Open Pantry
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Open Pantry
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PURCHASING & AUTO-POsNEW

Purchasing & Auto-POs: Restock Before You Run Out, Without the Guesswork

Open Pantry watches your stock against the reorder points you set and, when a line runs low, drafts a purchase order to your own supplier — ready to approve and send in a click. Receive against the PO and stock, lot and expiry update themselves, with the vendor bill flowing on to your accounts. Purchasing lives in the same platform as your ordering, stock and invoicing.

  • Reorder points flag low stock and draft the PO to your supplier
  • Buy in your supplier’s units — cartons, pallets — with cost per base unit
  • Receive against the PO: stock, lot and expiry update automatically
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★★★★★  Trusted by 600+ suppliers across Australia

Open Pantry purchasing view showing items below their reorder point and an auto-drafted purchase order to the supplier, ready to approve and send
Recommended by:M&J ChickensFood & Drink BusinessFoodService REPGoogle ★★★★★
Built for food & beverage wholesalersMeatSeafoodProduceDairySmallgoodsBakeryBeverages

Buying stock runs on memory and panic

A fast line runs out mid-week and you’re short on the orders already placed

Purchase orders written up in email and spreadsheets, then re-typed on arrival

Over-ordering ties up cash and fills the coolroom with stock that expires

What you paid a supplier never lines up with what you receive — or your books

How Purchasing & Auto-POs Work

1

Set reorder points

Give each line a reorder point and a preferred supplier — the level you never want to drop below.

2

Open Pantry drafts the PO

When stock falls to the reorder point, a draft purchase order to that supplier is prepared for you.

3

Approve and send

Review the draft, adjust quantities, and approve — the PO goes to your supplier in a click.

4

Receive against it

Book goods in against the PO; stock, lot and expiry update, and the vendor bill posts to your accounts.

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Reorder points that watch your stock

Set a reorder point and preferred supplier per line. As orders draw stock down, Open Pantry watches the level for you — so the reordering decision is made on data, not on someone noticing an empty shelf.

Open Pantry watching a product’s stock against its reorder point and flagging it to restock

Draft POs you just approve

When a line hits its reorder point, the purchase order is drafted for its supplier — the products, the quantities, the costs. You review, tweak if needed, and approve; the PO goes out in a click.

  • One draft per supplier, grouped for you
  • Adjust quantities before you approve
A draft purchase order in Open Pantry ready to review and approve for a supplier

Buy in the units your supplier sells

Order in cartons or pallets while your stock stays true at the base unit. Open Pantry converts the buy unit to on-hand and works out the cost per base unit, so what you pay and what you hold always reconcile.

An Open Pantry purchase order line buying by the carton with automatic conversion to base units and per-unit cost

Receive straight into stock

Book goods in against the PO and on-hand updates instantly — with lot and expiry captured for tracked products. The approved vendor bill posts to your accounting as accounts payable.

Receiving goods against a purchase order in Open Pantry, capturing lot and expiry and posting the vendor bill to accounts payable
More product lines purchased
24%
Your always-on branded store and app put your full range in front of customers, so baskets grow.
Less order-processing cost
95%
AI order capture and auto-invoicing remove the manual keying between order and books.
Fewer picking errors
80%
Tablet pick & pack with FEFO lot and expiry tracking catches shorts and wrong items before they ship.

Real gains suppliers report after moving ordering, fulfilment and invoicing onto Open Pantry.

Purchasing Connects Stock to Your Books

M&J Chickens

Trusted by M&J Chickens

M&J Chickens use Open Pantry to move ordering out of calls and messages and into one digital workflow — giving customers a smooth ordering experience and giving the team fewer errors and less admin.

Alex Ortiz — Head of Sales

“With Open Pantry, we launched our own fully branded ordering app — it’s helped us protect our customer base, move to digital ordering, and deliver a much better experience to our venues.”

Alex Ortiz — Head of Sales
Alex Ortiz — Head of Sales
M&J Chickens
Get a DemoSee how their setup works →

Why not just keep buying by feel?

Buying by feel is how you end up either short on your best lines or overstocked on the ones that expire. Reorder points make the call on data before a shelf runs empty, and drafting the PO for you turns purchasing into a quick approval instead of a spreadsheet job — with receiving and the vendor bill already connected to your stock and your books.

Buying stock by memory and spreadsheets versus Open Pantry reorder points drafting purchase orders you approve and receive

Questions Suppliers Ask About Purchasing & Auto-POs

How do auto purchase orders work?＋
You set a reorder point and a preferred supplier for each line. As your orders draw stock down and a line reaches its reorder point, Open Pantry prepares a draft purchase order to that supplier with the products, quantities and costs. You review and approve it — nothing is sent to a supplier without your sign-off.
Does it send orders to my suppliers without me approving them?＋
No. Open Pantry drafts the purchase order; you approve it. Quantities and lines can be adjusted before you send, so you stay in control of what you actually buy.
Can I set reorder points per product?＋
Yes. Each line can carry its own reorder point — the level you don’t want to drop below — and a preferred supplier, so the right PO is drafted to the right vendor.
Can I buy in cartons or pallets while I sell in smaller units?＋
Yes. Purchase orders are placed in your supplier’s buy units (carton, pallet), and Open Pantry converts them to your base stock unit and works out the cost per base unit — so your on-hand and your costs stay accurate.
What happens when the stock arrives?＋
You receive the goods against the purchase order. On-hand updates automatically, and for products you track by lot, the lot number and expiry date are captured as the stock comes in — ready for FEFO picking.
Does receiving capture lot and expiry?＋
Yes, for products with lot tracking on. Booking goods in against a PO records the lot and expiry, so incoming stock is immediately part of your FEFO rotation and lot-level costing.
Does the supplier’s bill reach my accounting system?＋
Yes. An approved vendor bill can post to your accounting system as an accounts-payable bill, mapped to your chosen purchases account — so the buying side of your books stops being manual too.
Can I edit or cancel a purchase order?＋
Yes. A draft or ordered PO can be adjusted or cancelled before goods are received. Once stock has been received against it, the PO is locked to keep your stock and costs consistent.
Can one draft cover several products from the same supplier?＋
Yes. Lines that need reordering from the same supplier are grouped, so you approve one purchase order per supplier rather than a PO per product.
How does purchasing keep me from over-ordering?＋
Because the reorder point is set against real stock and reordering is driven by actual draw-down, you top up to a sensible level rather than guessing — which keeps cash and coolroom space from being tied up in stock that expires.
Do I need separate purchasing software?＋
No — purchasing lives in the same platform as your ordering, stock, pick & pack and invoicing, so a purchase order, the goods received and the stock on hand are all the same system. No export, no second login.
Which plan includes purchasing?＋
Purchasing and inventory management are part of the Pro plan — see our pricing page.

Works Even Better With

Lot, Expiry & FEFO

Goods received against a PO capture lot and expiry, ready for first-expiry-first-out picking.

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Accounting Sync

Approved vendor bills post to your ledger as accounts payable, in your chosen purchases account.

Explore →

Margin & COGS Analytics

Real purchase costs feed lot-level COGS, so your gross margin reflects what stock actually cost.

Explore →

Restock on Data, Not on Panic.

Join 600+ Australian suppliers running their ordering, fulfilment and invoicing on Open Pantry.

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