Managing incoming items

There are several ways to book stock into your system. However, to book variations in you need to have set up a complete warehouse and you need to have a warehouse, a storage location and a supplier assigned to a variation. On this page you will learn how to assign a storage location and a supplier to a variation. Furthermore you will read how to book stock in the Stock » New incoming items menu. Your system will only be able to adjust the display of variations in your store automatically as well as to start listings automatically if you book variations in and out and manage your stock correctly in plentymarkets.

1. Assigning suppliers to a variation

A supplier must be assigned to a variation before you can book incoming items and the supplier is also required to create reorders. Suppliers are customers that were assigned to the customer type supplier. So you need to create a supplier before you can assign a supplier to a variation. The steps for creating a supplier are the same as for creating other types of customers. You just have to make sure that you select supplier as customer type.

Assigning suppliers:

Go to Item » Edit item.
Open the item.
Open the variation.
Click on the Supplier tab.
Select a supplier from the drop-down list.
Click on Add.
→ The supplier will be assigned to the variation and you can carry out further settings.

Table 1. Supplier information of a variation
Setting	Explanation
Supplier item No.	Enter the item number that your supplier gave the variation. You can use this number to search for incoming items.
Purchase price	Enter the purchase price of the variation. Depending on your incoming items settings the purchase price will be overwritten. You can define whether or not the purchase price that was entered during an incoming items operation will overwrite the purchase price saved for the supplier. The setting for overwriting the purchase price are defined in the Setup » Stock » stock » incoming items menu.
Minimum purchase	Enter the minimum quantity that you need to order from a supplier. The minimum purchase will be used for reorders. However, the minimum purchase will only be used and displayed if the variation has actually reached the reorder level and really needs to be reordered. In other words the minimum purchase will not be displayed if variations have sufficient stock.
Delivery time in days	Enter the number of days that your supplier usually needs to deliver reordered variations. The delivery time can influence the quantity suggested for an reorder and the day that an reorder will be delivered. You can define whether or not the delivery time will influence the suggested quantity. The settings are in the Setup » Stock » Reorder management » Settings menu. The delivery time is here considered replacement time.
Last price query	Select the date from the calendar when you lasted requested the current price from your supplier.
Discount	Enter the discount in percent if the supplier offers a discount on the variation. However, the discount will only be used in reorders if the check mark for discountable is placed as well.
Discountable	Place a check mark to activate the discount entered. The discount entered will not be used in reorders if this check mark is not saved.
Packaging unit	Enter the units contained. This is especially important if the units contained in the variation that the supplier offers differs from the regular number of units contained and that you saved in your variation data record. The units contained saved in the variation data record can be found in the Settings tab of a variation.

2. Linking a variation to a storage location

A variation needs a warehouse and a storage location before you can book stock in. Without a warehouse and a storage location the system does not know where to book the stock and therefore does not book stock. The standard storage location is only a placeholder location and is used if you have not assigned an individual storage location yet. The best is to select one of your storage locations to begin with.

Inheriting the variations to variations

When you activate a warehouse for a main variation, this setting is inherited to all variations of the item.

Go to Item » Edit item » Open item » Edit variation.
Click on the Warehouse tab.
Select a warehouse from the drop-down list.
Click on Add.
→ The warehouse will be assigned to the variation and you can carry out further settings.

