Supplying Customers with Dates

You may have noticed the Product Release Date field on the product page.  This date tells you when the product will be with the vendor, not here in our warehouse.

In this example, we are looking at a SunsOut puzzle.  SunsOut estimates that it will be back in production on 5/7/2019. This is a rough date, manufacturers might push it back.  No order for the product can even be made prior to this date.

Next, go to the company home and search for the Vendor (SunsOut).  Bring up the vendor page and notice the date at the top.  5 business days.  This is an estimated date, also not firm.

The below estimate is assuming that the Buyer is purchasing today.  The Buyer probably isn’t, so you need to pad your dates by a few days.

Product arrives at SunsOut warehouse — 5/7.
SunsOut prepares the order: 1-3 additional days —  5/14.
Shipping: 5 more days — 5/21.
I would not give the customer a date prior to 5/25 just to be safe.

Inbound Order Date on a PO

If you are checking to see when an On Order product is due in, you may look at the Purchase Order.  There is an Inbound Date.  This is not a firm date. It is based on an average and the assumption that everything is going perfectly with the shipment.  Please add a couple of days to this date to be safe.