5 VNDLY Planning Reports That Prevent Stockouts [2026]

Most small businesses do not run out of stock because they are careless. They run out because they are flying blind. You look at a spreadsheet, guess what will sell next month, and hope the supplier delivers on time. That is not planning. That is gambling.

VNDLY's Purchase Planning dashboard was built to remove the guesswork. It pulls your sales history, current stock levels, open purchase orders, and supplier lead times into one place. Then it runs the math for you and shows you exactly what to buy, when to buy it, and why it matters.

This guide walks through the five built-in reports you should check every week. Each one uses real data from your account. None of them require a spreadsheet.

Where to Find the Purchase Planning Dashboard

Log into VNDLY and click Planning in the main navigation. The page loads as "Purchase Planning" and shows a top bar with your current forecast model and key numbers. You can switch between a Dashboard view and a Table view depending on how deep you want to go.

The dashboard view is best for weekly reviews. The table view is better when you are ready to build actual purchase orders.

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Report 1: Stock Projection Chart

The Stock Projection Chart is the first thing you should look at. Pick any product from the dropdown and VNDLY draws a line showing your projected stock level over the next 30, 60, or 90 days.

The chart includes three reference lines that matter:

• Reorder Point (yellow dashed line) — the level where you should place a new order
• Min Stock (red dashed line) — your safety buffer; go below this and you are in the danger zone
• Incoming POs (green vertical markers) — shows when open purchase orders are expected to arrive and how many units they add

Above the chart, VNDLY prints the exact date when the product will hit its reorder point and, if nothing changes, the exact date it will stock out. If neither date exists, you see a green badge that says "Stock healthy for next X days."

This is powerful because it accounts for real pending stock. If you have 50 units on hand but a PO arriving next week with 200 units, the projection line jumps up on that date. You do not reorder based on today's count alone. You reorder based on the future trajectory.

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Report 2: Reorder Suggestions

Below the projection chart, VNDLY lists every product that needs attention. Each row shows:

• SKU and product name
• Current stock
• Urgency badge: Critical, High, Medium, or Low
• Suggested quantity to order
• Estimated cost based on your supplier price list
• Supplier name and lead time

The urgency logic is simple but effective. Critical means you are below safety stock or will stock out before lead time. High means you have crossed the reorder point. Medium and Low give you runway to plan ahead.

You can filter by supplier, urgency, or budget. You can also select multiple items and click Create Purchase Orders to generate draft POs grouped by supplier automatically. VNDLY checks each supplier's minimum order value and flags any issues before you commit.

If you are not ready to buy, export the list to CSV or PDF and send it to your purchasing team.

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Report 3: Demand Forecast (Three Models)

VNDLY does not force one forecasting method on every product. It runs three models and lets you choose the one that fits each SKU:

1. Simple Moving Average — best for stable products with consistent sales
2. Weighted Moving Average — gives more importance to recent sales; good for slow trends
3. Exponential Smoothing — reacts faster to recent changes; ideal for products with volatile demand

You set a default model for your whole account in Settings, but you can override it per variant. Go to the Table view, find a product, and switch its model. VNDLY recalculates the forecast immediately.

Each forecast row also shows a trend indicator: a small icon that tells you if demand is rising, falling, stable, or spiking. If VNDLY detects a sales spike — a sudden jump that is not seasonal — it flags the product so you can investigate before you overcorrect.

The forecast feeds directly into the reorder suggestions. Change the model and the suggested quantity changes with it. You are not stuck with one algorithm that works for half your catalog and fails on the rest.

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Report 4: ABC/XYZ Analysis Matrix

Not every product deserves the same attention. The ABC/XYZ matrix splits your catalog into nine categories so you know where to focus:

• ABC ranks products by annualized value. A = top 80 percent of value, B = next 15 percent, C = bottom 5 percent.
• XYZ ranks products by demand stability. X = stable and predictable, Y = moderate variation, Z = erratic or intermittent.

The matrix shows counts for each combination: AX, AY, AZ, BX, BY, BZ, CX, CY, CZ. You can filter the whole dashboard to show only one cell at a time.

