Stock and order automation for retail and warehouses
If your stock Excel is already falling short but a whole ERP feels like overkill, there's a middle ground: automating what you already keep in Excel, without switching software.
When the stock Excel can't keep up any more
An Excel template keeps good track while the business is small, and stops being enough once it grows.
Several people touching the same file, a supplier order worked out by eye from what's left, a product code written two different ways on two different tabs: these are the signs your Excel has fallen short. And the usual next step people suggest, a full ERP, means changing your entire software for a more specific problem.
What you gain without going as far as an ERP
Automating the Excel you already have solves the part that weighs most, without an ERP migration.
A supplier order that's generated automatically when stock drops below a minimum, and stock that updates itself without anyone touching it twice: that clears away the mechanical part and leaves the judgement of what to buy, from whom, and when, in the hands of whoever runs it today.
How it's set up, on top of your own Excel
The same way of reading a stock Excel already working at a logistics company, adapted to a shop or a warehouse.
- Where the data comes from
- From the Excel you already use to track stock, without changing how you record it today.
- What gets automated
- The alert when a product code drops below a minimum, the supplier order with that code and that quantity, and the stock update when the goods come in.
- What stays the same
- Your usual Excel and your usual supplier. Nobody migrates anything or learns new software.
- What I need
- A real example of your stock Excel, and of how you place an order today.
Whatever doesn't add up in the Excel gets set aside, not guessed at
A column that changes name, a product code repeated with two different spellings: that gets flagged, not guessed.
When the Excel brings in something that isn't clear, an alert goes out with the reason instead of it being taken as correct. That way, every order sent to a supplier always starts from stock that's known to be right.
Fold, for checking stock without opening the Excel
Fold, the AI assistant for businesses, answers using your own stock and price files.
"How much of this product do we have left?", "what price did we buy it at last time?": your team asks from their phone and Fold answers with what's in your files, or says it doesn't know if it isn't clear. Start for free (2 questions a day, up to 10 a week); see what it can do today and its plans on its page.
This template is already built into Fold, wherever you use it from. If your store needs something not covered here, it can be requested as a custom automation.
Questions from retail and warehouses
When does a stock Excel fall short?
When several people touch it at once, when an order is worked out by eye, or when a product code is written two different ways. These are signs it's worth automating, not necessarily that you need to replace it with an ERP.
Do I need an ERP to automate supplier orders?
Not always. Often it's enough to automate the Excel you already keep: it connects from the outside, and the order is generated when stock drops below a minimum.
Can I carry on using the Excel I've always used?
Yes. That's exactly what gets automated: you carry on recording where you always have, and the system does the rest behind the scenes.
Is your stock Excel already telling you it's falling short?
Start with Fold's free plan and try it with your own files. If what you need is a large custom automation, we'll go through it in a 30-minute call, at no cost.