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The eTailPet system allows you to order by the case or by single units from your vendors as needed. This article shows how to order the way you need and how to troubleshoot difficulties that may arise. See how it works!

In this article you will learn the following:

Troubleshooting

Case vs. Each Overview

Case Data in the Product Details

Scanning Case and Single UPCs

Order Quantities in Purchase Orders

Set the Order in Multiples Quantity

• Set Order in Multiples Manually
• Set Order in Multiples Using the Product Manager
• Set Order in Multiples by Import

Private Product Setup for Case Ordering

Troubleshooting

Problem 1: The email I sent to my vendor has the wrong UPCs.

Solution 1: Your vendor is likely set to Order In Cases = True, but you must have included the single-unit UPCs. See the Overview section for more details.

Problem 2: The order quantity I emailed to my vendor is a fraction instead of a whole number.

Solution 2: Your vendor is set to Order In Cases = True, and you have ordered a quantity that is less than the case quantity. See Order Quantities in the PO section for more details.

Problem 3: Some of my items have a Case UPC and I do not want to order in cases. My order quantity I emailed to my vendor is a fraction instead of a whole number, but there are other items that I want to order in cases.

Solution 3: As mentioned in Solution 2, your vendor is set to Order In Cases = True, and you have ordered a quantity that is less than the case quantity. You have two options:

• Option One: Set Order In Cases = False for the Vendor, and for all items you want to order in cases, set their Order in Multiples to the Case QTY and order by the single-unit UPC.

• Option Two: Create two vendors, and set the first to Order in Cases = True; this is for items you want to order in cases only. Set the vendor to Order in Cases = False; this is for items you want to order in single units.

Problem 4: I have a product that my vendor allows me to order as either a single item or as a case, but the PO won’t let me order the single item.

Solution 4: Remove the item from your public catalog and create a private product. See the section below on private products before attempting this so that you can avoid potential issues.

Case vs. Each Overview

Case vs. Each ordering starts with the Vendor setup. There is a checkbox when you're editing the Product Vendor Details page that sets ordering in cases or in single units from that vendor. The setting is called Order in Cases, and it is either True or False. When this box is checked, POs created for this vendor will have two extra columns. These columns contain the Case UPC and the Case Count, or number of items in a case for the product.

To order by the case, you will need to set the order quantity to the order in multiples based off the case quantity. For example, if a case has 12 cans, then you will order 12 in the order quantity. When you submit the order, the email will convert the UPC to the Case UPC, and the order quantity will be converted to the case quantity. In this example, if you ordered 24 cans instead, it would convert to two cases in the emailed order.

💡Please Note: The eTailPet system does not differentiate between a case, a pack, etc. Any item that you can order in multiples and sell individually is referred to and handled the same way as a case.

Follow these steps to adjust Case vs. Each ordering:

1. In the main system menu on the left, click Manage Catalog.
2. In the Manage Catalog menu, click Product Vendors.
3. You can Search for the vendor you want.
4. Click on the vendor ID of the one you want.
   
5. On the Vendor Detail page, if the Order in Cases setting is not set the way you need, click the Edit button in the upper right.
   
6. On the Update Vendor page, scroll down to the Order in Cases setting and either check or un-check the checkbox. If checked, Order in Cases will be set to True, which means you will order in cases from this vendor. If it is unchecked, you will order from the vendor in single units and you will not have Case UPC and Case Quantity columns in your Purchase Orders for the vendor.
7. Once you have the Vendor settings configured the way you want, scroll to the top of the page and click the Save button in the upper right.

Case Data in Product Details

If you need to look up a Case UPC or the Case Pack quantity for an item, use the following steps:

1. In the main system menu on the left, click Manage Catalog.
2. In the Manage Catalog menu, click My Products.
3. You can Search or use the filters to find the product you want.
4. Find the Single Unit version of the product, not the Case version, if there is one, and click on the product's Name to open the Product Details.
   
   
5. On the item's Product Details tab (this loads by default), near the top you will see the Case UPC. You will also see it further down the page.
6. The Case Pack field will list the quantity of the item in a case.
7. If you make any changes to the product, be sure to click the Save button in the upper right to save the updates.

Scanning Case and Single UPCs

If the Case UPC is scanned at checkout or into a Purchase Order, then it will pull up the Single Unit product multiplied by the number of units in the Case Pack quantity. For example:
Name: Sandy’s Dog Food Can, 3-oz
Individual UPC: 000000000123
Case UPC: 000000000321
Case Pack: 12

• If you scan the Single Unit UPC, then the system will add 1 unit of the 3-oz canned food. Each additional scan will add another unit of 1 can.
• If you scan the Case UPC, then the system will add 12 units of the 3-oz canned food. Each additional scan will add another 12 cans.

