Orders

Orders Module Overview

On the Retail 365 system orders may be automatically generated/compiled or they may be entered manually.
Purchase orders are automatically complied through the following methods:
Sales Replacement Method
The Reorder Level Method
The Replenishment Level Method
The first two methods, Sales Replacement and Reorder Level are product based.
Replenishment ordering is supplier based
Products assigned to a Replenishment supplier are always assigned the Replenishment method of automatic ordering
Products assigned to suppliers that are not Replenishment suppliers can be assigned either the Sales Replacement or the Reorder Level method – or can be assigned to only be ordered manually
A supplier may either be a:
Replenishment Level Method Supplier or
Not a Replenishment Level Method Supplier

How to access the Orders module

Login to Retail 365
Press on the 'Orders' tile
The module will then open on the first, of the eleven tabs, that this module is divided into

Sales Replacement and Reorder Level

The Sales Replacement and Reorder Level methods can be applied to products that are not assigned to a Replenishment Supplier.
If a supplier is not a Replenishment supplier, then the individual products assigned to that supplier may be automatically ordered either by The Reorder Level Method or Sales Replacement.
They can also be set to be ordered manually, in which case the system will not automatically put such products on order.
Products assigned to suppliers that are not Replenishment suppliers are given a default reorder method in Product Maintenance – that is either, the Reorder Method, Replacement Method, or Manual.
When setting up a product, one of these methods is allotted automatically based on the default method assigned to the supplier of that product. (The default method is assigned to a supplier in the supplier configuration menu option of 365.)
Sales Replacement Ordering is used for suppliers whose individual goods do not sell in large quantities and to whom orders are sent on a pretty frequent basis.
A Sales Replacement Order works as follows:
As products are sold they are placed on a “pending” order for their assigned supplier.
The individual products are kept on “hold” until such time as the quantity on order is equal or greater than the quantity in stock.
Then the “hold” is removed, and they are included in the next order to that supplier.
The logic the Sales Replacement ordering system uses for placing a product on order is:
If the product has sold since the last order was generated then order the quantity that has sold since the last order was generated – if the quantity being ordered is equal or greater than the quantity in stock at the time of placing the order.
The Sales Replacement system is extremely simple and has the advantage that accurate stock levels are not required to generate orders.
This method has some limitations in that products are ordered much more frequently than with the other methods. There may also be a tendency to have a stock quantity on hand surplus to that which is actually required. Therefore this method is most suitable for products which are both slow moving and are ordered on a frequent basis. Case quantities must always be “1”. In this way it would NEVER be suitable for certain products where it is required that minimum case quantities must be purchased from the supplier. Take for instance a colour cosmetic such as a lipstick where the minimum case quantity is “3”. In this situation, if one product is sold between orders, then the product is placed on an order. As the minimum quantity that can be purchased is “3”, then the shop will end up with a stock of ”5” of what may be a really slow moving item. And it can get worse. The next time one of these products is sold – it might be six months – then 3 are ordered in again. The stock will then jump to “7”!!
It can be pretty inefficient as a method of ordering items that are sold every day. Say if a product sells once daily – and an order is sent to the supplier of that product every day. Then that product is ordered 30 times each month.
- The product is part of thirty deliveries per month and must be checked off 30 times
- The product is part of 30 invoices each month - obviously adding to the accounting overhead
- The product is placed on the shelves – and possibly labelled or priced - 30 times per month
Sales Replacement is most useful for slower moving items – and Pharmacy has many such products. In other retail sectors really slow items are usually not stocked at all. However, in Pharmacy there a multitude of products which MUST be stocked even though they sell really slowly – probably a few times per month at best. These products must be stocked for strategic purposes because customers expect pharmacies to stock these products.

2) Re-order Level Ordering or “Just in Time” Ordering

This is used where deliveries are received from that supplier on a continuous or daily basis. You only order the products that are low in stock at the time you are ordering.

Reorder Level Ordering works as follows:

Products are placed on the “pending” orders once the current stock quantity is equal to or less than the reorder level.
The quantity placed on order is always equal to the reorder quantity.