Table 2. Warehouse settings of a variation
Setting	Explanation
Storage location type	Select the type according to the size of the variation
Zone	Select a zone if you have set up zones for this warehouse
Reorder level	Enter the quantity that you want to use to reorder a variation. A suggestion for a reorder quantity will be made when this reorder level is reached. Until the level is reached 0 will be displayed as suggestion, because the reorder level defines when you wish to make a reorder. Note: If the difference between the current stock and the reorder level is calculated dynamically, the only valid value is 0.
Stock turnover (in days)	Enter the number of days that the stock of a specific variation should suffice until the next reorder. This value is relevant for calculating the reorder quantity. A standard value that could be used for the stock turnover is 14 days. Once the item has reached the reorder level, the value entered will be used for calculating the quantity of items that need to be reordered. In other words, the quantity suggested for reorder would be sufficient for the following 14 days. If no value is entered here, the stock turnover (in days) is not taken into account for the calculation of the reorder date.
Maximum stock	Enter the maximum stock for the warehouse. The maximum stock influences the suggested reorder quantity by limiting the reorder quantity. Or in other words the reorder quantity will not exceed the quantity entered here.
Stock buffer	Enter a desired value as the stock buffer. The stock for particular markets will then be reduced by this value. Example: You have 50 items in stock and you want a stock buffer of 10 items so that the item can not be sold out completely on this market. In this case, enter 10 as the stock buffer. Now, 40 items are in stock on this market. The values entered here are considered for markets such as Neckermann, Otto and Plus.de. The buffer entered here takes priority over the buffer values entered for the particular market.
Best before date	Select if best before dates are to be saved for this variation and this warehouse. *Note:* Once stock is booked to the warehouse, you can no longer deactivate the option Best before date. If the stock level for this warehouse is 0, the option Best before date can be activated or deactivated.
Batch	Select if batches are to be saved for this variation and this warehouse. *Note:* Once stock is booked to the warehouse, you can no longer deactivate the option Batch. If the stock level for this warehouse is 0, the option Batch can be activated or deactivated.
Suggested storage location	Select a storage location for the particular warehouse. This storage location will automatically be suggested when a reorder is made. The setting default storage location actually means that storage location to be assigned.

3. Identifying the purchase price

The range of settings that are connected to the purchase price is versatile. 2 different purchase prices can be shown in the variation’s data record. One purchase price is always the moving average price. The second purchase price that will be displayed depends on your settings. You can either enter a purchase price or you can transfer a purchase price from the latest incoming items data record. You also have the possiblity to transfer a second average purchase price. This second average purchase price is a sort of live average purchase price. All different purchase price options that can be transferred are described in the Transferring storage location and purchase price chapter.
How the two different average purchase prices are calculated is described in the following table.

Table 3. average puchase price
Live average calculation	Moving average calculation
\(LAPP_{new} = {LAAP_{old} \cdot Quantity_{old} + EK_{new} \cdot Quantity_{new}\over Quantity_{old} + Quantity_{new}}\) LAPP_new = New live average purchase price LAPP_old = Old live average purchase price Quantity_old = Previous stock quantity PurchasePrice_new = Purchase price of incoming items Quantity_new = Quantity of incoming items	\(MAAP_{new} = {MAAP_{old} \cdot Quantity_{old} + PurchasePrice_{new} \cdot Quantity_{new}\over Quantity_{old} + Quantity_{new}}\) MAAP_new = New moving average purchase price MAAP_old = Old moving average purchase price Quantity_old = Previous stock quantity PurchasePrice_new = Purchase price of incoming items Quantity_new = Quantity of incoming items
A recalculation will be carried out in the following cases: Incoming items and Outgoing items The current average is given in export formats or used for statistics. If you wish to see this purchase price in a variation’s data record, then you need select that the average purches price will be transferred. The purchase price setting can be found in the Setup » Stock » Stock » Incoming items menu. The option that you need to select is Save live average purchase price in the variation data. The other options available in the dropdown are explained in the Table 4	A recalculation will be carried out in the following cases: Incoming items However, a recalculation will only be carried out if you defined that stock booked into this warehouse is used for the calculation of the moving average purchase price. Each variation has a separate field for showing the moving average price. Go to Setup » Stock » Stock » Incoming items to activate the warehouses that will be used for calculating the moving average purchase price.

4. Transferring the storage location and the purchase price

When you add items to an incoming item data record, you can enter the purchase price, the recommended retail price and the storage location. The RRP will be applied to the variation data record once the incoming item data record is approved. When you add the same variation several times but with different RRPs, then the highest RRP will be saved in the variation data, once the incoming item data record is approved. You can specify whether or not the purchase prices of incoming items are saved with the item. If you wish to transfer the purchase price you have several options to select from. In addition, you can also select whether or not a specified storage location for incoming items is saved in the variation data.

