Inventory how-to

How to reorder when cash is tight

When cash is tight, reorder less often but smarter: cut order quantities to match what you can actually pay for, focus cash on your best sellers first, and push slow movers further out.

Short answer: When cash is tight, reorder less often but smarter: cut order quantities to match what you can actually pay for, focus cash on your best sellers first, and push slow movers further out. Use short cover periods and lean on supplier minimums only where the product earns it.

Rank products by what matters now

Sort your SKUs by cash tied up versus sales speed. A product that sells fast and ties up little cash per unit should get priority for reorder. A product that sells slowly or has a high unit cost should wait, even if it is technically due.

This is different from ranking by revenue alone. A $10 item that sells daily can be a better use of limited cash than a $150 item that sells twice a month, because it frees up cash again sooner.

Shorten your days of cover

Days of cover is how many days of stock you order for beyond the lead time. When cash is tight, cut this number. Ordering 15 days of cover instead of 30 means smaller purchase orders and less cash sitting on a shelf, but it also means more frequent ordering and a higher chance of stockouts if a supplier is late.

Only shorten cover on products with short, reliable lead times. Do not shorten cover on something that takes eight weeks to arrive, because a stockout there is harder to fix.

Negotiate around minimums, do not ignore them

If a supplier has a case pack or minimum order quantity that is too large for your cash position, ask about a smaller trial order or a split shipment before you commit to the full amount. If they will not budge, treat that SKU as a bigger, less frequent purchase and plan your cash around it rather than skipping it entirely.

Do not round up to a minimum "just in case." If the minimum is 100 units and you only need 40, ordering 100 anyway because it feels efficient defeats the purpose when cash is the constraint.

Delay, do not cancel, on slow movers

For items with long days of stock remaining, push the order date out rather than placing it now. Check them again in a week or two. This keeps cash free without guessing which items to drop from your range entirely.

Step by step

  1. List every SKU with its reorder point and days of stock remaining.
  2. Mark which SKUs are at or past their reorder point this week.
  3. Of those, rank by sales speed per dollar of cash tied up, fastest first.
  4. Fund the top of that list first with your available cash.
  5. For remaining SKUs, shorten days of cover instead of skipping the order.
  6. Push out any SKU with more than 30 days of stock left, and recheck it in one to two weeks.
  7. Ask suppliers about smaller trial orders where minimums do not fit your cash.

Worked example

Say you have $2,000 free for reordering this week. SKU A sells 10 units a day, costs $4 to buy, lead time 7 days, safety 3 days: reorder point is 10 x (7+3) = 100 units, and you are at 90 units on hand, so it is due. SKU B sells 1 unit a day, costs $40 to buy, same lead time and safety: reorder point is 1 x 10 = 10 units, and you are at 8, also due. Ordering 20 days of cover for A costs 10 x (7+20) x $4 minus what you hold and have on order; ordering the same cover for B costs far more per unit sold. With $2,000, you fund A in full first since it turns over faster, then put whatever is left toward a smaller, shorter-cover order of B.

How SteadyShelf helps

SteadyShelf gives you the reorder point, suggested quantity, and order-by date per SKU, so you can see immediately which items are genuinely due and by how much. It does not know your cash position or rank orders by cash efficiency, so you still need to decide manually which suggested orders to fund now, shrink, or delay.

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

SteadyShelf is launching on the Shopify App Store. Join early access to get the install link first.

Related guides

All inventory how-to guides ยท Inventory glossary

FAQ

Should I just stop ordering slow sellers until cash improves?

Not entirely. Pushing the order date out is usually better than stopping, because a full stockout on a slow seller still loses sales and can push customers elsewhere. Delay the order and recheck in a week or two rather than removing it from your plan.

Is it better to order smaller amounts more often when cash is tight?

Generally yes for fast-moving, short lead time items, since it frees cash sooner. It is riskier for items with long or unreliable lead times, where smaller, more frequent orders increase your chance of running out before the next shipment arrives.

Let SteadyShelf do this math for every SKU

Order-by dates per supplier, seasonal forecasts and draft POs for your Shopify store. $29/month after a 30-day free trial.

Get early access