Say goodbye to looking at whiteboards, shelves, and other records just to figure out what you need to buy from your supplier. This old way of deciding on purchases is not only time consuming, but also prone to human error - which could cost even more time and money.

Cut down minutes (or even hours) of confusion into seconds of deliberate action. With Lightspeed Purchase, you can see what you need to buy from your suppliers instantly. Then you can send the autogenerated order with just a few taps.This is the fastest and easiest way to keep overstocking and stock-outs at bay.

This guide covers how to access the recommended orders feature on Lightspeed Purchase.

What's in this guide

Before you begin
Access & send the recommended order
Frequently Asked Questions

Before you begin

You will need:

• Have  Purchase enabled from the Back Office. The site must be subscribed to Purchase Advanced.
• Have your suppliers added in Lightspeed & default items added under your suppliers.
• Have your PAR levels added for your inventory items.
  

Follow along with the guides linked above before proceeding to the next steps 😉

Access & send the recommended order

1. Launch Lightspeed Purchase from the Back Office.

2. From the side menu on the left, select Purchase orders - then select New order

3. Select a supplier from your list of added suppliers.

4. Select Recommended order right under the supplier name.

Note - you can only view a recommended order after selecting the supplier.

5. You will see an autogenerated purchase order that contains all the products (and quantities) you currently need from the supplier. The products and quantities chosen here are based on the PAR levels that you’ve set.

Note - If you want to edit the products included, the quantities, the prices, and other details of the order, simply edit this like a regular purchase order. In a nutshell, you can use the search bar to add more products to the order. To edit the quantity or price, simply tap on the item from the list and edit the item. To add notes or change the delivery date, simply tap on the respective field to edit it.

6. Once you're happy with your order, carry on with the rest of the order as you would with a regular purchase order. Select Review Order.

7. Next, select Place order.

Success! The order is sent. This will now appear under the Purchase orders tab with a Placed status.

Note - Order recommendations appear as long as the supplies are not yet received from the supplier. Before sending an order, make sure that it hasn’t been sent already. Have a quick look at the Purchase orders tab for orders from the same supplier, having the same price. This is to avoid duplicate orders - especially if more than one person accesses  Purchase in your team.

When you’re ready to receive this delivery, you may receive it the same way as a regular purchase order. Check out our guide on receiving deliveries.

Frequently Asked Questions 

How does  Purchase know what I need to buy?

Order recommendations are based on two data points: your PAR level and your stock level. You can set up your PAR level quickly and easily on Purchase. Meanwhile, the stock level from Back Office is updated automatically depending on how you’ve set up your inventory management on Lightspeed

The order recommendation is based on which items have a lower stock level than the PAR level. The order recommendation also includes the quantities to make the two numbers equal - thereby ensuring that your stock levels are optimal.

Do I need to have recipes set up on Lightspeed to use this?

If you plan to use recommended orders for restocking ingredients, yes, we highly recommend setting up recipes as well. This is important because recipes on Lightspeed can decrement ingredient quantities every time the product or batch is made - making the stock level constantly updated.

Recipes are easy to set up on Lightspeed Produce - check out our guide on this.

How do I make sure my stock levels are accurate?

If you’re new to Lightspeed, you may want to check out our comprehensive guide on Inventory Management. This guide covers the main aspects of inventory (cost monitoring, stock counts, wastage, etc.) that you need to set up on Lightspeed to make sure that it is fully customised to the needs of your business. It’s also a good reference if you simply want to cross-check the settings you already have.

Can I edit the autogenerated order recommendation?

Yes, you can! After opening an order recommendation, you can edit it just like a regular purchase order. This is great if you want to make any changes like removing items, adding items, changing the quantities/prices, and more.

How do I receive the delivery after sending the order?

After sending or placing the order, it will show up under the Purchase orders tab with a Placed status. This is received the same way as a regular purchase order. For this, you can refer to our guide on purchasing with Lightspeed.

Do I need to pay for this feature?

Features are included in different Lightspeed Purchase Plans - so check if this is already included in yours. If you need a plan upgrade it's a fine day for a power-up! Talk to us.

What else can I do to optimise my purchasing?

Automation makes life easier. With Lightspeed Purchase, you can automate sending purchase orders to your suppliers using Recurring orders - Or you can simply automate sending regular reminders to your email using Order reminders.