The chain a season order has to travel
Goods from Asia spend about 12 weeks in production and at sea. After they land, they take a few days to reach your warehouse, a few more to reach the shops, and one to two weeks until shoppers see them on the shelf. For Christmas, that shelf date is mid-November, which puts the sea order in August.
How POplanner plans it
- 13 seasons built in: Sinterklaas, Christmas, New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day, Carnival, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, King's Day, Pride, festival season, Oktoberfest, Halloween and Black Friday.
- Sea and air side by side. Seasons ahead shows each season's sea order date (12 weeks by default) and air order date (4 weeks). Once the sea date has passed, the air date takes over. You set the weeks.
- Last season's spike kept in proportion. If one month carried most of an item's sales, POplanner suggests a safe quantity without it and marks the line for you to check.
- Seasonal items tagged. Items whose names contain seasonal words (in English, German or Dutch) get a quiet "possibly seasonal" tag. The word list is yours to edit.
Seasons aheadsea freight 12 weeks · 20 days to the shelf
Order leavesOn the shelfThe bar is the time at sea and on the road
An example
A toy wholesaler sold 752 Advent calendar brick sets in December 2025, which was 66% of that item's sales over eight months. A plain average, December included, orders 678. POplanner suggests a safe quantity of 246 and puts the line on the Checks screen, so you decide next Christmas's volume yourself.
Checks32 openOrdering for: All suppliers
Treat flags as tasks, not order instructions
32 items to check before you buy
5 openOne-off spikes
Most of the window's sales came in a single month, such as a seasonal or project order. Check before buying on that average.
UrgentBB-1107246 u
Christmas Advent Calendar Brick Set
- 752 units in Dec 2025, 66% of 8 months. Recommended 246, formula with spike 678
- Cover now 0.3 mo
OpenMark checkedUse 678Set to 0
UrgentBB-102736 u
Knights & Castles Figure Pack · Red
- 15 units in Jul 2026, 54% of 3 months. Recommended 36, formula with spike 48
- Cover now 0.2 mo
OpenMark checkedUse 48Set to 0
UrgentPP-111048 u
Valentine Heart Bear Plush 18cm
- 759 units in Feb 2026, 71% of 9 months. Recommended 48, formula with spike 432
- Cover now 1.5 mo
OpenMark checkedUse 432Set to 0
2 checked · safe quantities kept
On each card:Mark checkedUse the formulaSet to 0or open the item and type your own number.
This year's dates: Christmas 2026 order-by dates for wholesalers, by sea and by air.