Choosing a transfer option:

Go to Setup » Stock » Stock » Incoming items.
Select a setting. Pay attention to the information given in Table 4.
Save the settings.

Table 4. Defining how prices and the storage location are transferred
Setting	Explanation
Purchase price	Choose whether or not the purchase price will be transferred and if you choose to transfer the purchase price, select where the price will be saved. The storage location while be saved once the incoming items data record was approved. Do not transfer the purchase price = The purchase price will not be transferred to other menus. Select this setting if you prefer to manually add and maintain the purchase price in the variation’s data. Save purchase price in variation data = The purchase price will automatically be saved in the Settings tab of a variation. The purchase price that is listed last in the incoming items data record will be transferred if you have the same variation with different purchase prices in one incoming items data record. Save purchase price in variation and supplier data = The purchase price will automatically be saved in the Settings tab of a variation as well as in the Stock tab of a supplier. The purchase price that is listed last in the incoming items data record will be transferred if you have the same variation with different purchase prices in one incoming items data record. Save live average purchase price in the variation data = The average purchase price will be recalculated every time new incoming items are received or items are booked out. The actual purchase prices of those variations currently available in the warehouse are used for this calculation. The average purchase price will automatically be saved in the Settings tab of a variation. Table 3 shows the formula used in the calculation. Save the highest purchase price = If several different purchase prices are available, then the highest purchase price of the current incoming items data record will be saved with the variation data. Save the lowest purchase price = If several different purchase prices are available, then the lowest purchase price of the current incoming items data record will be saved with the variation data.
Storage location	Choose whether or not the storage location will be transferred and if you choose to transfer the purchase price, select where the price will be saved. The storage location while be saved once the incoming items data record was approved. Do not save the storage location = The storage location will not be saved. Save storage location in variation data = The storage location is automatically saved as suggested storage location in the Warehouse tab of a variation. The storage location will be newly transferred with each new incoming items data record that the variation is included in. Save the storage location for items and variations if no storage location was saved yet = The option only takes effect if no storage location was saved yet.

5. Assigning the RRP to a price

If you want to enter a RRP while booking stock in, you need to define which sales price will be used as RRP. Furthermore you can select the sales price that will be displayed when booking incoming items.

Assigning the RRP to a price:

Go to Setup » Stock » New incoming items.
Select one of your sales prices from the drop-down list for the RRP.
Select one of your sales prices from the drop-down list for the price.
Save the settings.

However, it is not enough to assign a price in the Setup » Stock » New incoming items menu in order to display a sales price in a variation. You also need to assign a sales price to a variation. Sales prices are created in the Setup » Item » Sales prices menu. How to create sales prices and how to assign them to variations is described in detail on the Managing items page of the manual. On this page you will also learn how to calculate prices for customer classes and so on.

6. Booking in stock in the plentymarkets back end

You can book incoming items in several different ways, e.g. using the plentymarkets app, data import, or the New incoming items menu. This menu offers you the most extensive options because in addition to booking in stock, you also can specify other data such as procurement costs. As such, booking in items using this menu will be described in detail.

6.1. Recording incoming items

The recording on incoming items is carried out in 2 steps. At first you need to enter general information such as the supplier and the currency. In the second step the variations and the delivered quantities are registered.

6.1.1. Registering general incoming items information

You need to have at least one warehouse and supplier before you can register incoming items. Suppliers are created in the same way as customers and then assigned the customer type Supplier. In addition, at least one owner must be activated as owner of incoming items so that the incoming items can be assigned to an owner. It is not possible to record incoming items without an owner. Owners are shown in the order of their ID. If the user that is currently logged in can be set as owner, this user is selected by default.

