Ascend HQ - Reorder Analysis tool

Written By Ascend knowledge base (Administrator)

Updated at August 23rd, 2024

The Reorder Analysis tool on Ascend HQ helps you to plan for products which need to be ordered soon and allows you to set reorder levels (min/maxes) according to your sales history so you never run out of popular products.

Note: (multi-store retailers) Values can be set per location or for all locations, based on your Shared Product Attributes selections in Ascend > Options > Multi-Store.

Ascend RMS user permissions required: Reporting - Ascend HQ and Vendor Orders.

Run the report

  1. Select Orders > Reorder Analysis.
  2. From the Select Supplier dropdown, select the vendor/supplier you wish to analyze.
  3. From the Select Category dropdown, select the category you wish to analyze.
    Note: Selecting a parent category automatically selects all child categories.
  4. In the Lead Time field, enter the average number of days it takes from the time you place your order with the vendor/supplier to the time you receive the order.
    Note: A maximum of 99 days can be entered.
  5. (multi-store retailers) From the Select Locations dropdown, check any locations you wish to have included in reorder calculations.
  6. In the Sales Start Date and Sales End Date fields, enter or select the date range to analyze product sales history.
    Note: To get the most accurate data, run this tool for an entire year.
  7. Check Include Inventory with No Sales to display products which you have in stock, but which did not sell during the selected date range.
  8. Check Show Only New Products to display only products which were added to your system during the selected date range.
  9.  Check Show All to display every product in their database from the selected vendor and category. 
  10. Click Analyze button.

Setting reorder values

Note: To set values for a large quantity of products, click the Import button and navigate to the location where you saved the spreadsheet (template available on the Ascend Retailer Portal – log into www.ascendrms.com).
If no values are entered for a product included in the spreadsheet, fields are set to 0.
If the VPN entered does not match a vendor Part Number for the selected vendor/supplier, the product is not updated.
If multiple VPNs are entered for the same product, only the first value listed is used.

  1. Check the items to update.
    Note: Check the box in the header section to select all products. (multi-store retailers) To set values for multiple locations, click the caret (arrow) next to the product to display each location on a separate line. Check next to the product to check all locations.
  2. (optional) In the Safety Stock field, enter the number of items you wish to keep in your “back stock” in addition to the number of items kept on your floor.
    For example: Your floor display has two hooks which can hold a total of six water bottle cages, but you want to ensure the hooks are always fully stocked. Enter a Safety Stock value of six so you have extra items to replenish the floor display while awaiting order items from the vendor/supplier. If your calculated sales and lead times indicate a minimum stock of four items and a maximum of six items, the tool suggests a Min value of 10 and a Max value of 12.
  3. The Sugg Min and Sugg Max fields automatically populate values based on your sales data during the date range selected, but can be adjusted as desired.
    Note: Click the Set to 0 button to clear (reset) all Min/Max values on all checked items.(multi-store retailers) If you’re sharing Min/Max values between all locations, these fields display a green outline – any values entered apply to ALL locations.
  4. (optional) In the Comments field, enter additional notes related to reorder levels. These comments are not used in Ascend.
    Note: This field does not display by default – see below to see how to add it.
  5. Click the Apply button and choose the appropriate update option.
    1. Apply Checked: Changes apply to all fields on all selected products.
    2. Apply Checked (In Season Only): Only Sugg Min/Sugg Max values apply to all selected products.
    3. Apply Checked (Out of Season Only): Only Sugg Min2/Sugg Max2 values apply to all selected products.
    4. Apply Checked (Safety Stock Only): Only Safety Stock values apply to all selected products.
    5. Apply User Modified: Changes apply to all fields on all products with manual edits.
    6. Apply User Modified (In Season Only): Only Sugg Min/Sugg Max values apply to all products with manual edits.
    7. Apply User Modified (Out of Season Only): Only Sugg Min2/Sugg Max2 values apply to all products with manual edits.
    8. Apply User Modified (Safety Stock Only): Only Safety Stock values apply to all products with manual edits.
    9. Apply Comments Only: Only Comments apply to all products for which they were entered.