Using this method, the purchase of each product is based on three parameters:

The Current Stock Quantity
The Re-Order Level
The Re-Order Quantity – the quantity that is always placed on order

Say if the Stock Quantity is 3 and the Re-Order Level is set to 2 then the product is not placed on a “pending” order. However, if the Stock Quantity is 1 and the Re-Order Level is 2 then the Re-Order Quantity of product is placed on a “pending” order.

Therefore, the logic used when processing a Reorder Level order is:

If the Stock Quantity is less than or equal to the Re-Order Level then the Reorder Quantity is ordered

This method is the method that is recommended for use where

The quantity of products sold on a monthly basis is reasonably high – say more than 6 to 12 per month and
The products can be ordered from wholesalers from which the shop is ordering on a daily basis

This method of ordering maintains excellent control of stock quantities, while at the same time having the efficiencies of only ordering these products at intervals that can be controlled by the level at which the re-order quantity is set. For instance, if the re-order quantity is set at a quantity that equates to 14 days sales, then the product will be, on average, ordered every two weeks. On the other hand, if the product is perishable, then the re-order level can be set at one or two day’s stock.

Products are ordered - and only ordered - when they are running low thus, not alone, minimising stock levels but also ensuring against stock outages.

3) Replenishment level ordering

This method is used for suppliers who supply you on a set periodic basis. With such suppliers you order all their products at the same time and you do not usually reorder them until the next order is given to that supplier. With this method, if a product is out of stock you are not usually in a position to order that particular product on its own.

Note that with Replenishment Suppliers, in the manage orders tab you have a “Generate Order” option once the supplier has been selected. On clicking this button the system then generates a purchase order as follows:

The system searches all products assigned to the supplier in question and any products which have a replenishment level greater than zero and whose current stock is less than the replenishment level is placed on the order. The quantity ordered is equal to the replenishment level less the stock level rounded up to the nearest case quantity.
There are many suppliers from which shops can only order from on an order cycle basis – once per month or indeed once every two months. When this is the case, then the only suitable method is the replenishment level method.
The logic behind this method is that each product is ordered in sufficient quantity to bring the stock levels up to the quantity which will be sufficient to ensure that there will be sufficient in stock until the next order from that supplier arrives on the shop floor.

Additional Ordering Parameters

There is another useful facet to the automatic generation of orders whereby pre-set parameters are applied to the purchase orders. These parameters are:

Expected Discounts
Expected Bonus Quantities
Minimum Order Quantities – required to obtain discounts and bonuses are all automatically applied to the order when it is being generated.

These parameters are displayed, or edited, on the product maintenance screen – and can also be applied to multiple products using product updates.

The benefits of these parameters are:

Shop staff are alerted to expected discounts and bonuses at the time of generating the order and at the point of delivery. This ensures that pre–negotiated bonuses and discounts are always checked for.
The minimum quantities required to achieve the bonuses and discounts are always ordered
The correct cost price of the goods is recorded, thus ensuring that correct profit margins are stored on the system

Manage Orders

In this tab, once a supplier has been selected, different options and functions are available depending on the type of supplier selected

Please Note: Upon opening this tab, a specific supplier will automatically load. This supplier is selected in the 'Store Settings' tab of the confirguration module. Please see the screenshots displayed below for further clarification

However, to select another supplier, simply click the 'x' displayed after the supplier name in the 'Supplier(s)' field. The page will reload allowing you to select an alernative supplier, as displayed below

From this screen we can also create Ad-Hoc orders

How to Create an Order for a Non Replenishment Supplier

Login to Retail 365
Press on the 'Orders' tile

Select the 'Manage Orders' tab

Select the supplier you wish to order from from the Supplier(s) field
Retail 365 will automatically generate an order using the sales information of the products assigned to this supplier

In this screen we can also add any products manually to the order
Search for the product name in the search box indicated below
Once the product has been selected the screen displayed below will appear

Enter the relevant information and click to add the product to the order

N.B. - IF the supplier you have selected has been chosen on the file of ANY product that has 'Reorder Level' selected as it's reorder method, the message, highlighted in the below image, will also appear

