In your Retail POS account, you can maintain consistent stock levels and avoid ordering too many items by using the Reorder point and Desired inventory level settings on an item’s details page.

• Reorder point: Quantity when an item is considered low in stock, and so should be reordered. For example, you may decide that you want to buy more t-shirts whenever you have only five remaining.
• Desired inventory level: Quantity of items you want to have once you’ve replenished your stock. For example, you may want to have thirty t-shirts total after you’ve received your purchase order.

Retail POS then calculates a number of units you can use for purchase orders, master orders, transfers, and the Reorder List report, which offers a summary of items below their reorder point and the amount that needs to be ordered.

Configuring item reorder settings

Item reorder settings can be configured from the item's Details, or its Reorder points page, which provides more information about the reorder settings for the item at different locations.

Configuring item reorder settings using the Reorder points page

Using the Reorder points page displays an item's settings across locations. If you subscribe to Lightspeed Analytics, demand forecasting is also available on this page.

To configure the reorder settings for an item:

1. Navigate to Inventory > Item Search.
2. Use the search tools to locate the item.
3. On the Items page, click Reorder points.

   

4. Add your reorder point in the Point column, and the desired inventory level in the Level column. The amount that must be ordered to meet your desired inventory level is displayed in the Need column.

   

5. Click Save changes. This will refresh the Need column.

Configuring item reorder from the Details page

An item’s Reorder point and Desired inventory level can be set from its Details page.

1. Navigate to Inventory > Item Search.
2. Use the search tools to locate and select the item.
3. On the details page, find the Inventory reordering (this location) heading.

   

4. Set a Reorder point and Desired inventory level.
5. Click Save changes.

Calculating the unit quantity to order

Retail POS calculates how many units you should order by using the Reorder point and Desired inventory level settings. The calculation also factors in an item’s:

• In Stock quantity.
• Incoming quantity on transfers from other locations.
• On order quantity on purchase orders, including purchase orders in the Open, Ordered, and/or Check-In statuses.
• Stock quantity in boxes if the single item is part of a box.
• On order quantity in boxes if the single item is part of a box.

Assemblies are not factored into reordering calculations.

Calculating single items

With single items, the Need quantity is calculated from the Reorder point, Desired inventory level, the current in-stock quantity, and any incoming stock. For example, if you have a t-shirt that has:

• Reorder point: 10.
• Desired inventory level: 20.
• Five units on hand.
• No units incoming.

Then the Need quantity will be 15. This is because you're below the reorder point, and the 15 units will be added to the five you have on hand to give you a stock level of 20 units.

Calculating box items

In the case of single items included in boxes, the Need quantity includes Stock and On Order units. For example, if a box item includes 10 units, you have no boxes on hand, and one box on order, the Need quantity will be zero. The units are provided by the on-order box.

If you sell a single unit from the box, Retail POS will automatically break the box and assign the remaining stock to your single item's Stock quantities.

Reordering items with negative inventory

If an item has negative inventory, Retail POS calculates the Need quantity as if you had a quantity on hand (QOH) of zero. This lets you identify the reason for an item's negative QOH and correct it before placing an order or transfer.

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