone orders
BlueCart wins. It’s faster, cleaner, documented, and removes the friction of phone tag. If you’re still using a spreadsheet to track what to order next week and calling your rep manually, BlueCart will save you 2–3 hours per week. That’s worth the subscription cost.
BlueCart vs a spreadsheet stock tracker
They’re solving different problems. BlueCart optimises ordering. A spreadsheet stock tracker (usually a badly-formatted Excel mess that nobody updates consistently) attempts to track what you have. They don’t compete. BlueCart is better at ordering. A spreadsheet is worse at stock tracking than anything, including pen and paper.
BlueCart vs a proper stock management system
This is where the real conversation lives. A proper stock system—like SmartPubTools—combines ordering efficiency and weekly physical counts and cellar discipline and by-line profitability reporting. It tells you not just what you ordered, but whether it made it to your till or your waste bin.
BlueCart is better at the ordering part. But it doesn’t do the part that actually stops you losing thousands. That’s why most pubs that move from a messy spreadsheet to a disciplined weekly count claws back 1–2 gross profit points within a couple of months. BlueCart won’t do that for you.
At my own pub I was running stock on a tangle of spreadsheets and still losing track of partial kegs and spirit measures. The ordering was fine. The counting was chaos. I built a simple count routine around a dipstick and a set of scales, and the weekly variance went from guesswork to a number I could trust within a fortnight. That’s not something BlueCart enables. That’s discipline, discipline, discipline—and you need a system that supports it.
Is BlueCart right for your pub?
You should use BlueCart if:
- You’re currently placing orders by phone, email, or a confusing spreadsheet, and it’s eating your time.
- You order from multiple suppliers and want everything in one app.
- Your pubco recommends it or includes it in your rent, and the cost is already baked in.
- You already have a disciplined weekly stock count system running, and you just need the ordering bit cleaned up.
You should probably skip BlueCart if:
- You’re hoping it will fix your stock loss problem. It won’t. That requires weekly physical counts.
- You’re tight on cash and you have to choose between ordering software and stock counting discipline. Choose the stock counting discipline. It pays for itself in three weeks.
- You’re a smaller pub with a single main supplier and a clean ordering routine already. The cost-to-benefit ratio isn’t there.
The honest take
BlueCart is useful software for a specific job. It’s not a magic pill. Most pubs need two things: efficient ordering (which BlueCart provides) and disciplined weekly stock counting with weighed spirits and dipped casks (which BlueCart does not). If you’re going to spend money on your back-of-house operation, get the stock counting discipline right first. Everything else is optimisation.
If your ordering is already eating your time and you’ve got the headcount and discipline to count stock properly each week, then BlueCart is a sensible buy. If you’re still doing stock “by eye” and hoping for the best, BlueCart will just be another £150 per month draining your P&L while the real problem sits in your cellar untouched.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between BlueCart and stock management software?
BlueCart is an ordering platform—it manages purchase orders and supplier communication. Stock management software tracks what you have, what sold, and what disappeared. They solve different problems. You need both, but BlueCart alone won’t stop stock loss.
How much does BlueCart cost per month in 2026?
BlueCart typically costs £99–£199 per month depending on your supplier network and feature tier. Most small pubs pay £120–£150 monthly. That’s £1,440–£1,800 per year, which is worthwhile only if ordering is genuinely eating your time.
Can BlueCart tell me if I’m losing stock?
No. BlueCart shows you what you ordered. It doesn’t tell you what sold or what disappeared. Detecting stock loss requires physical weekly counts—weighed spirits and dipped casks—reconciled against till sales. BlueCart cannot do this.
Should I use BlueCart instead of a spreadsheet?
Yes, for ordering. BlueCart is faster and cleaner than spreadsheet-based ordering. But don’t mistake ordering efficiency for stock discipline. You still need to count stock physically each week. BlueCart won’t replace that.
Is BlueCart worth it if I only order from one supplier?
Probably not. If your main supplier rep knows your pub, you’ve got a clean ordering routine, and you’re not wasting time on the phone, the cost-to-benefit ratio of BlueCart is weak. Most of the value comes from multi-supplier consolidation and automation of complex order workflows.
You’ve now seen what ordering software can and can’t do. But the real money is in stock discipline.
Most pubs lose £3,000–£5,000 annually on wet sales without knowing it. A 1% variance doesn’t sound like much until you see it on your P&L. You don’t need expensive software. You need a system that lets you dip every cask, weigh every opened spirit, and reconcile it against your till the same day.
That’s what StockTap pub stock app does. £97 once. No subscription. No monthly fees. Works on any device. Built by a working pub landlord, not a venture-backed ordering platform.
If you’re going to invest in your back-of-house this year, start with the discipline that actually stops losses. Then, if ordering is eating your time, add BlueCart on top.