Maintaining good ordering procedures provides the foundation for a healthy Ascend system. This process ensures:

• Product information (e.g., description, size, color) is correct.
• Orders are not duplicated.
• Margins are calculated correctly.
• Reorder levels are adjusted as required.
• Redundant products are not ordered.
• The store does not have excessive inventory.
• Only necessary products are ordered, reducing the need for "clearance" sales.
• Customers receive special orders quickly.

Overall practices

• Import vendor/supplier products using Ascend-vetted spreadsheets. Ascend receives product information directly from the vendor/supplier, ensuring your data is consistent for ordering.
  1. Use the Cloud Product Catalog when available. Article: Using the Cloud Product Catalog 
  2. Remove any products you don’t intend to sell (including special orders). For every 1,000 products imported, your database size increases by approximately 1 MB. Larger database sizes can significantly impact performance.
  3. Use Ascend spreadsheets to update product information (pricing, descriptions, case quantities, etc.). Article: Handling vendor/supplier price changes (updates) 
• Perform regular cycle counts to catch inventory management issues early. This can help identify areas where additional training or process improvements may be needed. Article: Prepare for cycle counts 
• Use the Ascend HQ Category Analysis metrics to compare differences in your sales and inventory performance and adjust your stock strategies accordingly.
  1. Schedule email delivery of Ascend HQ Category Analysis report so you always have a copy on a consistent basis.
• Use the Ascend HQ Reorder Analysis tool to analyze, suggest, and set values for product reorder levels (mins/maxes).
• Enter all customer order items as special orders (see Handle Special Order items). Note: If you have outstanding orders allocated to customers which were NOT marked as special orders, Ascend lets you easily tie these items together. Article: Selling products from existing vendor/supplier backorders 
• Ensure products bought in bulk (case quantity) are configured. Article: Selling products that come in bulk (case quantity) 
• If your sales trends are seasonal, be sure to set separate reorder (min/max) values and switch to your “off” season when you’re ready to use your secondary values. Article: Set “off” season product Mins and Maxes 
• If a vendor/supplier is changing products to a new model year before you’ve received pending backorders, use the Product Replacement Wizard to easily swap your order items and/or customer special orders to the new model. Article: Using the Product Replacement Wizard (model rollover tool) 

Placing orders

Build all orders in Ascend before they are placed with the vendor/suppliers. Article: Create a Vendor Order (purchase order). This process ensures:

• You’re accurately tracking order status.
• You maintain a record of what was ordered.
• You’re not ordering unnecessary products (e.g. if the product is already on a previous order).
• Data trending is accurate (e.g. how quickly orders from a specific vendor/supplier are received).
• You’re accounting for items’ reorder (mix/max) values and customer special orders.

Note: Trek Project One (P1) bikes (Selling Trek Project One (P1) bikes) and other customized bikes are the exception to this “rule”.

• (Trek dealers) Use Order Grids to build your orders. Article: View availability for Trek products using Order Grids 
• For integrated vendors/suppliers, submit all orders through Ascend.
  1. Trek integration in Vendor Orders 
  2. Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) integration 
• For non-integrated vendors/suppliers, be sure to accurately record the date and method in which the order was submitted.
• Try the Special Orders Management Tool - Ascend HQ 

Receiving orders

Continuing the framework started with ordering, maintaining good receiving procedures promotes inventory accuracy. This process ensures:

• Product information in Ascend (e.g., UPC/EAN, case quantity division) matches the product itself.
• Products are accurately labeled with:
  1. A UPC/EAN to scan during a sale or inventory count.
  2. Pricing information for customers.
• Accurate quantities on hand can be advertised to customers.
• Margins are calculated accurately.
• Inventory dollar values are accurate.
• Customers with special orders are notified as soon as it comes in.
• Products are not sold into negative quantities.
• You have historical information for data trending (e.g., how often orders are improperly filled, special order turnaround times).
• Serial numbers are tracked as soon as they enter the store.

Receive Vendor Orders promptly to accurately reflect inventory levels and ensure products aren’t “lost”. Since an order may be received in multiple shipments, orders can be received in multiple sessions. An order remains open until all products are received or removed when unavailable.

• Split and scan all order items individually. This ensures products aren’t miscounted and you received the correct quantities and products from the vendor/supplier.
• Record all serial numbers at the time of receiving. This ensures you can accurately track every serialized item in your store (e.g. if a bike is stolen). Article: Serialization 
• (multi-store retailers) If you receive all orders in a central location (e.g., a warehouse location), transfer items to other locations directly within the order. Article: Transfer products between multi-store locations 
• Try the Receiving Wizard. Article: Check in multiple Trek orders with the Receiving Wizard 

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