Registering general incoming items information:

Go to Stock » New incoming items.
Click on New incoming items.
→ A new tab will open.
Enter a supplier.
→ Click on the down arrow to see a list of all suppliers or enter a supplier’s name to see matching results. The results will be displayed once 3 or more letters were entered.
Select a warehouse.
→ If a main warehouse is defined for the variation, then this main warehouse will be pre-selected.
Select an owner.
→ If you were activated as an owner of incoming items, then you will be selected by default since you are currently logged in.
Carry out further optional settings as desired.
Save the settings to create an incoming items data record.
→ The incoming items data record will open in a new tab. It will have an ID and will be given the status Created. Click on the small plus that is on the far left side of the header to see additional information about the incoming items data record.

If you pay for the incoming items in a currency other than your standard currency, then the exchange rate will be entered automatically.

All of the recorded information can be edited. Finalize the incoming items data record by adding items and procurement costs.

6.1.2. Adding items to the incoming items data record

You can add variations individually or several at once. It is only possible to add variations that already exist as data records in your system. First create a new item and the corresponding variations, if a completely new **item/managing-items#, item>> is delivered. When you first open the list of items and variations, all variations from all suppliers are listed. Use the search to display items of a particular supplier.
If you entered a purchase price for a variation, then it will automatically be displayed here and can be used. Click on the item ID to open and edit the item data record. Proceed as described below to add the delivered items to the incoming items data record.

Adding an individual variation

Add an individual variation as described below. Information such as the purchase price and the storage location are not mandatory. If you do not want to enter these entries, skip the corresponding steps in the description.

Adding an individual variation:

Go to Stock » New incoming items.
Open an incoming items data record.
Click on Add item.
→ A new window for searching and selecting items will open.
Enter search terms and select filters. Pay attention to the information given in Table 5.
Click on Search.
→ The items that match the search criteria will be listed.
Enter the Purchase price (optional).
Enter the quantity (mandatory entry).
→ The variation is selected automatically when a quantity is entered.
Select a storage location from the drop-down list.
→ If you have not yet assigned a storage location to a variation, then you can assign a storage location here as well. Click on Search to do so. The standard storage location is only a placeholder location and is used if you have not assigned an individual storage location yet.
Enter the RRP (optional).
→ The RRP will be applied to the variation data record once the incoming items data record is approved.
Click on Add items within the procedure tab.
→ The variation will be added to the data record.

Table 5. item filters
Setting	Explanation
Item data	Searches through item name 1 and the item’s meta keywords.
Barcode	Filters barcodes such as EAN, UPC or ISBN depending on the barcode type that you set up.
Reset	Resets all of the filter settings so that you see the items that correspond to all suppliers. After the reset, click on search to update the list.

Click on Back to incoming items to return to the overview of incoming items data record.

Adding several variations at once

If you want to add several variations at the same time, then enter the quantities and purchase prices. However, the purchase price is not a mandatory entry. You can also use the tab key to switch to the next entry field. You can only add variations that are displayed on the same page. If you switch to a new page, then your system will load the entries for the new page and discard the entries on the previous page.

Adding several variations:

Go to Stock » New incoming items.
Open an incoming items data record.
Click on Add item.
→ A new window for searching and selecting items will open.
Enter search terms and select filters. Pay attention to the information given in Table 5.
Click on Search.
→ The variations that match the search criteria will be listed.
Enter the Purchase price (optional).
Enter the quantity (mandatory entry).
→ The variation is selected automatically when a quantity is entered.
Enter the RRP (optional).
→ The RRP that you booked will be transferred to the item data record.
Enter the Quantity, the Purchase price and the RRP for any additional variations.
Click on Add button that is displayed above the item list.
→ The variations will be added to the incoming items data record.

Click on Back to incoming items to return to the overview of incoming items data record.

If you add another quantity of the same variation and you do not change the purchase price or storage location, then this new quantity will be added to the existing quantity. If the purchase price or storage location are different, then the variation will be listed a second time.

6.2. Incoming items with a best before date and/or batch information

You can book in variations with best before dates and/or batch information. To save best before dates and/or batch information for a variation, the option Best before date and/or Batch must be activated for the warehouse in the Warehouse tab of the variation. The chapter Linking a variation to a storage location contains information on this setting.