Select 'Click here to check if there are more products to be ordered'
All reorder level products for that supplier, that are not currently already on an order or waiting to be checked in, will have their current stock compared to their reorder level
In the event that there are items below reprder level, a message, similar to that displayed below, will appear

To add these products to your order select “Click here to add them now”
The page will now update displaying these newly added products with the relevant notification

You can place any product on a supplier's order list on hold by selecting the box beside them and clicking the button. This product will NOT send with this order and will appear (in blue) the next time you load an order from this supplier
You can also click which will save any changes you may have made to the order, allowing you to return to it at another time before sending the order.
Note that for all broadband purchase orders, in the barcode field, the IPU code is displayed, if an IPU code is attached to the product. Otherwise the highest barcode is displayed. However, for a non-broadband (Postal or Email) purchase order, the Supplier Reference Field will be displayed if a supplier reference has been added to the product. Otherwise the highest barcode is displayed.
To move a product to another order click , which will allow you to select a new supplier for the product
Once you are satisfied with your order click the Create Order/Transmit Order button. (For broadband suppliers the transmit order button will be displayed. For non- broadband suppliers the create order button will be displayed)
Retail 365 will now display a window allowing you to add an optional internal reference note to the order

Retail 365 will then allow you to print the order.This reference note will then display on this print out in blue beside the order in the 'Waiting to Check In' Screen

How to Create an Order for a Replenishment Supplier

As explained in detail in the introduction, Replenishment Suppliers supply stores on a set periodic basis and therefore ordering products from them works slightly differently

Select the Manage Orders tab in the orders module
Once the Replenishment Supplier has been selected the screen displayed below will appear. This screen is similar to that for non replenishment Suppliers however, there is now a button
By clicking this button the system will then generate a purchase order from this supplier

The remainder of this screens functions work in the exact same manner as those explained in the previous section
Once you are satisfied will the order click Transmit Order/Create Order

Important to Note

In the configuration module, under supplier, we can configure any supplier, when being used in a multi store organisation, to request approval from Head Office before sending the order to the wholesaler in question.

To do this tick the box highlighted below in the Supplier Maintenance screen

When this is set to “on” for a particular supplier, the branches are not allowed to send the order without Head Office approval. With all orders except “Ad Hoc” orders, the orders must be approved at Head Office before sending.

Therefore when you click Transmit order/Create order under a supplier which has been configured to request approval the notification displayed below will appear

You can view these ordered items that have been sent to Head Office for approval from the Manage Orders screen also. When you select a supplier, if there are items awaiting approval for this supplier, a message will be displayed and you can view the items on this screen:

How to Create an Ad Hoc Order

Ad Hoc orders are orders that can be sent on an 'ad hoc' basis to suppliers as an additional order to any orders that may be “pending” for sending to that particular supplier

While you may have a number of products on “pending” for a particular supplier, you may wish to send an urgent order to that supplier prior to sending the order that is pending. This is the reasoning behind “Ad Hoc” orders

One other use of “Ad Hoc” orders is where an order that has not been set up on the 365 system lands on the shop floor. In order to keep the stock quantities correct and to keep a record of all purchase orders, it is a useful tool to be able to set up an “Ad Hoc” order on the spot

Note that Ad Hoc orders will never be sent to Head Office for approval

Login to Retail 365
Press on the 'Orders' tile

Select the 'Manage Orders' tab

In the screen that appears click the button
The screen displayed below will then appear
Select the supplier you wish to send an Ad Hoc order to from the 'Supplier' dropdown allowing you to select a supplier and add products to the order

For every item added to the order, the window shown below will appear allowing you to enter the quantity you wish to order and the expected bonus and discount

You can tick the “Do not transmit this order automatically” box to ensure that the order is not transmitted if it is a broadband or email order. This is used when orders have already arrived and just need to be checked in and recorded
The ‘Book into Stock’ button will then book the order straight into stock and will not transmit the order
The 'Create Order' button will create the order and send it to the “Waiting to be Checked In” screen.

