Skip to main content

Purchasing Overview

The Smart Purchasing module helps you make data-driven ordering decisions. Instead of guessing how much to order or relying solely on intuition, StorePulse analyzes your sales velocity, historical trends, and configured parameters to generate purchase recommendations.

How It Works​

StorePulse's purchasing engine looks at:

  1. Sales velocity -- How fast each product is selling based on recent history
  2. Current stock levels -- Estimated inventory based on what has been received vs sold
  3. Lead times -- How long each vendor takes to deliver after an order is placed
  4. Safety stock -- A buffer to protect against unexpected demand spikes or delivery delays
  5. Par levels -- Your configured target inventory levels for each product

Based on these inputs, the system calculates which products need to be reordered and suggests quantities.

The Purchasing Dashboard​

The main purchasing page shows:

  • Products needing reorder -- Items that are at or below their reorder point
  • Recommended order quantities -- Suggested amounts based on sales velocity and lead times
  • Vendor summary -- Orders grouped by vendor so you can place consolidated purchase orders
  • Estimated cost -- Projected cost of recommended orders based on last known unit costs

Getting Started with Purchasing​

To use Smart Purchasing effectively, you need to set up a few things first:

  1. Add your vendors -- Enter vendor contact information and lead times
  2. Configure products -- Set reorder points, par levels, and assign vendors to products
  3. Review system settings -- Adjust default safety stock percentages and other global parameters

Once configured, the purchasing dashboard automatically generates recommendations as your sales data flows in.

info

Smart Purchasing uses the same sales data that powers your other StorePulse reports. The more historical data available, the more accurate the sales velocity calculations become.

tip

Start with your highest-volume products. Configure purchasing parameters for your top 50-100 items first, then gradually expand to cover more of your catalog.