Inventory Planner

Product Configurations

Product Configurations is the central hub for managing product-level settings that feed into your purchase plans, receiving sessions, and stocktakes. Each row represents a product variant and lets you set its purchasing defaults (MOQ, lead time, pack quantity), assign a primary supplier, map barcodes for scanner-powered receiving, and designate a purchase plan. All of these values integrate directly with the Purchase Order Planner, Purchase Orders, and Receiving modules. Per-variant-per-location min and target thresholds for Min/Max Replenishment and Balance Stock are configured separately in the Purchase Thresholds page.

Key Concepts

Purchase Plan

Assign a product variant to a specific purchase plan. When you create a plan in the Purchase Order Planner, products assigned to that plan will appear in the plan's product table. This lets you organize purchasing by plan (e.g., "Spring Restock", "Q3 Basics") and ensures each product is included in the right replenishment cycle.

Primary Supplier

Set the primary supplier for each product variant. When a primary supplier is assigned, the Purchase Order Planner automatically pulls in that supplier's product-specific pricing, MOQ, lead time, and pack size. The supplier assignment also determines which supplier appears by default when generating a purchase order from a plan. You can navigate directly to a supplier's detail page from the configuration table.

Default MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity)

Set a product-level minimum order quantity. When the Purchase Order Planner calculates a recommended order, it ensures the quantity meets or exceeds this MOQ. The priority cascade is: supplier-specific MOQ (highest) > product-level default MOQ > plan-level MOQ setting (lowest). A blue dot appears next to the value in the Purchase Order Planner when the product default is active; a green dot appears when a supplier-specific value takes precedence.

Default Lead Time (Days)

Set the expected number of days between placing an order and receiving inventory for this product. The Purchase Planner uses this to calculate when to reorder based on current stock levels and sales velocity. The same priority cascade applies: supplier-specific lead time > product-level default > plan-level lead time setting. This is especially useful when different products have different manufacturing or shipping timelines, even from the same supplier.

Default Pack Quantity

Set the pack size (case pack or inner pack quantity) for this product. The Purchase Planner rounds order quantities up to the nearest multiple of this pack size. For example, if a product comes in cases of 12 and the calculated reorder quantity is 35, the planner will round up to 36 (3 cases). Like MOQ and lead time, supplier-specific pack sizes take priority over this product-level default.

Barcodes vs. Purchasing Pack Size

These are two unrelated concepts that share the word 'pack.' Barcodes (unit and carton) are Shopify-side product identifiers — strings printed on labels, scanned during receiving and stocktakes. The Default Pack Quantity (also called purchasing pack size or carton quantity) is an Alfred-side purchasing rule — the Purchase Order Planner rounds reorder quantities up to multiples of this number so you order in whole cases. A product can have a unit barcode without a carton quantity, or a Default Pack Quantity without ever mapping a carton barcode. Carton Barcode and Qty/Carton work together for receiving (scan once, increment by N); Default Pack Quantity works alone for PO rounding.

Unit ID / Barcode

The barcode on an individual item (UPC, EAN, or custom identifier). Used during Receiving and Stocktake sessions — scanning this barcode identifies the product and increments the count by 1. This value can be synced from your Shopify product catalog using the 'Sync identifiers from Shopify' button.

Carton ID / Barcode

A separate barcode for a case, carton, or pack of items. When scanned during a receiving or stocktake session, it increments the count by the carton quantity (e.g., scanning a carton barcode with qty 12 adds 12 units at once). This is different from the Default Pack Quantity — carton barcodes are for physical scanning, while pack quantity is for purchase order rounding.

Qty / Carton

The number of individual units contained in a carton. This value is paired with the Carton Barcode — when you scan a carton barcode during receiving, Alfred increments the count by this quantity. Set this to match the actual case pack size of the physical carton you receive from your supplier.

Value Priority Cascade

MOQ, Lead Time, and Pack Quantity follow a three-tier priority system in the Purchase Order Planner: (1) Supplier + product-specific values (set on the Supplier detail page) take highest priority and show a green indicator dot. (2) Product-level defaults (set here in Product Configurations) take middle priority and show a blue indicator dot. (3) Plan-level settings (set in the Purchase Order Planner toolbar) are the fallback with no indicator dot. You can always override any value directly in the Purchase Order Planner table for a specific plan.

How to Use

1

Set Purchasing Defaults

Search for a product using the search bar or filters (vendor, product type, status, tags, collections). Click into the Default MOQ, Default Lead Time, or Default Pack Qty fields to enter values. These fields accept whole numbers. Changes are tracked in real-time — a save bar appears at the top when you have unsaved changes. Click Save to persist all changes at once.

2

Assign a Primary Supplier

Use the Primary Supplier dropdown on each row to assign a supplier. The dropdown lists all suppliers you've created in the app. Once assigned, the Purchase Order Planner will automatically use that supplier's product-specific pricing and purchasing parameters (if configured on the Supplier detail page). You can click the arrow link next to the dropdown to navigate directly to the supplier's detail page.

3

Assign to a Purchase Plan

Use the Purchase Plan dropdown to assign a variant to a saved purchase plan. Plans are created in the Purchase Order Planner module. Assigning products to plans helps organize your purchasing workflow — each plan can represent a specific order, season, or supplier shipment.

4

Add Barcodes and Identifiers

Enter unit barcodes (individual item identifiers) and carton barcodes (case-level identifiers) with their carton quantities. These are used during Receiving and Stocktake sessions for scanner-powered counting. You can add barcodes manually by editing each field, sync unit barcodes from Shopify using 'Sync identifiers from Shopify', or bulk import via CSV.

5

Bulk Edit with Multi-Select

Select multiple products using the checkboxes, then use the bulk action bar to apply values across all selected rows at once. Available bulk actions include: Set Purchase Plan, Set Primary Supplier, Set Default MOQ, Set Default Lead Time, Set Default Pack Qty, and Set Qty/Carton. This is the fastest way to configure large catalogs.

6

Import Barcodes via CSV

Click 'Upload Barcode / Identifier CSV' to bulk import barcode data. Download the CSV template, fill in the SKU column (required for matching) along with barcode, carton barcode, and carton quantity columns. Upload the file, map the columns to the correct fields, preview the matches, and confirm. Alfred matches rows by SKU to your existing product catalog.

Tips & Best Practices

  • ✓Use bulk edit to quickly set Default MOQ, Lead Time, and Pack Qty across your entire catalog — select all, then apply a value to all selected rows.
  • ✓Set up carton barcodes with the correct carton quantity to dramatically speed up receiving. Scanning one carton barcode is faster than scanning individual items.
  • ✓Assign primary suppliers before creating purchase plans. The Purchase Planner will automatically pull in supplier-specific pricing and parameters.
  • ✓Product-level defaults (MOQ, lead time, pack qty) only take effect when no supplier-specific value exists. If you set values at both levels, the supplier-specific value always wins.
  • ✓Use the 'Sync identifiers from Shopify' button periodically to keep unit barcodes in sync with changes made in Shopify admin.
  • ✓The page supports filtering by vendor, product type, status, tags, and collections — use these to work through your catalog section by section.

Frequently Asked Questions