The decision
What reorder rule each product should follow, and how much safety stock you are willing to pay for. You set the targets; Zerqano works out each rule and shows you how.
Retail inventory planning
Retail inventory planning with a reorder rule for every product, and the math behind it.
Zerqano sets a reorder point, safety stock and order-up-to level for each product from your sales forecast, your real supplier lead times and the service level you choose. One set of workspace targets drives every rule, and each rule shows its formula.
Real screen · sample data
Sample data. One set of targets drives every reorder rule: 95% service level and a 7-day review. Values that are not set say what they switch off.
In plain words
The decision, the evidence, the outcome.
Reorder points are set once, copied across products and never revisited, so the plan stops matching how each product sells and how each supplier delivers.
The evidence
- Workspace targets with their source: a 95% target service level (the default), a 7-day review period, and holding cost and cost per order marked "Not set" with what that switches off.
- A reorder rule per product with its formula, for example reorder point 59, safety stock 8, order up to 76 for a 4-person tent (sample data).
- The lead time each rule uses and where it came from, learned from your own receipts where they exist.
- The cash a service level ties up: in the sample, the same tent holds $593 of cash in safety stock at 95%, and the product page shows the cost of every level from 90% to 99%.
The outcome
A reorder rule for every product that has the data for one, each with its formula and inputs, and a short list of products that need an input from you before they can be planned.
The problem
Where it goes wrong today.
A good plan needs demand, its spread, a lead time per supplier and a service target for every product. Most teams have some of these, in different files, and fill the rest with guesses.
One rule for every product
The same "two weeks of stock" rule is applied to a fast tent and a slow lantern, so one runs out while the other gathers dust.
Lead times are quoted, not measured
Plans use the lead time the supplier promised, not the time orders actually took to arrive.
Safety stock has no price tag
Nobody can say what a higher service level costs in cash, so the target is a habit, not a decision.
How it works
From your data to a decision you can check.
What it does
- Set a reorder point, safety stock and order-up-to level for each product from its forecast, its demand spread, the lead time and your review period.
- Learn each lead time from your own purchase orders and receipts, and say where every lead time came from.
- Let you set workspace targets once (service level, review period, and optionally holding cost and cost per order) and use them in every rule.
- Show what each service level costs in cash tied up in safety stock, from 90% to 99%.
- Keep a planner’s override on a rule, with a required reason and an optional expiry date, beside the rule Zerqano worked out.
- Show a dash and the reason when an input is missing, never a zero.
- Upload your stock, sales and purchase order history.
- Set your targets in Policy settings: service level (95% unless you change it) and review period (7 days unless you change it).
- Open a product to see its reorder rule, the formula behind it and a stock projection.
- Change a rule where you know better, with a reason, or test a different service level first.
- Draft a purchase order from the products that need one, and review it before anything is sent.
Fit and trust
Who it is for, and what you can rely on.
Who it is for
Owners, planners and buyers at retailers who set reorder points and safety stock in spreadsheets, or not at all.
What you can rely on
- Nothing is ordered automatically. Zerqano drafts purchase orders; a person reviews and sends them.
- Economic order quantities and yearly holding cost are not calculated until you enter a holding cost and a cost per order. Until then the order size covers the review period, and the rule says so.
- A product with no stock count, no sales forecast or no lead time gets no reorder rule. It is shown as missing data, with the input it needs.
The story page
See what’s in stock, at risk, and covered — then act from one Restock plan.
Review stock risk, reorder pressure, and inventory health in one operating workflow instead of scattered dashboards and spreadsheets.
Questions
What people ask about inventory planning.
How does Zerqano work out a reorder point?
Reorder point = average daily demand × (lead time + review period) + safety stock. Safety stock comes from your service level and how much demand and the lead time vary over that period. Each product shows this formula with its own numbers, so you can check it.
Where does the demand figure come from?
From the sales forecast Zerqano builds from your order history. The spread of that forecast (its P10 to P90 range) gives the demand variability used for safety stock. If no spread is measured yet, the rule falls back to weeks of supply with no safety stock and says so.
What service level does it plan for?
95% by default, meaning an order should arrive before stock runs out about 95 times in 100 cycles. You can change it for the whole workspace in Policy settings, or test another level on one product first. The product page shows the cash tied up in safety stock at each level from 90% to 99%.
How are supplier lead times measured?
From your own purchase orders and receipts over the last year. A delivery counts on the day 90% of the ordered quantity has been received. Recent deliveries are averaged over 60 or 90 days depending on how many there are, and each lead time is labelled with its source and confidence.
What if I have no delivery history for a product?
Zerqano looks next at the supplier’s other deliveries, then the category’s. With none of those, it uses an owner-approved typical figure for the category, for example 21 days for outdoor and sporting goods, labelled "assumed". If the category does not match, the lead time stays empty and the product is marked as missing data rather than given a guessed number.
Does it calculate economic order quantity (EOQ)?
Only when you enter a holding cost rate and a cost per purchase order in Policy settings. Without them, the order size covers the review period (at least 14 days of demand on the live engine), and the rule card says "holding cost not on file". This keeps the plan from inventing costs you have not given it.
Can I override a reorder rule?
Yes. You can set your own reorder point, safety stock or order quantity on a product, with a required reason and an optional expiry date. The Restock plan uses your values while the override is active and keeps Zerqano’s own numbers beside them, and you can revert at any time.
Does it handle slow sellers and perishables differently?
Yes. Products that sell less than one unit a day, or sell in irregular bursts, get a base-stock rule. Products whose shelf life is shorter than the lead time plus review period are sized as a one-time buy that weighs the cost of running short against the cost of leftovers.
Does this replace my inventory or POS system?
No. Zerqano reads your stock and sales data and plans what to reorder. It does not record stock movements or sales, so your current system stays the record of what you have.
Try it on your own data.
Free for up to 150 SKUs · 14 days of full access · No card required
Sample data · a fictional outdoor-gear store · not a customer’s results