Before the distributor calls

Half past five at Perera Stores (a sample grocery). The distributor's rep rings every evening at six, and for years Nimal answered with whatever he remembered from walking past the shelves: "Dhal, I think, and maybe oil." Some weeks he ordered too much and money sat on the shelf; other weeks he ran out of dhal on a Saturday.

This tour shows a ten-minute check that turns guessing into a list, and the list into an order.

What does the running low list show?

It shows the products that are at or below the reorder point Nimal set, sorted so the most urgent is first. Each one has its stock, its price, the days of stock left at the rate it is selling and a status.

The hero line at the top sums it up: 6 products, 2 running low.

Step by step

1. Open the stock list. At 17:30 Nimal opens Stock. Filter chips run across the top: All products, Running low 2, Out of stock 0 and Slow sellers.
2. Tap Running low. The two lines that need attention move to the top: red dhal with two days left, then coconut oil with three. Everything else sits below, so he can still see the rest of the shelf.
3. Read days left, not just the count. Twelve packs of dhal sounds like plenty. But dhal sells fast in this shop, and twelve packs is two days at today's rate. The days left column is the one that stops a Saturday stock-out.
4. Start one purchase order from those lines. At 17:40 he starts a purchase order. PO-318 opens as a draft, headed Suggested from reorder points, with a line for each running low product and a reminder that you can change every line.
5. Check the supplier. The supplier card at the top shows the distributor and the line Usually delivers in 2 days. That is why a two-day item is urgent: it will be empty before the delivery arrives.
6. Change the quantities he wants. The suggestion brings each product back to twice its reorder point: 28 packs of dhal and 15 bottles of oil. Nimal knows a school fair is on next week and may round the dhal up. The suggestion is a starting point; his knowledge of the street is the final word.
7. Check the total. The panel on the right shows two lines, a subtotal of Rs 17,577, VAT of Rs 0 on these lines and a total of Rs 17,577. He knows exactly what will leave the bank before he agrees to it.
8. Send it and mark it sent. EasyTaskr does not message the distributor itself, so Nimal sends the order his usual way, by WhatsApp or a phone call to the rep, then marks it Sent to supplier. When the rep rings at six, the order is already with the distributor. If the goods will come later, the purchase order stays open until they are received.

Where the suggested quantities come from

In the sample, each line is brought back up to twice its reorder point, and the cost shown is the supplier price:

Setting the right reorder point is what makes this work. If the reorder point for dhal is too low, it will show as running low only after it is too late. The reorder point guide shows how to work it out from daily sales and delivery time, with a calculator.

Why one order instead of a phone list?

A phone order lives in two memories, the owner's and the rep's, and they rarely match. A purchase order is written down once, with quantities and costs, and both sides see the same thing. When the lorry arrives, the order is what Nimal checks the delivery against: ordered 28 packs of dhal, received 28, or received 25 and three still to come. Without it, a short delivery is noticed only when the shelf is empty again. It also gives a clean record of what was spent with each supplier, which matters when Nimal compares prices between distributors.

Switching purchase orders on

In small shop mode, suppliers and purchase orders are off by default. Many corner shops order by phone and never need them, and a shorter menu is easier at the counter. When an owner wants to send orders like this, they switch them on. Nothing else about the till changes.

Tips

• Check at the same time every day. Just before the distributor's usual call is ideal.
• Trust days left over gut feel. A pile that looks large can disappear in a weekend.
• Look at Slow sellers too. If something has not moved in weeks, do not reorder it just because it is low.
• Keep reorder points current. Raise them before festival seasons, lower them for items that have slowed down.

Common mistakes

• Ordering everything back to full. Money on the shelf is money not in the drawer. Order what you need until the next delivery, plus a small buffer.
• Forgetting delivery time. A product with three days left and a supplier who takes four is already late.
• Not receiving the goods. If stock is not received against the order, the running low list keeps showing it and the next order doubles up.
• Letting stock counts drift. Days left is only right if the stock figure is right. Sales through the till and scanning keep it accurate; see stock control.

What to do next

The last stop of the day is the drawer. Count the drawer, and home brings together the morning float, the cash out, Kumari's payment and the day's sales.

If ordering ties up too much cash, cash flow for small business explains how stock, credit and supplier terms affect the money you have on hand.