Order Quantities in Purchase Orders

In your vendor Purchase Orders, if ordering from a vendor in single units, you can set whatever quantities you need. But if you're ordering by the Case, you will need to be more careful. Here are some examples (refer to the image below):

1. When ordering by the Case, you will see the columns for Case UPC and Case Pack quantity. You will also see if you have set the items to be Ordered in Multiples. For this first example item, it is set to be ordered in multiples of 4, but we have entered an Order Quantity of only 2. The system flags that as a quantity error in the lower left, as pictured below, and highlights the field in Red. It is assumed that you will always need to order in the Multiples you set.
   
2. In this example, the item has an Order in Multiples quantity of 6, and an Order Quantity of 18. 
3. In this example, an Order in Multiples quantity hasn't been set for the item, so you would be able to order any number of them and they would be treated as Single Units using the item's standard UPC or Vendor SKU, if one is saved.
   
4. In the example above, the item is set up to be ordered by the case but has an Order in Multiples quantity set at just 1, so it is assumed the vendor allows ordering partial cases. When the PO is sent to the vendor, that will set the order for 3 cases of this item, and the Case UPC will be listed for the vendor.
   
5. In the example above, an item set to be ordered by the case has an Order in Multiples quantity. If you enter a quantity less than that, as shown above, the system will flag it as a Quantity Error. If we enter a greater quantity that is not a multiple of the Order in Multiples quantity (12 in this example), such as 20, that will also show as a Quantity Error. We can enter any number that is a multiple of the Order in Multiples quantity, so if we change this item's Order Quantity to 48, the field will be outlined in Green and the error will no longer appear, as shown below.
   

Set the Order in Multiples Quantity

Order In Multiples is a setting in the product vendor relationship that allows you to set the case-ordering quantity. Items that don’t have a Case UPC are items that don’t have any case requirements, so you will order them in whatever quantities you need as single items. Your order quantity is not limited by the Case Order Qty, so you can order multiples of whatever number you set here. For example, if your Order in Multiples is set at 8, you could order 16, 24, or 32.

Items that DO have a Case UPC should have the Order In Multiples quantity set to match the Case Pack quantity. In the example above, the last two items do not match: one is 48, the other is 2.

Setting the Order In Multiples quantity to match allows you to use the Round Up / Round Down feature to automatically adjust the Order Quantity by the Case Pack quantity. So using the buttons pictured below, if your Smart Order PO set some item quantities too low, you could click the Round Up button to round all items or selected line items up to the nearest multiple of the Case Pack quantity, as long as all the items have their Order in Multiples quantities set to match the Case Pack. The reverse is true for Round Down; for the selected or for all items, you can round down to the nearest Case Pack multiple if the products have their Order in Multiples set to the same quantity as the Case Pack. 

For example, you might have several items that were automatically set to an Order Quantity of 14 by the Smart Ordering system. In this example, they all have a Case Pack count of 8. If you select the checkboxes for the items and click the Round Up button, then in the drop-list click Selected, those items will all have their Order Quantity adjusted to 16, which is the next multiple of 8 up from 14.

You can set the Order In Multiples quantity either Manually for a single product, through the Product Manager in bulk, or by Import in bulk.

Set Order in Multiples Manually

1. Go to Manage Catalog > My Products in the main system menu on the left.
2. Use the Search and Filters to find the product you want, and click the Search button for the results.
3. Click the Name of the product you want to edit. The Product Details tab for the item will load for you.
   
4. Confirm that the item has a Case UPC (and lower on the Product Details tab, the Case Pack count will be listed, not pictured above), meaning it is ordered by the case. You will want to check and note the Case Pack quantity because you will need to use that number in step #6 below.
5. Go to the Vendor Details tab.
   
6. For the Vendor you want (set to order by the case), set the Order In Multiples quantity to the Case Pack quantity you noted earlier.
7. Click the Save button.

Set Order in Multiples Using the Product Manager

1. Go to Manage Catalog > Product Manager > Change or Remove Things on My Items.
   
2. Use the Search and the Filters, then set the Store to find the item(s) you need.
3. Click the Select button in the upper right.
   
4. If you want to set the same Order in Multiples quantity for all resulting items to the same number, click the Select All checkbox in the far left of the data table header row. If you don't want to set all items the same, skip to #10 below.
5. Click the Select a Bulk Action field.
6. Click on Change Order Multiple in the drop-list.
7. Click the Go button.
   