Receiving variations with best before dates and batch information

By default, you can only book one best before date/batch per storage location and variation. We recommend that you do not change this setting. Booking more than one best before date/batch to the same storage location may result in problems during order picking. You can find this setting in the Setup » Stock » Stock » Incoming items menu.

Adding a variation with a best before date and/or batch information:

Go to Stock » New incoming items.
Open an incoming items data record.
Click on Add item.
→ A new window for searching and selecting items will open.
Enter search terms and select filters. Pay attention to the information given in Table 5.
Click on Search.
→ The variations that match the search criteria will be listed.
Enter the Purchase price (optional).
Enter the quantity (mandatory entry).
→ The variation is selected automatically when a quantity is entered.
Enter a value for Best before date/batch.
Enter the RRP (optional).
→ The RRP will be applied to the item data once the incoming items data record is approved.
Enter the Quantity, the Purchase price and the RRP for any additional variations.
Click on Add button that is displayed above the item list.
→ The variations will be added to the incoming items data record.
Click on Back to incoming items to return to the overview of incoming items data record.

6.3. Adding procurement costs

Add procurement costs, e.g. the freight, packaging and customs charges that are incurred when acquiring new items.

Adding procurement costs:

Go to Stock » New incoming items.
Open an incoming items data record.
Click on the small plus icon to expand the header.
Click on the coins.
→ A window will open.
Enter your costs.
Save the settings to save the costs.

6.4. Changing and understanding the status

Incoming items data records receive the status Created as soon as they are created. Any status changes are saved in the Status history. Open the Status history by clicking on the symbol to the right of the drop-down list. The history includes information about each status change. It lists the user, date and referrer, e.g. Client.

Changing the status:

Go to Stock » New incoming items.
Open an incoming items data record.
Select a status from the drop-down list.
→ You can choose between the statuses In review, Error, Cancelled and Approved.
Save the status.

Table 6. possible statuses
Status	Explanation
Created	Incoming items data records automatically receive this status when they are created.
In review	It makes sense to select this status once all of the delivered items have been recorded and the data record in plentymarkets is checked for accuracy against the delivery note.
Error	Indicates that the data record includes an error.
Cancelled	Indicates that the data record should no longer be used. It is not possible to delete incoming items data records. Therefore, it makes sense to use this status for faulty data records.
Approved	Adds the incoming items to the stock. In other words, this status makes the new incoming items available for outstanding orders, new listings, etc. The incoming items data record will be locked and can no longer be edited.
Correction	Unlocks certain entries such as the supplier, the delivery note number etc. for editing However, the purchase price remains locked and can not be edited.

6.5. Adding stock to a variation

Approve the incoming items data record to actually add the stock to a variation and to apply the RRP from the incoming items data record to the variation data. If there are several different RRPs for the same variation, then the highest RRP will be applied to the variation data.
It is no longer possible to change a variation or add further variations once an incoming items data record is switched to the status Approved. Other data e.g. the supplier also remain locked when the incoming items data record is in Approved status.

You can see a variation’s stock under Tab: Stock » Tab: Stock. The tab Item movement lists all of the item movements. For example, this tab shows you when the purchase price was changed in the incoming items data record. All changes that are made to the item quantity or purchase price are recorded as item movements. The changes are recorded regardless of which status the incoming item data record has.

Open the menu Stock » Stocks to see the stock of all items and variations.

6.6. Adding a note

Use notes to save additional information. For example, to save a message for other colleagues who will also edit the data record at a later time. Notes can neither be edited nor deleted.

Adding a note:

Go to Stock » New incoming items.
Open an incoming items data record.
Click on Notes, i.e. the small paper icon on the far right of the header.
→ A window will open.
Enter a text.
→ Format the note as desired.
Save the note.
→ Previously saved notes are displayed on the left side of the window.

