Restock and Supplier Reminders for Online Sellers

Your best seller went out of stock on a Thursday. You noticed on Saturday, when the orders stopped.

The new batch takes three weeks to arrive. That's three weeks of lost sales and a listing that slides down the search results.

Most stockouts trace back to one habit: reordering when you happen to remember instead of when the numbers say so.

Work out when to reorder

You don't need inventory software to get this right for a small catalogue. You need one number per product: the reorder point, the stock level at which you place the next order.

The simple version:

Reorder point = daily sales x lead time in days + safety stock

Say you sell about 4 candles a day, your supplier takes 20 days from order to delivery, and you want a week's buffer:

Daily sales x lead time: 4 x 20 = 80
Safety stock: 4 x 7 = 28
Reorder point: 108 candles

When stock drops to around 108, you order. Not at 20, when panic sets in.

Getting the inputs right

Daily sales: use the last 30 to 60 days, not your best week.
Lead time: count from the day you place the order to the day stock is ready to sell, including shipping and checking it in.
Safety stock: more for products with unpredictable sales or unreliable suppliers, less for steady ones.

Recalculate every few months, and before any season where sales jump.

A weekly stock check

A reorder point only works if someone looks at the stock level. For most small shops, one check a week is enough.

Pick a quiet time, like Monday morning, and run through this:

List stock levels for your top products (the 20% that make most of your sales).
Mark anything at or below its reorder point.
Check anything close to it against next week's expected sales.
Place orders, or add them to a reorder list if you batch orders with one supplier.
Note the order date and expected delivery for each.

Slower products can be checked monthly. The point is that checking happens on a schedule, not when a customer emails asking where their order is.

Plan for the seasons before they arrive

Lead times get longer exactly when you need stock most. Suppliers are busy before big holidays, and shipping slows down.

Work backwards from your peak periods:

Black Friday and the holidays: for many sellers, orders for November need to go in by late summer or early autumn.
Supplier closures: many factories close for a week or more around major holidays. Ask each supplier for their closure dates at the start of the year.
Your own launches: a new product launch needs stock in hand before the announcement, not after.

Set a reminder for each one well before the order deadline, with enough time to get a quote and arrange payment.

Keep a supplier calendar

Restocking is half the job. Paying suppliers on time is the other half, and late payments can cost you more than a fee: some suppliers move slow payers to the back of the queue.

For each supplier, write down:

Payment terms: upfront, deposit and balance, or net 30 after delivery.
When invoices usually arrive.
Their order cutoff, if they ship on fixed days.
Holiday closures and lead time changes.

Then turn the dates into reminders. If a supplier wants a 30% deposit with the order and the balance before shipping, that's two payments per order, and both need a heads-up a few days early so the money is in place. For the household version of the same idea, see our post on never missing a bill.

The small deadlines nobody else sees

Restocks and suppliers aren't the only dates in an online shop. A few more that are easy to miss:

Discount codes that need switching on and off at a set time.
Return windows you've promised customers, and refunds you need to process.
App and platform subscriptions that renew yearly.
Sales tax or VAT returns. The sales tax return reminder page covers these.
Domain renewals for your store's web address.

Each one is small. Missed together, they make for a bad month.

How to run this with Mindie

Mindie lives in WhatsApp, which is probably where half your suppliers already message you. It doesn't connect to your store or count your stock, so you tell it what to watch for, and it reminds you on time.

Set the weekly check once:

"Every Monday at 9am remind me to check stock on the top 15 products"

Build a reorder list during the week as things run low:

"Add to reorder list: 200 amber jars, 50 wick packs"

Ask for the list when you sit down to place orders. Set payment reminders for each order:

"Remind me 3 days before 12 September that the jar supplier's balance is due"
"Every 3 months on the 1st at 10am remind me to recalculate reorder points"

You can send a screenshot of a supplier's invoice and Mindie reads the due date and amount, then checks them with you before setting the reminder. When you've paid, reply "done". If you want a nudge that won't stop until the payment is made, turn on nag mode.

Mindie only messages you. It won't contact suppliers or customers. More ideas are on the Mindie for online sellers page.

Reminders worth setting

Inventory restock reminder: A regular nudge to check stock and reorder before you run out, with a list of what's low.
Supplier payment reminder: A heads-up before each supplier invoice is due, with the amount and terms.
Sales tax return reminder: A reminder before each sales tax or VAT return and payment is due.
Domain renewal reminder: A yearly heads-up before your store's domain renews, so the site stays online.

FAQ

How do you calculate when to reorder stock?

Multiply your average daily sales by the supplier's lead time in days, then add safety stock (a buffer of a week or two of sales). When stock falls to that level, place your next order.

How much safety stock should a small online store keep?

A common starting point is one to two weeks of average sales. Keep more for best sellers, products with unpredictable demand or suppliers with unreliable lead times, and less for slow, steady products.

How often should I check my inventory?

Weekly for your best sellers and anything close to its reorder point, and monthly for slower products. Before peak seasons, check more often, since sales and lead times both change.