AX items are your heroes: high value, stable demand. Lock in good supplier terms and never let them stock out. AZ items are your problem children: high value, erratic demand. These need safety stock and close monitoring. CZ items are low value and unpredictable; simplify them or drop them.

If you want a deeper dive on ABC classification, read our guide on ABC Inventory Analysis.

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Report 5: Weekly Stockout Forecast + Monthly Budget

This report answers two questions at once: what is about to break, and what will it cost to fix it?

The Weekly Stockout Forecast shows a week-by-week grid. Each cell tells you which products are projected to run out that week and how many units short you will be. It factors in open POs, so a product that looks risky this week might be safe once an inbound shipment lands.

The Monthly Budget Forecast adds up the estimated spend from all suggested reorders and breaks it down by supplier and by month. It also compares against your historical PO spend from the last 12 months, so you can spot months where you are about to spend significantly more than usual.

This is especially useful for cash flow planning. You can see that August will need a $12,000 PO push and plan for it, instead of getting surprised when five suppliers all need payment in the same week.

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Bonus: AI Insights Panel

VNDLY also includes an AI Insights Panel that scans your data and surfaces alerts you might have missed:

• Stockout imminent — products that will run out before lead time
• Demand spike — sudden sales jumps that could indicate a trend
• Slow mover — products that are sitting too long
• Overstock — products with far more stock than forecasted demand
• Order now — optimal timing alerts based on supplier lead times

The panel also shows top demand trends and suggested POs grouped by supplier with urgency scoring. You can refresh the insights manually or let them update automatically every 15 minutes.

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Tips and Edge Cases

Set your reorder points per variant, not globally. VNDLY lets you set a default reorder policy at the tenant level, but the real power comes from per-variant overrides. A best seller that ships 20 units a day needs a different buffer than a seasonal item that ships 2 units a day. Go to the product page and set the reorder point and safety stock days for each variant individually.

Keep supplier lead times accurate. The planning engine uses the lead time from your supplier record. If your supplier says 14 days but consistently delivers in 21, update the number. VNDLY also tracks actual lead time performance over time and uses the average when it is available.

Check the Table view before bulk-ordering. The Dashboard view is great for scanning. The Table view shows 90 days of demand history as a sparkline, the exact forecast model per variant, and lets you drag items directly into a bulk PO. Use both.

Use the email alerts. You can configure a low-stock alert email in the Planning page. VNDLY checks daily and sends a summary of critical items. No need to log in every morning if you do not want to.

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From the Founder

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Related Features and Next Steps

The Purchase Planning dashboard connects directly to the rest of VNDLY. A reorder suggestion becomes a draft purchase order with one click. That PO flows into goods receipt tracking, then into landed cost calculations, and finally into your cost-of-goods reports.

If you are new to demand planning, start with the ABC analysis guide to categorize your catalog. Then set your reorder points and safety stock. Once that foundation is in place, the Planning dashboard becomes a weekly 10-minute review instead of a Monday morning marathon.

For a broader look at demand planning tools, see our comparison of the best demand planning software for SMBs.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Purchase Planning dashboard included in all VNDLY plans?

Yes. Planning and forecasting is available on Starter, Professional, and Enterprise. The AI Insights Panel is also included on all plans. Mobile app access and barcode scanning require Professional or higher.

How far back does VNDLY look for sales history?

The default lookback period is 90 days of sales order history. This captures enough data for most SMBs without overweighting old seasonal patterns. The forecast models weight recent data more heavily by design.

Can I set different forecast models for different products?

Yes. You can set a default model for your entire account — Simple Moving Average, Weighted Moving Average, or Exponential Smoothing — and then override it per variant in the Table view. This is useful when one part of your catalog is stable and another is volatile.

What happens if I create a bulk PO and hit my plan's order limit?

VNDLY checks your plan limit before creating the purchase orders. If you are on Starter (500 orders/month) or Professional (5,000/month) and the bulk PO would push you over, you will see a clear message with an option to upgrade. No POs are created halfway.

Does the stock projection include sales orders that are not yet shipped?

Yes. The projection uses true demand from confirmed and pending sales orders, not just historical sales. It also includes pending purchase orders as incoming stock. The result is a forward-looking view that reflects commitments you have already made.

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