6.7. Changing and correcting an incoming items data record

Incoming items data records can only be changed if they have a certain status. Data records can be changed if they have the status Created, In review, Error or Cancelled. Information such as the supplier, the delivery note number and the quantity can be changed. A note is automatically saved when changing sensitive data such as the purchase price or the item quantity. The user who made this change is automatically saved as the author of the note. It is not possible to change data records that have already been approved. When using the status Correction, some data becomes editable again.

6.8. Exporting an incoming items data record

Data is exported in CSV format. Proceed as described below to export an incoming items data record.

Exporting an incoming items data record:

Go to Stock » New incoming items.
Open an incoming items data record.
Click on the small plus icon to expand the header.
Click on Export.
→ The file will be downloaded.
Select semicolon as the separator when opening the file.

6.9. Creating a PDF receipt

It is only possible to create a PDF receipt when the status Approved is selected.

Creating a PDF receipt:

Go to Stock » New incoming items.
Open an incoming items data record.
Click on the small plus icon to expand the header.
Click on Create receipt.
→ The PDF file will be downloaded.

7. Booking in stock with the plentymarkets app

You can also book in stock using the plentymarkets app. Refer to the Receiving goods and replenishing stock page of the manual to learn how it’s done and which settings you’ll need to configure in advance.

8. Searching for an incoming items data record

There are two menus where you can search for incoming items data records. These menus are Stock » Incoming items and Stock » New incoming items. In the Stock » Incoming items menu all incoming items data records are listed regardless of whether they were created in the app, by dynamic import or in the New incoming items menu. In the New incoming items menu you can only find incoming items data records that were booked in this menu.

8.1. Searching in the new incoming items menu

Use the search function in the incoming items menu to find specific data records. Many of the search filters refer to items and variations. In other words, you can use the filters to search for incoming item data records that include an item or variation with this ID, number or flag. When you open the menu, the last 2 months are automatically selected as the delivery period. If you want to find an incoming items data record that is older, then you will need to reset the filters first.

Searching in the new incoming items menu:

Go to Stock » New incoming items.
Select the desired search settings. Pay attention to the information given in Table 7.
Click on Search.

Table 7. search settings for incoming items
Setting	Explanation
Barcode	Searches variations that have the barcode. Barcodes can be EAN, UPC, ISBN etc.
Reorder ID	Searches for all data records that include an item from this reorder.

8.2. Searching for incoming items in the Stock » incoming items menu

The many ways to book stock into your system are e.g. Rest, dynamic import, the variation menu or the Incoming items menu. However, no matter how the stock was booked into your system all incoming items data records are listed in the Stock » Incoming items menu. The search is by month.

Searching for an incoming items data record:

Go to Stock » Incoming items.
Select a filter.
→ The current month is set by default.
Click on Search.

Identifying archive entries

An entry will be archived after 3 months, but only if all stock that was booked in with this entry has either been booked out or has been redistributed in the meanwhile. Once an incoming items data record has been archived you will see an archive symbol in the Archive column. Archive data cannot be edited or deleted.

In this menu you can also do the following:

You can export incoming items data records by month
You can open, edit and individually export incoming items data records

You can edit the Supplier, Delivery date and Delivery note number in the Base tab. You can edit the Purchase price in the Item tab.

9. Deleting empty storage locations

In the Stock » Stock » Incoming items menu, it is possible to determine a period of time after which empty storage locations are deleted. When activating the option Delete empty storage location after, the entry is removed from the table after expiration of the determined period. In the system, it is no longer considered that the item has ever existed on the storage location.

Attention! This does not apply to the standard storage location (ID 0) of the main warehouse on the item or on the variation; this one is always visible.

10. Hiding stock entries of 0

In the Stock » Stock » Incoming items menu, it is possible to determine a period of time after which stock entries of 0 are hidden. In case an item is stored in a second warehouse, the stock is set to zero. By activating the option Hide stock entry of “0” after, the entry in the variation’s stock overview disappears after the determined period, but remains saved in the background. Thus, reversals or incoming items that have the setting “Used storage location” can still use or rather display this storage location.

Attention! This does not apply to the standard storage location (ID 0) of the main warehouse on the item or on the variation; this one is always visible.