Auto-order
Let the Shop reorder chosen stock items for each site once a day, within a monthly budget you set, with larger orders waiting for a buyer to approve them.
Auto-order keeps chosen stock items topped up for you. Once a day, at each site's digest time, it checks those items and buys what has dropped to its min level, paid with the practice's saved payment method. You set a monthly budget and an amount above which an order waits for approval. Both amounts include tax.
Auto-order works wherever the Shop is open to your practice, in the UK (except Northern Ireland) and the US, while your Smileline subscription is active. It is off until an owner or manager turns it on, and it can't be turned on until the Shop opens to the public.
Before you start
- Payment. Auto-order needs a ready payment method, the shop terms and the standing authority, accepted on Shop settings → Payment. The standing authority lets auto-order charge your saved payment method on its run dates, never more in a month than your auto-order budget, tax included. Until it is all in place, the Auto-order tab says so, with a Set up payment button.
- Items. Auto-order buys only stock items that are linked to a Shop product and have an auto-order level: the quantity it tops the item up to, which is always above the item's min level. See Choose the items.
Choose the items
Owners and managers choose the items in Inventory.
Link the item to a Shop product, if it isn't already: click Link to the shop above the list.
Open the item, click ⋯ and choose Edit.
Enter Auto-order up to: how many the item should have after a delivery. It must be more than the item's Min level. Click Save changes.
The item's panel then shows its Auto-order up to level. To stop auto-ordering an item, clear Auto-order up to and save. The field shows only on items linked to the Shop, while the Shop is open to your practice.
Turn on auto-order
Click Settings in the Shop's header and choose the Auto-order tab
(/shop/settings/auto-order).
Enter the Monthly budget (tax included): the most auto-order takes from your account in a month.
Enter Approval above (tax included): an auto order above this amount waits for a buyer to approve it.
Turn on Auto-order on and click Save. Both amounts are needed to turn it on.
Auto orders are placed in the name of whoever last saved these settings, and each one shows Auto-order · set up by that person in Your orders. To stop auto-order, turn the switch off and click Save.
What happens each day
Each site runs once a day at its Digest time, set in Shop settings → Sites in the site's own time zone (8:00 unless you change it).
For each item, auto-order adds what is on hand, what is already on its way (including a delivery not yet checked in) and what is waiting for approval, then takes off what booked treatments will use before a new delivery could arrive. If that is at or below the item's min level, it buys enough whole packs to bring the item up to its auto-order level.
Then one of these happens:
| What auto-order finds | What it does |
|---|---|
| Nothing needs buying | Nothing. |
| The order fits the budget and isn't above the approval amount | It places the order and charges it. You get an Auto-order … placed notice that ends within your monthly budget. |
| The order fits the budget but is above the approval amount | The items go into the site's Store-room requests on Approvals, and buyers get Auto-order for the site needs approval with the total. A buyer approves and pays it there. |
| The order would take the month past its budget | It places nothing that day, and buyers get Auto-order for the site not placed: Monthly budget reached. |
The budget is shared by all your sites: it counts what the month's auto orders have spent or set aside, so two sites can't both use the last of it. Cancelling an auto order before dispatch gives its amount back to the month.
If no supplier has enough stock for the whole quantity, auto-order buys what the best offer has, and the site's digest names the shortfall, such as only 5 of 10 available. A later run orders the rest once stock appears.
If a price rises or an offer sells out before the order is placed, auto-order plans again. If it still can't place the order, buyers get an Auto-order for the site not placed notice saying why, for example Too many items for one order, or Check the delivery address when the site's address can't be used for tax. Correct the address under Settings → Locations.
Order now and Retry
Each auto-order notice opens the run it is about, in a window over the Shop's home page, saying where it stands and why. A buyer can act on it there:
- Order now on a run that wasn't placed, or was skipped. It places the order with you paying now and opens it, or, when it has too many items for one order or nothing was planned yet, puts the items in the site's Store-room requests and opens them in Approvals, where a buyer can order them in parts. If prices rose since the run was planned, it shows the new total, tax included, and Order now for that total places it. If nothing needs buying any more, it says Nothing needs ordering now.
- Retry on a run stopped by Check the delivery address, once the address is correct. Auto-order plans the run again within a few minutes.
- Open the store-room requests on a run waiting for approval, and View order on a run that placed one.
If someone buys an item by hand in the same minute that its auto-order runs, you can end up with two orders. Both show in Your orders, and either can be cancelled until it is dispatched.
Who can do what
| Role | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Owner, Manager | Turn auto-order on or off, set the budget and approval amount, set an item's Auto-order up to, and change an auto-ordered item's min level, Shop link or pack size |
| Buyers | Approve and pay auto orders waiting for approval, use Order now and Retry, and get auto-order notices |
Once an item is auto-ordered, only owners and managers can change its min level, the product it is linked to or how many units one pack adds, because those decide what auto-order buys. Changes like these always need a person signed in to Smileline, never an API key or a connected app.
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