In this guide 6 sections
Stockists, canteens and distributors order against their own price list, scheme and credit limit, and confirmed orders roll up by product and pack size into demand for the planner. Nobody retypes a thing. Comparing that demand with finished stock gives the planner a shortfall to schedule as the next batches, each with a due date.
Why phone and chat orders stop scaling
A sales head with forty stockists takes orders by call, voice note and photo of a handwritten list, and a clerk types each one again. Pack sizes get swapped. A scheme is applied from memory.
Errors are small but constant. A carton of 24 gets billed as a case of 12, and the shortfall surfaces only when the payment comes in light, weeks later. Late orders fail worse. A canteen order that arrives after the dispatch list is printed stays unseen until the delivery is refused at the buyer’s gate.
A shared ordering page ends the retyping. The buyer picks from a catalogue that shows only the items, prices and pack sizes that buyer is allowed to buy, so the clerk never touches the order.
- Order by call, voice note and photo of a list
- Pack size confused between carton, case and loose
- Scheme applied by memory
- Credit limit checked after the order is accepted
Price lists, schemes and pack sizes in one place
A stockist, a hostel canteen and a distributor each get their own list, and software holds these as customer groups so every buyer sees only their own rates.
Schemes cause the arguments. A free carton on ten, a slab discount or a festival bundle should be a rule with a start date and an end date. Free cartons then appear by themselves.
Pack sizes need equal care. The catalogue should show the sale unit, the units per carton and the minimum order, which stops half-carton requests that the warehouse cannot pick without breaking a sealed case.
Credit limits and payment holds
Credit is where sales and accounts disagree. Sales wants the order. Accounts wants the old invoice cleared first. Both are right.
Software settles the argument by showing the outstanding invoices by age, the cheques not yet cleared and the limit set for that customer, all at the moment of ordering. Any order above that limit goes to a named approver instead of straight to dispatch, and the approver sees the same ageing figures the buyer saw.
The buyer sees a clear reason, not a silent rejection, and can pay the overdue invoice and reorder in the same session without phoning anyone.
- Credit limit per customer
- Outstanding invoices by age
- Uncleared cheques or transfers
- Approver for orders above the limit
From confirmed orders to the production plan
Orders are demand, and the planner needs it grouped by product, flavour and pack, with the delivery date each customer asked for, before any batch is scheduled.
The gap is the week’s work. A masala blend short by forty cartons turns into a batch request, dated and slotted into packing, instead of a surprise on Friday afternoon.
Short-dated stock matters here. Dispatch the oldest lot first, and flag any order that waits on a batch still sitting in the packing hall, so the salesman can warn the buyer early.
What to settle before you roll it out
Start with ten stockists. Pick a mix of one large account, one small account, one canteen and one who still prefers the phone, since their feedback shows which fields confuse people.
Phone buyers stay welcome. Some buyers will never log in, and that is acceptable as long as a salesperson enters their orders on their behalf into the same system as everyone else’s.
Write the scheme rules and credit limits on one sheet before you enter anything, because that sheet becomes the setup list for every customer group.
Wholesale ordering setup sheet
One sheet, four blocks. The first block lists customer groups with their price lists, and the second lists live schemes with start date, end date and rule. The third block covers pack sizes, units per carton and minimum order, while the fourth records credit limit, approver and payment terms for each pilot customer.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Do stockists need to learn a new tool?
They need only a simple page. Keep the page close to the list they already send you, and let your sales team enter orders for any buyer who will not use it.
Can schemes change mid-month?
Yes, when schemes carry dates. The order screen applies whichever rule was in force on the order date, so earlier orders keep the old scheme and new ones pick up the change.
How do orders reach the production team?
Totals drive the plan. Confirmed orders are totalled by product and pack, then compared with finished stock and open batches, and the shortfall becomes a request the planner can schedule by due date.
What if a customer is over the credit limit?
The order is held for a named approver. The customer is told why, and once the overdue invoice is cleared the held order is released by the approver without anyone entering it again.