Manage Backorders

N.N.B. - Please note that this tab is SOLELY used to deal with backordered items from Stock Tranfers Request In. Any backordered items from orders are displayled in the History and Flagged Deliverys tab

This tab houses all the items from your store's Stock Transfer Requests In that have been marked as 'Backordered'

For example:

Your store (Store A) recieves a Stock Tranfer Request from another branch (Store B) . If you are unable to send the requested quantity of a specific item you can mark this item as 'Backordered' (in yellow)

Upon sending this transfer, these 'Backordered' items will appear in the 'Manage Backorders' tab of the orders module for your store

Note that a new record will appear for Store B in the Stock Transfers module under 'Backorders'

From this tab you have two options:

Order the stock
Attach the stock to an existing order that has already been sent and is waiting to be check in. This order MUST contain the product that has been backordered, at the required quantity

Both of these options will resolve the back order and remove it from the 'Manage Backorders' tab on your Retail 365.

When this order is booked into stock a new stock transfer request will be automatically created for your store (Store A) in the Stock Transfers -> 'Requests In' page.

You can then complete this stock transfer request and Store B will be able to check it in

When Store B books this transfer into stock it will automatically resolve the backorder record in Stock Transfers - 'Backorders'

Option 1: How to Add a Backordered Item to the List of Items Waiting to be Sent to a Supplier

Login to Retail 365
Press on the 'Orders' tile

Select the 'Manage Orders' tab

Tick the box beside the items you wish to add to the order
Click the button
Select the supplier whose pending list you would like to add this item to

Click the button
The window displayed below will display temporarily confirming that the items have been added to your order successfully

Option 2: How to Attach a Backordered Item to an Order that is Waiting to be Checked In

In the event that you receive a stock transfer request and have already ordered the stock but have yet to physically recieve it in store, this option should be used once the items have been marked a backordered

Login to Retail 365
Press on the 'Orders' tile

Select the 'Manage Orders' tab

Tick the box beside the items you wish to add to the order
Click the button
A list of all order that are waiting to be checked in will appear

Select the Order you would like to attach the item(s) to
Click the button
Please note that the order you select MUST contain the product in question, at the required quantity. If you select an order that does not meet these requirements, the item will remain in 'Manage Backorders' with all other outstanding backorders

Suppliers

This tab displays a list of all suppliers and the quantity of products that are at a certain status under this supplier e.g. to send, to check in, shorts and to return

It is a good way to identify any rogue suppliers or any products on any supplier that they shouldn’t be assigned to

In this screen we can also add products to any order

How to Check if an Item is on an Order

Login to Retail 365
Press on the 'Orders' tile

Select the 'Suppliers' tab

Search for the item either by name or barcode in the indicated field

If the item you have searched is in fact on an order a window similar to that displayed below will appear

How to Manually Add a Product to an Order

Note: Products can also be easily added to an order in the Manage Orders tab but this screen has the added advantage of allowing you to check if the product is already ordered or on order

Search the product you wish to add from this screen using the search box highlighted in the screen displayed below. By doing this we can find out whether products are on a pending list for a certain supplier or whether they have been ordered at all.

If we search for a product that is on a pending list for a certain supplier, a notification similar to that displayed below will appear

You now have two options
- Click Cancel once you have learnt that the product is already part of an existing order and there is no need to order it
- Click Add Anyway which will bring you to the ‘Add Item to Order’ screen displayed below, allowing you to add this product to the pending list for your chosen supplier. Note that the system will automatically select the default supplier; however you can change this if you wish.

If the product is not part of a pre existing order you will automatically be brought to the screen displayed above, allowing you to add this product to the order. Once all the correct information has been entered click Add to Order.
Please note that if there is an existing pending order for your chosen supplier then the product is added to that pending order. On the other hand, if there is no pending order for the chosen supplier then a new pending order is created for that product
To view any order from the supplier screen click View Order beside the name of the supplier
The screen displayed below will appear allowing you to add products to the order, delete products, put products on hold etc.

