Skip to main content
Card class: Non-HeroCategory: Ecommerce Platform

At a glance

SKUs at or below their reorder point. The forward-looking fulfilment risk view: if you don’t reorder, you’ll stock out.
What it countsItems where QuantityAvailable < ReorderPoint. Each row shows current available, reorder point, vendor, lead time, recommended reorder quantity.
Per-locationReorder point is set per Item × Location. Card lists each location’s shortfall.
In-transitSubtracted from available calculation if NetSuite’s purchase-order workflow is in use.
CurrencyReorder cost in vendor’s billing currency.
Subsidiary scopeRespects dashboard filter.
Time windowRT
Alert triggerAny SKU below reorder point. Configurable to high-priority SKUs only.
Rolesowner, operations

Calculation

Calculated automatically from your NetSuite data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.

Worked example

A US wholesale apparel distributor on NetSuite. Snapshot 14 Apr 26.
SKUDescriptionAvailableReorder PtLead timeVendor
BR-A-001Brand A Premium Tee Black M245014 daysSupplier 1
BR-A-002Brand A Premium Tee Black L386014 daysSupplier 1
BR-B-014Brand B Polo Navy XL83021 daysSupplier 2
BR-C-022Brand C Hoodie Grey S124030 daysSupplier 3
BR-D-008Brand D Kids Tee02514 daysSupplier 1
(78 more SKUs below threshold)
Five things to notice:
  1. BR-D-008 at 0 available is OOS now. Backorders in Open SOs Blocked reflect this. 14 days to receive new stock.
  2. BR-B-014 at 8 vs 30 reorder point is the urgent reorder. 21-day lead time. If demand stays steady, 8 units last ~5 days. Order today or stock out.
  3. BR-C-022 at 30-day lead time is the planning challenge. Need to forecast 30 days of demand, not just till next reorder.
  4. The card surfaces vendor details so Operations can pick up the phone immediately.
  5. Pair with OOS with SO Demand for the cross-channel killer view: SKUs with open SOs awaiting them.

Sibling cards merchants should reference together

CardWhy pair it with Low Stock Alerts
OOS with SO DemandStock-outs with confirmed demand. The double-killer signal.
Open SOs BlockedInventory holds caused by these SKUs.
Inventory TurnoverFast-turning SKUs need higher reorder points.
Top SKUs ValueBest-sellers. Don’t run out of these.
Total Inventory ValueMacro level.

Reconciling against the vendor’s own dashboard

Where to look in NetSuite:
Reports → Inventory → Items Below Reorder Point Lists → Items with QuantityAvailable < ReorderPoint filter
Why our number may legitimately differ:
ReasonDirectionWhy
Reorder point setupEitherItems with no reorder point are excluded by both. Items with stale reorder points may show inappropriately low or high.
In-transit treatmentEitherNetSuite’s standard report subtracts on-order PO quantity; card defaults same.
Per-locationEitherNetSuite’s report defaults to single location; card includes all.
Cross-connector reconciliation:
CardRelationshipWhy
shopify.inventory_pending_ordersCommerce-side OOS allocationShopify shows OOS at allocation time. NetSuite shows reorder-point breaches.
OOS with SO DemandCross-channelThe SOs blocked by these stock-outs.

Known limitations / merchant FAQs

How are reorder points set? NetSuite Item record’s Inventory tab. Per-item or per-item-per-location. Most accounts maintain manually; advanced ops use Demand Planning to auto-tune. Why are some SKUs always on the list? They probably have stale reorder points (set 2+ years ago when demand was different). Audit annually. Should I auto-create POs from this card? NetSuite SuiteAnalytics Workbench supports auto-PO generation. The card surfaces; PO creation happens in NetSuite or via NetSuite SuiteFlow. Lead time variance, how do I handle? Set reorder point = (avg daily demand × max lead time) + safety stock. The card uses set reorder point; doesn’t recompute. Multi-location reorder strategy? Per-location reorder points reflect each fulfilment node’s separate demand. Card respects. Single-subsidiary vs OneWorld? Identical. Backorder vs reorder, what’s the difference? Backorder = customer ordered, you don’t have stock. Reorder = stock low, vendor needs to ship more. This card is reorder. Backorder appears in Open SOs Blocked.

Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre

Low Stock Alerts is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across NetSuite and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. Start for free or book a demo to see this metric running on your own data.