8. Enter the number you want into the Set Order Multiple for All Selected Products field.
9. Click the Change Order Multiple button. The changes will be made and a success notification will pop up for you in the upper right. Then you'll be returned to the main Product Manager page.
10. If you want to set the Order in Multiples to different numbers or for only some of the items instead of setting them all the same, click in the checkboxes for the items you are adjusting.
    
11. Set the quantity individually in the Order Multiple column for each item you are adjusting, as pictured above.
12. Click the Save Selected button above the data table on the left. You'll see a success notification pop up for you in the upper right, then you'll be returned to the main Product Manager page.

Set Order in Multiples Using Import

Step 1: Export Vendor Template File

In order to import Order in Multiples for the Products for a vendor, you first need to download the import template file. Click on Manage Catalog in the main menu on the left, then go to Product Vendors and follow these steps:

1. Click on Import / Update Product-Vendors. This will open two options.
2. Click on Export Sample File. 
3. Save the file to your device.

Step 2: Fill Out the Vendor Import Template

Open the file so you can add information in the Order in Multiples column and any other columns as needed for however many products you want to update. Make sure to save your changes. Here is an example of how the template's columns look in Microsoft Excel:

Please Note: When working with data in spreadsheets, it is good to be familiar with our Tips and Tricks article for data work, since Excel can drop leading zeroes from UPCs and render long numbers as scientific notation (as shown below) instead of actual numbers.

1. system_id — You can get the System ID by exporting products from your catalog. However, as long as you have a UPC, you can leave this blank. If you include system_id, be sure to check out the Tips section near the bottom of this article to make sure they are formatted correctly. Please Note: You must include either system_id OR UPC.
2. upc — If you have the system_id from a product export, you can leave the UPC field blank. If you include UPCs, be sure to check out the Tips section at the end of this article to make sure they are formatted correctly.
3. vendor_id — There is a tab in your template called Vendors that includes a list of your vendors and their IDs.
4. vendor_sku — This column is for the vendor SKU, which is supplied by the vendor. This could also be the manufacturer product ID.
5. default_cost — This column is for the default Cost for a product you purchase from this Vendor without discount.
6. order_in_multiples — This column is for the multiple you use for the product when ordering from the vendor. If it's ordered individually, the multiple will be 1, and if it's ordered by the case or in some other grouping, it will be a larger number, such as 12 in our example above.
7. region — This column displays the Region for the item. If you have not saved multiple Regions for the Store, you can leave this blank and the system will just use your default Primary region.
8. is_default_vendor — Enter Yes if the Vendor is a default vendor for your store. Enter No if not.
9. delete — If you are deleting products in bulk, you can enter Yes in this column. If not, you can enter No.

Step 3: Import the Vendor Product Spreadsheet

After you've finished filling out the Vendor Products spreadsheet, you can upload it into the eTailPet system. Here's how:

1. Click on Manage Catalog in the eTailPet main menu.
2. Click on Product Vendors.
3. Click on the Import / Update Product-Vendors in the upper right. This will open two options.
4. Click on Upload Excel File.
5. Upload the file from your device.

Private Product Setup for Case Ordering

If you have products that are not in the Product Universe, you can set the Case UPC, Case Pack quantity, and Order in Multiples in the Product Details tab (for Case UPC and Case Pack) and in the Vendor Details tab of the product (for Order in Multiples, adjust this as described above). For Private Products, the Case UPC and Case Pack fields are editable (they are not editable for Public Products that are in the Product Universe).

💡Please Note: You DO NOT need to create a private product for the case UPC for items in the Product Universe. The system is designed to automatically do the conversion between case vs. each products when they are scanned in during PO check-in or when scanning into the New Sale screen.

Occasionally, you may have a product that your vendor allows you to order as either a single item, or as a package with multiple items (case quantity). In this case, you may want to create a private product as a workaround. Be aware that you can’t have the same UPC in both your public and private catalog at the same time, including all of your locations. In order to avoid issues, you would need to first remove the product from ALL locations in your public catalog. Then you can create the item as a private product without the case vs. each settings. 

Boss Quote
Make sure your human gets the Order in Multiples numbers in the system before ordering. And setting up for Smart Ordering is the best way for them to stay ahead on inventory management. Even a kitten knows that. If they give you any flack, just remind them that you have to catch your mouse before you can eat it. Then they'll understand.

— Adrian, Wenatchee, WA

Related Topics

Adding and Importing Products

My Products Overview

Product Details Page

Private Products

Product Manager

Purchase Orders

Smart Ordering

Batch Cost and Price Updates

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I have a question, but I can't find my answer here. How do I get more assistance?

A: You can ask any question at the number listed here. Contact our support team at: (323) 370-0738 for the U.S., and (888) 370-2363 for Canada.