Additional fields, options, & filters

To choose how columns to display on the report:

  1. Click the Column Chooser (gear icon) button and check the fields you wish to display.
    Note: Check the box in the “heading” section to select all fields.
    1. Description: The product description.
    2. VPN: The Part Number for the selected vendor/supplier.
    3. QOH: The current inventory quantity in stock.
    4. QOO: The number of items on all Vendor Orders which are not yet received into inventory.
      Note: This value includes quantities from ALL vendors/suppliers – not just the vendor/supplier currently selected. If the product is ordered in bulk (case quantity), the number of boxes on order displays.
    5. # Sold: Total quantity of items sold in the selected date range.
    6. Avg Units/Day: The average number of items sold daily in the selected date range.
    7. Demand: Total quantity of items expected to sell prior to receiving the order (Avg Units/Day times Lead Time).
    8. Max 1 Day: The highest number of items sold on a single day in the selected date range.
    9. Max 3 Day: The highest total number of items sold across a consecutive three-day period in the selected date range.
    10. Safety Stock: The number of items you wish to keep in your “back stock” in addition to the number of items kept on your floor.
    11. Sugg MinDemand (rounded up to the nearest whole number) plus Safety Stock.
    12. Sugg MaxSugg Min plus Max 3 Day minus 1.
    13. Current Min: Your currently configured Min 1 value.
    14. Current Max: Your currently configured Max 1 value.
    15. Sugg Min2Demand (rounded up to the nearest whole number) plus Safety Stock.
    16. Sugg Max2Sugg Min2 plus Max 3 Day minus 1.
    17. Current Min2: Your currently configured Min 2 value.
    18. Current Max2: Your currently configured Max 2 value.
    19. UPC: The UPC or EAN for the product.
    20. MPN: The Manufacturer’s Part Number for the product.
    21. SKU: The in-store SKU for the product.
    22. Keyword: The product’s short description.
    23. Brand: The product’s brand name.
    24. Color: The product’s color name.
    25. Size: The product’s size value.
    26. Style Name: The style name assigned to the product.
    27. Style Number: The style number assigned to the product.
    28. Season: The season the product is designed for.
    29. Year: The model year for the product.
    30. Gender: The gender the product is designed for.
    31. Other: Additional information entered for the product
    32. MSRP: The base selling price for the product
    33. Comments: Additional notes related to reorder levels.
    34. Last Analyzed: The most recent date the product was adjusted using the Reorder Analysis tool.
  2. Drag fields into your preferred display order.
    1. Click the upwards-pointing arrow button to move the selected field above the previous field.
    2. Click the upwards-pointing double-arrow button to move the selected field before all others (top of the list).
    3. Click the downwards-pointing arrow button to move the selected field below the next field.
    4. Click the downwards-pointing double-arrow button to move the selected field after all others (end of the list).
  3. If you wish to “lock” fields so that they always display when scrolling, move the field above the orange bar.
  4. Click the Save button.

To further filter displayed results:

  • Click the header to change sort order.
  • For alphanumeric/text-based fields, type your search criteria in the field below the header.
  • For numeric fields, drag the slider to set your desired value range.
  • For date-based fields, click below the header to select a date.

 To navigate results:

  • The total number of results displays in the lower right corner.
  • Click the display results dropdown (in the lower left corner) to display 1025, or 50 results per page.
  • Click a page number to skip directly to that page of results.
  • Click the right caret (arrow) button to navigate to the next page of the results.
  • Click the right double-caret (arrow) button to navigate to the last page of the results.
  • Click the left caret (arrow) button to navigate to the next page of the results.
  • Click the left double-caret (arrow) button to navigate to the first page of the results.

Additional Resources

KB22-063