The decision
Which products to order now so they arrive before the shelf is empty, and which can wait for the next review.
Stockout prevention
Prevent stockouts: see which products run out before a new order can arrive.
Zerqano compares each product’s days of stock with its supplier lead time plus your review period, and flags the ones that need an order now or this week. A stock projection shows when it runs out, the last day to order in time, and the revenue at risk.
Real screen · sample data
Sample data. The tent has 5 days of stock and a 14-day lead time, so it runs out around Nov 4 even if ordered today. The order should have gone out by Oct 30.
In plain words
The decision, the evidence, the outcome.
A stockout is usually noticed after the last day an order could have arrived in time, so the only options left are expediting or losing the sale.
The evidence
- Days of cover against lead time: in the sample, a 4-person tent has 12 on hand, 5 days of cover and a 14-day lead time, so it is marked Order now.
- A stock projection with dates: runs out around Nov 4, the rule orders by Oct 30, arriving Nov 13, and the last day to order in time has already passed (sample data).
- A what-if: with the supplier 7 days late at a 99% service level, the reorder point moves from 59 to 81 and cash in safety stock from $593 to $968 (sample data).
- Revenue at risk for each product and in total: $27,376 across the sample plan.
The outcome
A ranked list of products to order now or this week, each with its run-out date and reason, and a draft purchase order you can review.
The problem
Where it goes wrong today.
Whether a product will run out depends on its stock, its sales rate and how long the supplier really takes. Without all three in one place, every low number looks equally urgent.
Low stock is not the same as at risk
Twelve units is plenty for a slow seller and five days for a fast one. A plain low-stock alert cannot tell them apart.
The lead time decides it
Five days of stock is fine with a three-day supplier and a stockout with a fourteen-day one.
Supplier delays arrive unannounced
When a supplier runs a week late, nobody knows which products that pushes over the edge.
How it works
From your data to a decision you can check.
What it does
- Sort every product into Out of stock, Order now, Order this week, Watch, Missing data, No recent sales or OK, using days of cover against lead time plus review period.
- Put a dollar figure on the sales at risk while you wait for stock, for each product with a price.
- Project stock over 30, 60 or 90 days across 1,000 simulated demand paths, with the run-out date, the last day to order in time and when an order would arrive.
- Test a supplier delay or a higher service level on one product and compare it with the current rule before changing anything.
- Mark a product with no stock count, sales or lead time as missing data, with a link to add the input.
- Open the Restock plan. Out of stock comes first, then Order now, then Order this week.
- Open a product to see its days of cover, lead time, run-out date and the last day to order.
- Try a supplier delay or service level in What if if you are unsure.
- Draft the purchase order and review it before anything is sent.
Fit and trust
Who it is for, and what you can rely on.
Who it is for
Retail and operations teams that find out about stockouts from an empty shelf or a customer.
What you can rely on
- Nothing is ordered automatically. You decide what to order and review every draft.
- The plan is only as current as the stock and sales data you load, and it shows the date of the plan it is built from.
- Zerqano cannot prevent a stockout that is already locked in: when the last day to order has passed, it says so rather than promising the order will arrive in time.
- A typical lead time for a category is used only until the first delivery is recorded, and it is labelled as an assumption.
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 stockout prevention.
How does Zerqano decide a product is at risk of a stockout?
It works out days of cover: (stock on hand + stock on order) ÷ average daily demand. If that is less than the supplier lead time, the product is Order now. If it is less than the lead time plus your review period, it is Order this week; less than lead time plus two review periods, Watch.
What is the review period, and can I change it?
It is how often you place orders, and it is 7 days unless you change it. It matters because a product you will not look at again for a week needs enough stock to last the lead time plus that week. You can change it in the workspace settings, and it changes the tiers for every product.
How is revenue at risk calculated?
For products marked Out of stock, Order now, Order this week or Watch: (lead time + review period − days of cover) × average daily demand × selling price, never below zero. For the sample tent that is (21 − 5) × 2.4 × $159.99 = $6,144. Products without a price show "Not calculated: no price" instead of a number.
What does the stock projection show?
It simulates 1,000 possible demand paths from your forecast range over 30, 60 or 90 days, both with the current reorder rule and with no new order. It shows the likely run-out date, when the rule would order and when that order would arrive, and the last day to order in time. Sales are treated as lost when stock runs out.
Can I see what a late supplier would do?
Yes. On a product, What if lets you add a supplier delay or change the service level and compare the result with the current rule: reorder point, safety stock, order quantity, first stockout and cash in safety stock. Nothing changes until you apply it. Across many products, a separate what-if shows which products a delay or demand change would push into risk.
What if a product has no lead time yet?
A lead time you enter is used first, then one learned from your deliveries, then the supplier’s or the category’s deliveries. With none of those, Zerqano uses an owner-approved typical figure for the category and labels it "assumed". With no matching category either, the product is marked Missing data instead of being given a guessed lead time.
If I enter a missing lead time, does the plan update?
The status and revenue at risk update straight away, because they only need days of cover and the lead time. Reorder quantities are worked out at the next planning run, and the editor says so.
Why does a product with stock show "No recent sales"?
Because it has had no sales in the forecast window, so days of cover cannot be calculated. Zerqano shows a dash rather than an infinite or zero figure, and does not suggest an order for it.
Does Zerqano warn about late purchase orders too?
Yes, on the purchase orders page. For a supplier with at least 3 recorded deliveries, it compares the order date plus the supplier’s slow-case (90th percentile) lead time with the promised date, and flags the order if it is likely to arrive late. With fewer deliveries, it says there is not enough history to check.
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