Running out of your best seller on a Saturday is the most expensive kind of stock problem, because the customer does not wait — they buy somewhere else. The fix is not a bigger storeroom. It is a number on each item that tells you when to reorder, and a short weekly routine that acts on it. Here is how to set that up in a small shop.
Start with a low-stock level on each item
A low-stock level is the quantity at which an item should be flagged. When stock falls to or below it, you want to see it without opening every product.
In Fuze Store this works on every store, with no add-on:
- Open the product and go to its Stock tab.
- Turn on Track stock and enter the quantity you have on hand.
- Set the low-stock level.
From then on, stock deducts on its own each time the item is rung up at your default sale location, and the product list flags any item that has dropped to its level. You can check the quantity on the product screen any time.
You do not need to set a level on everything. Start with the twenty or thirty items that would hurt most if they ran out — your fast movers and anything with a slow supplier.
Par levels vs reorder points
The two terms get mixed up, and the difference matters for how you set your numbers.
- A par level is how much you want on hand after you restock. It answers "how much should the shelf hold?"
- A reorder point is the level at which you place the next order. It answers "when do I buy?"
Your low-stock level is your reorder point. To pick it, think about two things: how many you sell between deliveries, and how long the supplier takes. If you sell about 10 a day and the supplier takes three days, a reorder point below 30 means you run out before the delivery lands. Add a cushion for a busy day and you have your number.
Par level then tells you how many to order: par minus what is on the shelf. A shop selling 10 a day with a weekly delivery might set par at 80 and a reorder point at 40.
Fast movers get a higher reorder point and a closer eye. Slow movers get a low one, so you are not sitting on stock that expires or goes out of season.
Turn on the low-stock email
Flags on a product list only help if someone looks. For the owner who is not at the counter every day, Fuze Store can also send a single digest email listing every item below its level. Turn it on under Preferences → Product → Low-stock alerts.
It is one email covering all low items, not one per product, and it is de-duplicated — the same item is not re-sent repeatedly within a short window. This also works without any add-on.
A weekly reorder routine
- Pick a day. The same day each week, ideally the day before your main supplier delivery.
- Open the flagged items. Work from the product list or the digest email rather than walking the shelves first.
- Spot-check the fast movers. Count the top ten physically. If the count differs from the system, correct it before you order, or you order against a wrong number.
- Order up to par. For each flagged item, order par minus on hand. Round to the supplier's pack size.
- Review the levels. Anything that ran out before it was flagged needs a higher reorder point. Anything that was flagged weeks ago and still has stock needs a lower one.
Fifteen minutes a week beats a Saturday with an empty shelf. The same routine works for a small retail store and for a café counting milk and cups.
What Advanced Inventory adds
The built-in tools above are enough for a single location with a handful of suppliers. The Advanced Inventory add-on is for when the routine itself needs tools:
- Purchase orders — order stock from a supplier and receive it in, so the quantity updates on delivery instead of by hand.
- Suppliers — a supplier directory that purchase orders draw from.
- Stock counts — physical counts that reconcile what the system says against what is on the shelf.
- Locations and transfers — a backroom, a warehouse or a second shopfront, with stock moved between them.
- Stock adjustments — audited quantity corrections.
- Auto-reorder — drafted purchase orders when stock crosses a reorder point.
Auto-reorder is the piece that turns the weekly routine into an approval. You set a reorder point and a reorder quantity per item per location, optionally a preferred supplier on the product, and turn on Draft purchase orders for low stock under Preferences → Product. Each day, low items are grouped by supplier and a draft purchase order is made for each. The drafts wait in Purchase Orders for you to review and place.
It only drafts. It never places an order on its own, so you still make the buying decision — you just stop rebuilding the order list from scratch.
One thing to know before you plan around it: Advanced Inventory is the one add-on not unlocked during a free trial. Low-stock levels, the product-list flag and the digest email keep working whether or not the add-on is on.
Keep it simple, then grow
A low-stock level on your top items and a fixed day each week to act on it will prevent most stockouts in a small shop. Add purchase orders and auto-reorder when the supplier list grows or a second location appears.
The step-by-step setup is in Low-Stock Alerts & Auto-Reorder. Fuze Store is free to start, and stock tracking is built in from day one.