Running out of a fast-moving item loses the sale and, often, the customer. Over-stocking ties up cash on the shelf. A reorder level is the stock count at which you place the next order, so the new stock lands just as the old runs out.
The formula
Reorder level = daily sales × days the supplier takes + safety stock
- Daily sales — how many you sell on an ordinary day.
- Lead time — days between ordering and having it on the shelf.
- Safety stock — a cushion for a busy week or a late delivery.
An example
LED bulbs sell 6 a day. The distributor takes 3 days. You keep a safety stock of 6 (one extra day).
6 × 3 + 6 = 24
When stock falls to 24, order. By the time the delivery arrives, you will be close to your safety stock, not at zero.
Keep it honest
- Use your own sales, not a guess — and look again each season. Festival weeks are not ordinary days.
- Slow movers need low levels. A product you sell twice a month does not need a cushion of twenty.
- Count once in a while. A reorder level is only as good as the stock figure it is compared with.
In Billyng
Every bill lowers stock automatically, so the count stays current without a separate register. Set a low-stock level on each product, and Billyng shows when it is low or out of stock; on Basic and above, it also sends an alert — queued if you are offline, sent when you reconnect.