Awaiting Response

This tab houses orders that Retail 365 has NOT yet received a response for

Generally, an order is sent, the supplier receives the order instantaneously and they then send Retail 365 back a response notifying that the order has been received

To the Retail 365 user it often appears that orders go directly from the 'Manage Orders' tab to the 'Waiting To Check-In' tab

This is due to the speed of the response from the supplier and the short period of time the order is awaiting a reponse

However in the event that there is a delay in recieveing an order from the supplier, the order will display here until the order is received

Waiting to be Approved

N.B. This tab only features in Head Office Stores of multi-store organisations

As explained in the Important to Note section, we can configure stores in multi-store organisations to require approval from Head Office before any orders can be sent to the wholesaler

In this tab, Head Office shops approve and transmit all orders sent from the branches. Head Office can also add products to orders as they wish

Please Note: In the “Orders” option in multi-store Head Office there is a dropdown list where a user logged into Head Office can go directly to the ordering screen for each branch and immediately be logged into the ordering option of the selected branch

How to Approve Orders from Headoffice

Select the Waiting to be Approved tab in the Orders Module.
The screen displayed below will appear

Begin by selecting the supplier of the order(s) you are looking to approve
The’ Sales From’ and ‘Sales To’ dates default to 8 weeks ago and the current date. All sales made in this period will then be used in the ‘Overstocked’ or ‘Overage’ calculation
Enter a stock buffer. This is set to 20% by default. This is also used in the ‘Overstocked’ or ‘Overage’ calculation
Then select the store(s) that sent the order you wish to approve. Leave this field blank to select all stores
A screen similar to the one displayed below will then appear

Note that each product ordered is listed with respect to every branch you selected in the original screen, regardless of whether the store has ordered this product or not. This allows us to add any of the products listed to an order of a branch that may not have ordered this product originally. To do this click Order and enter the quantity of the product you wish to order
There are a number of things we can do to alter the order from this page
To add a new product to the order search the product name in the search box at the top of the screen. Once the product has been selected the dialog box displayed below will appear. Enter the quantity of the product you wish to order for each store. Click Add to Order once you are satisfied with the information you have entered

You can also change the quantity being ordered in the ‘to Order’ text field
Use the overage amount that Retail 365 has calculated for each product to gauge whether the product should be ordered or not. That is, if there is any overage the product should not be ordered but should be transferred from that store to a store with a requirement for that product. This is automatically done by the system, as detailed below
Once you are satisfied with all the order information you can click the Send/Transfer button
If there are any products with overages that can be transferred between branches rather than being ordered from a wholesaler, the system will notify you once this button is selected and a screen similar to that displayed below will appear

Simply select the products that you wish to transfer and click “Create/ Send” to send the Transfer Request to the branch with the overage.
Any products that have not been ticked will be ordered instead.

Shorts

This Tab allows us to deal with the exceptions from all the orders we have sent by broadband transmission

When an order is sent and if certain products are not available from the supplier, then they are instantly displayed in this tab

How to Resolve Shorts

This tab offers three options on how to handle shorts
Delete the product from the order
Move it back to Pending in the Manage Orders tab
Reorder it from another supplier
These three options are visible at the top right hand corner of the screen
To perform any one of these tasks on a certain product, select the box beside the product and click the appropriate button
Please note: once you click the Reorder button a dialog box will appear allowing you to select a new supplier to order this product from
Irrespective of the method used to resolve the shorts, once resolved they will appear in green and marked as a resolved exception

Waiting to Check-In

This tab allows us to check in the products that have arrived in store from a supplier, allowing you to update the stock

It displays a list of all the orders that have been sent and that are waiting to be checked in

How to Check In an Order

Select the order you wish to check in
A screen, similar to that displayed below, will now appear, displaying all the products that have been returned with the order and any outstanding exceptions (marked in red)

From here you can go through each product in the order one by one and enter the amount received
Note that the quantity in blue beside the received quantity is the quantity ordered
If these quantities are the same for all products click the button
The unit cost prices as charged on the invoice should be entered for each product
Retail 365 offers you a few options on how to handle checking in items that have a difference in the quantity sent and the quantity received
Mark as backordered - (displayed in yellow)
Flag - (displayed in red)
Ignore
To select option 1 or 2 simply tick the box beside the item and then select the relevant icon
BOTH option 1 and 2 move the items to the 'Flagged Deliveries' tab, shown below
From here you can mark this flagged items as resolved

