How should outlets order from the factory, and how should deliveries be received?

Why outlet orders go wrong on WhatsApp

Many food brands with their own shops still take outlet orders on a phone call or a WhatsApp message. The factory guesses what to send, the driver carries a handwritten list and the shop counts the crates when it has time. When the numbers disagree, nobody knows whether the factory sent less, the vehicle lost some, or the shop sold it before counting. A shared workflow fixes this by giving every step an owner and a record.

The flow below is how Naffo handles it. Each outlet has its own portal login, the factory works from the dashboard, and both look at the same order. Every status change is notified to the other side, so neither needs to call to ask where things stand.

The order, step by step

Approve against stock and what can still be made

When the factory opens an outlet order, Naffo shows each line's usable warehouse stock, net of held lots and stock reserved for sales orders. If the warehouse is short, it also works out how much could still be made from the product's recipe with the raw material on hand, and what remains short after that. This turns approval into a decision rather than a guess.

• Approve in full when stock covers the order.
• Approve a smaller quantity, which the outlet sees on the order. If you also change a price or the payment terms, the outlet must accept that change before the order goes ahead.
• Park the order in pending stock with a clear alert, then confirm it once production or a purchase arrives.
• Reject the order, including one waiting for stock, and keep the reason.

Payment terms are set at approval, as advance, on delivery or credit, so the shop knows before dispatch when it must pay. A revised quantity seen on the order is easier to plan around than a surprise at the door.

Dispatch the oldest batches and keep them in transit

For batch-tracked products, dispatch takes the earliest-expiring batches first, so the outlet does not receive fresh stock while older stock waits in the factory. Dispatch photos record what was loaded. With two-step transfers switched on, the goods are then in transit: they have left the factory's stock, but the outlet counter will not sell them until they are received. This stops a shop from billing stock that is still on the road. Without that setting, the outlet's stock is credited at dispatch, so the receiving check matters even more.

Receive with a guard, photos and manager approval

The person who checks a delivery in should not be the person who approves a shortage. Naffo's outlet staff roles include manager, cashier, storekeeper and guard. A guard checks the goods in with photos and enters the received and damaged counts, but cannot bill, change prices or adjust stock. This keeps the check honest without slowing it down.

If fewer goods arrive than were dispatched, for example 9 of 10 trays, the received and damaged quantities are recorded line by line; damaged items are counted within the received quantity. A manager approves the shortage before it is accepted, and the short and damaged quantity is taken off the outlet's stock instead of disappearing. Received batch-tracked goods are then sellable at the counter, which can name the batch to hand over first, as described in the outlet POS guide.

Close the order with payment, and review the leakage

Once goods are received, the outlet's payment is booked as a receipt against the order, and the order moves to completed. A transfer that belongs to an outlet order cannot be quietly closed from the stock screens; it closes through the order, so the record stays in one place.

Every short delivery appears in the leakage report alongside voids, cash differences, reprints and discounts. Reviewing it weekly by outlet shows whether losses happen at the factory, on the road or at the counter. An outlet stock count then confirms what is really on the shelf.

How to test the flow before go-live

1. 1Place an order from an outlet for more than the warehouse holds and check the stock and make-from-recipe breakdown.
2. 2Approve a smaller quantity with a changed price and confirm the outlet has to accept the change.
3. 3Dispatch a batch-tracked product with two batches in stock and confirm the earlier-expiring batch is sent.
4. 4With two-step transfers switched on, try to sell the dispatched goods at the outlet before receiving them; the counter should not offer them.
5. 5Receive with a guard login, enter a short and a damaged count, and check that a manager must approve them.
6. 6Book the payment and find the short delivery in the leakage report.

Run this with your own products in a demo. The food manufacturing page covers the production side, and batch traceability explains how lots stay linked from the plant to the shop.