A reorder is the cheapest growth available to a shop: the customer demand is proven, the garment is known, and the risk is a fraction of a season buy. The catch is that the window to act is short, and it closes quietly.
When reordering makes sense
The trigger is a variant, not a style, running ahead of plan. If a trouser in blue has sold 70% of its size 50 units in five weeks, size 50 is the reorder. Three conditions decide whether it is worth placing:
- the supplier still holds stock, or can produce inside the season
- enough full-price weeks remain after the lead time to sell it
- the variant is selling on repeat demand rather than on one bulk sale
Fail the second condition and the reorder arrives in time for the markdown, which converts a good style into unsold stock at a discount.
Reorder against season order
| Season order | In-season reorder | |
|---|---|---|
| Placed | Months ahead | Mid-season |
| Based on | Forecast | Actual sell-through |
| Risk | High, unproven | Low, demand shown |
| Depth | Full curve | The sizes that sold |
| Lead time | Long | Short, from available stock |
The common mistakes
Reordering the original curve is the frequent one. If S and XL are still on the rail, another prepack buys more of exactly what is not selling. The reorder should mirror what left the shelf, which usually means two or three sizes, not the range.
Reading style-level numbers is the other. A style at 65% sell-through can be sold out in the middle sizes and untouched at the ends, and the average points you at a reorder that is half wasted. Waiting for a monthly report is a third: by the time the month closes, the lead time has eaten the window.
How Agilo handles it
Agilo records purchases per variant when a load is closed, so the Sell-In report compares what you bought against what has moved at size and color level rather than at style level. Filtering by brand, season and category shows which variants are running ahead, which is the list a reorder is built from. Stock stays in step with connected channels, so the sell-through you are reading includes what sold on the marketplaces, not only in the shop.