You also have the option to reorder items from another supplier from this screen
Simply tick the box beside the item and then click the button
The window highlighted in the screenshot below will then appear allowing you to select the supplier whose pending list you would like the item added to
To add items to the order you are checking in, click the button
The field displayed below will then generate allowing you to search for the product
Enter the invoice number associated with the delivery if required and any notes and click Complete
Enter the invoice number associated with the delivery if required and any notes and click Complete

How to Create an Order from the Waiting to Check In Screen

If you need to check in an order that has just been delivered but does not yet exist on Retail 365 you can now create the order from the Waiting to Check-In screen instead of creating an Ad-Hoc Order

The advantages of creating orders this way instead of creating an ad-hoc order are as follows:

You can create more than one order at a time
You can update the order on more than one computer at a time
You can enter the delivered cost price when add the items to the order
Login to Retail 365
Select the 'Orders' module from the homescreen
Select the 'Waiting to Check-In' tab

A list of all the orders currently at this status will appear in a screen similar to that displayed below
Click the
Select the supplier in the window that appears

A screen, similar to that displayed below, will appear allowing yout to add items to the order and book them into stock

Once all the items have been item click 'Complete Order(s)' and the items will book into stock

Flagged Deliveries

As mentioned previously, Retail 365 offers you a few options on how to handle checking in items that have a difference in the quantity sent and the quantity received

If an item is marked as backordered or flagged it will automatically appear in the 'Flagged Deliveries' tab

How to resolve Flagged Deliveries

For your own records, it may be helpful to mark any flagged deliveries as resolved once the stock is recieved instore from another order etc.

This can help you to keep a record of any flagged items and manually add them to an order if necessary

Select the flagged items from the list displayed in the 'Flagged Deliveries' tab and click the button

Returns

This tab allows us to return products back to the wholesaler

How to Create a Return

In the orders module, select the Returns tab
Begin by selecting the supplier who you wish to return product(s) to
Once the supplier has been selected, a screen similar to that displayed below will appear

From here you can search for the product(s) you wish to return to the selected supplier using the ‘Add product to this return’ search box
Note that any pending items waiting to be returned to this supplier will appear at this time also
Once you select the product you wish to return, the dialog box displayed below will appear. Enter the quantity of the product you wish to return and click ‘Add to Return’

The window displayed below will appear temporarily confirming that the item has been added to the return successfully

Repeat the previous steps for any other products you wish to add to this return
Once all the products you wish to return have been added click
A window will then appear allowing you to add an internal reference to the return

This internal reference will then appear in the validate returns tab beside the return

Alternatively, you can click cancel to omit a reference from the order
A window will then appear allowing you to print out your return for your own records
Please note that before you click you can
- Place products on hold by clicking the button with the product(s) selected. This will hold them until the next return is sent to this supplier
- We can save any changes we have made to the return at any time, allowing us to leave the screen and return to it when we wish
- We can also move products to a return for another supplier. To do this, tick the box beside the product(s) you wish to move and click the button

Validate Returns

This tab allows us to view all the returns we have made that are waiting to be validated

Once the wholesaler has compensated the store for the products they have received back, the store can simply select the return from the list displayed in this tab and click the button

You can also edit a return before validating it by clicking the button beside the return

The return selected will appear in a manner similar to that displayed below allowing you to make any relevant changes

If you wish to validate the return after making these changes, click the 'Complete Return(s)' button
Alternatively, you can click the 'Save Return(s)' button which will save the changes made and keep the return in the Validate Returns tab until validated

History Tab

This tab displays all checked in orders

Any orders that were marked as ‘Backordered'in the Waiting to Check-In tab will appear here and will be marked in yellow

You can filter this list by clicking the button at the top of the screen. You may filter the list by supplier, date, store and order number

Once you filter the list you can then select orders and view them

All orders that have been deleted also appear here and are marked in red

All orders that failed to transmit to the wholesaler are marked in blue on this screen. All of the items were moved back to the Manage Orders screen.