Buyer Business Units - Getting Started

Overview

Each business unit is tailored to specific inventory and restocking needs. When creating a new business unit, you will be asked to choose its type. This choice cannot be changed later.

Each type is defined by how it manages inventory, and the table below will help you determine the most appropriate option.

If your business fits multiple categories, simply create a different business unit for each one.

Getting Started Sequence

The bubbles on the top of your Home Tab will guide you through the correct setup sequence, but here we will explain a step-by-step guide on best practices for getting your portal setup properly. 

The getting started sequence is as follows:

1. Add your business unit details
   1. Choose the type of business unit that best matches your business.
   2. Enter the address for your business (does not need to be unique to other business units).
   3. You will need to add suppliers, items, and recipes (if relevant) to each of your business units separately. Each one will be a independent portal, with tabs that are just for that business unit with the except of the Sales Order tab, which will cover all orders coming in from your POS.
2. Connect your communication channels (optional)
   1. Connecting your communication channels will allow LineNow to ingest order information that happens outside of LineNow in your email inbox. If you don't do this, then all order communication must happen within LineNow to enable important features such as order tracking.
   2. Click the icon corresponding to your service you want to connect, sign in, and accept the permissions. You might need to contact your business’s administrator.
3. Connect your POS (if not done already)
   1. Connecting your Point of Sale allows us to pull in products, vendors, and also keep your sales and inventory up to date.
   2. Navigate to the Home Tab > Point of Sale Integration Section
   3. For Shopify: Click here to go to the Shopify App Store and Install the App
   4. For Square: Home Tab > Point of Sale Integration > Click the Square Icon > Sign in
   5. For Toast: See the guide here
4. Add suppliers (vendors)
   1. You can add suppliers from your POS, QBO, or manually (and any combination therein). If your items/products are from your POS and there is already a supplier-product connection it is best to import from your POS to save time mapping them later on.
   2. Navigate to Supplier Tab > Add Supplier and choose the option you want to use
   3. For manual input simply add their name and the email they use to receive POs.
   4. To bring them in through our integration, click the "Import from POS" or "Import from Quickbooks".
   5. Deselect any suppliers you don't want to add and click "Import".
   6. If there is no email, you must add a supplier email. This is the email address that you want your purchase orders to go to. You can add more email addresses later in the supplier tab in case you receive replies from a different email address.
5. Add items (products you buy from suppliers)
   1. Items are what you buy from your suppliers (and may have multiple pack sizes etc.).
   2. You can add items via our spreadsheet template, one at a time, or through your POS (preferred).
   3. To add them manually simply enter all the relevant data when prompted
   4. To add them via the spreadsheet, make sure to download the CSV template and format your items you order from your suppliers into the provided columns.
   5. To use the POS integration: Select the "Import from POS" button at the top right of the screen. This will bring in all of the items from your POS along with the price, and seven days of sales history.
   6. Make sure to select the correct POS (if there are more than one) in the POS location at the top.
   7. Select the "Default Supplier" which will map a supplier to Items without an assigned vendor/supplier.
   8. If the suppliers were brought in via the POS integration in the previous step, the items will map to the correct vendor by default. Make manual adjustments as desired.
   9. If you have many SKU's in your POS and wish to filter them out for a particular business unit, we have a separate spreadsheet upload provided which will help you easily select the items for import. Format this spreadsheet with the items you want included, then upload it to automatically select only those items.
   10. Once your items have been imported, you can add information used to make orders such as the pack size, and any variants you might have (in the case you order in multiple quantity options, or from multiple suppliers). You can do this ahead of time, or do it as you order if you have many items. If you want to set up your top-selling items, for example, you could go to the Inventory Tab, sort by sales, and then click "View details" to edit the item.
6. Adding recipes or assemblies (for restaurants and manufacturers)
   1. If you are a Restaurant/Cafe or Manufacturer who assembles products from multiple items, click here to go over creating recipes/assemblies.
7. First order
   1. Now you are ready to make orders!
   2. You can use the Inventory Planning tab to add items to your cart, and then review and send them in the Orders tab. Or you can go straight to the Orders Tab, Select the supplier, and add items from there.
   3. We will monitor any of the email addresses connected to your supplier and update the order status based on their replies. This could be information in the body of the email, or any attachments they include. See the Order Tab in the buyer portal help page for more information.
8. Track usage
   1. The Inventory Tab will keep your inventory, sales, and margin up to date for you. You can use it to gain insights into your items to help make purchasing decisions. We will also provide recommendations after we have enough sales and order data.
9. Update Inventory
   1. Whenever you count inventory, make sure to add corrections in the Inventory Tab > Current/Adjustment column, using the pencil tool.