Planning settings

Every forecast-based suggestion answers one question: how many do I need to order now so this product lasts until the next order after this one arrives? Three settings in Settings → Planning decide how far ahead that is.

The three settings

Setting	Default	What it means
Default lead time (days)	14	Days from placing an order to it arriving, for suppliers without a lead time of their own. From 0 to 365.
Order enough for (days)	30	How long each order should last once it arrives. From 1 to 365.
Safety stock (days)	7	Extra days of stock in case demand or delivery surprises you. From 0 to 180.

A supplier’s own Lead time (days) always wins over the default. → Add your suppliers

Change a setting and press Save in the save bar. You’ll see “Settings saved”, and every forecast is worked out again with the new values.

These settings shape forecast-based suggestions on Growth and Pro. Products that reorder from a reorder point — every product on Starter — don’t use them.

How a suggestion is worked out

1. Add up the planning horizon: the supplier’s lead time + Order enough for (days) + Safety stock (days). With the defaults, 14 + 30 + 7 = 51 days.
2. Work out what you’ll need over it: daily demand × the horizon.
3. Take off what you already have: the available stock across your active locations, plus what’s incoming on your purchase orders.
4. Round up to a whole unit. If the answer is zero or less, nothing is suggested.
5. Round up to what the supplier sells: at least their minimum order quantity, then up to whole packs.

A worked example

A product sells 2 a day. You use the default settings, and its supplier has no lead time of its own, so the horizon is 51 days. You have 20 available and 10 on an open purchase order. The supplier’s minimum order quantity is 50, in packs of 12.

Step	Working	Result
Needed over the horizon	2 × 51	102
Already have	20 available + 10 incoming	30
Still needed	102 − 30	72
At least the minimum of 50	72 is already more	72
Whole packs of 12	72 ÷ 12 = 6 packs	72

Shelfcast suggests ordering 72. The product’s Days of stock is 20 ÷ 2 = 10: what’s available now lasts about ten days, before the incoming order is counted.

The Reorder page sums it up underneath the list: “Each suggestion covers the supplier’s lead time, 30 days of stock and 7 safety days, less what is available and already on order.”

What counts as incoming

Only units still to arrive on Shelfcast purchase orders that are Ordered or Partially received, to any of your locations. That includes open orders you imported.

These don’t count:

• Drafts. Until you mark a draft as ordered, its products are still suggested.
• Stock Shopify shows as incoming from elsewhere, such as a transfer made in Shopify or an order placed in another app.

Choosing your numbers

Set Order enough for (days) to how often you like to place orders with a typical supplier — 30 for monthly, 14 for every two weeks. Longer means fewer, bigger orders. Raise Safety stock (days) if your sales jump around or deliveries often run late; lower it if cash or shelf space is tight.

Suggestions don’t change the moment you order something. They catch up at the next forecast refresh — overnight, or sooner if you press Sync now in Settings → Data. → Reorder suggestions