Inventory how-to

How to plan inventory for wholesale orders on top of retail

Treat wholesale orders as a separate demand on top of your normal retail forecast, not something baked into it.

Short answer: Treat wholesale orders as a separate demand on top of your normal retail forecast, not something baked into it. Add the wholesale quantity to the reorder quantity SteadyShelf suggests, and move up your order-by date if the wholesale commitment has a hard delivery deadline.

Why wholesale breaks simple forecasting

Retail demand forecasting assumes steady day-to-day sales. A wholesale order is a lump demand that lands all at once, often much bigger than a normal day's sales, and it is usually negotiated weeks or months ahead. If you let your reorder system treat it as just more daily sales, it will smooth the spike into your average and underestimate how much stock you actually need before the wholesale ship date.

The fix is to keep the two separate in your head and your math, even if they share the same SKU and the same supplier.

Build a simple wholesale demand log

Keep a running list, even a basic spreadsheet, of confirmed wholesale orders with SKU, quantity, and required ship date. Update it the moment a deal is confirmed. This log is your source of truth for anything that will not show up automatically in your regular sales data until the order actually ships.

For each SKU with a pending wholesale commitment, subtract that quantity from your current on-hand before comparing it to the reorder point. This gives you a true picture of what is actually available for retail customers between now and when new stock arrives.

Order early enough for both

Work out two dates for each affected SKU: the date you would normally reorder based on retail velocity alone, and the date you need stock in hand to fulfill the wholesale order on time (ship date minus any packing or handling days). Use whichever date is earlier as your real order-by date.

If the wholesale ship date forces an earlier order than your supplier's standard lead time allows, you either need to place the order immediately, ask the supplier about an expedited option, or renegotiate the wholesale ship date. Do not wait for your regular reorder schedule in this situation.

Recheck after the wholesale order ships

Once the wholesale order ships and is deducted from your stock, your retail forecast picture changes again. Recalculate your days of stock and reorder point using the post-shipment on-hand number, since a big one-time drawdown can suddenly put a SKU much closer to running out for retail than it looked a week earlier.

Step by step

  1. List every confirmed wholesale order with SKU, quantity, and required ship date in a simple log.
  2. Subtract committed wholesale quantities from current on-hand for each affected SKU before checking stock levels.
  3. Calculate the order-by date for the wholesale commitment separately from the normal retail reorder date.
  4. Use the earlier of the two order-by dates as your actual deadline to place the purchase order.
  5. Add the wholesale quantity on top of the normal reorder quantity when you place the order, then round up to the supplier's case pack or minimum.
  6. If the wholesale ship date does not leave enough time for the supplier's lead time, contact the supplier about expedited shipping or renegotiate the date.
  7. After the wholesale order ships, recheck on-hand and days of stock for retail, since the drawdown changes your normal reorder timing.

Worked example

Say a SKU sells 10 units a day at retail, with a 14-day lead time and 5 days of safety stock. Reorder point = 10 x (14 + 5) = 190 units. You have 220 on hand, so you are above the reorder point for retail alone. Now a wholesale buyer orders 150 units for delivery in 10 days. Your effective on-hand for retail drops to 220 - 150 = 70 units, which is below the 190 reorder point, so you need to order enough to cover both: order qty = 10 x (14 + 5 days cover) - 70 + 150 committed = 190 - 70 + 150 = 270 units, rounded up to the supplier's case pack.

How SteadyShelf helps

SteadyShelf forecasts and suggests quantities based on Shopify sales history and does not have a built-in concept of separate wholesale commitments or future-dated bulk orders. If your wholesale orders go through Shopify as regular orders, they will affect the sales history SteadyShelf uses, which can distort the forecast if the order was a one-off. The practical workaround is to track wholesale commitments outside the app and manually adjust the suggested order quantity and order-by date before approving a purchase order.

$29/month flat, unlimited products and suppliers, 30-day free trial. Run the numbers now with the free reorder point calculator.

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FAQ

Does SteadyShelf separate retail and wholesale demand automatically?

Not well on its own. SteadyShelf forecasts from your Shopify sales history, so a wholesale order placed outside Shopify will not show up unless you record it as an order in your store. If you take wholesale orders through a separate channel, log the committed quantities somewhere visible and subtract them from on-hand manually before you trust the suggested reorder quantity.

What if my wholesale buyer wants a delivery date sooner than my supplier's lead time allows?

Set the wholesale order's due date as your target date and work backward. If the supplier lead time plus your safety days is longer than the time you have before the wholesale order ships, you need to place the purchase order now, not wait for the normal weekly reorder email, because by the time it fires the window may already be too tight.

Let SteadyShelf do this math for every SKU

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