7, 14 or 30 days: which sales velocity window should you pick?
Restoc averages your past sales over a window you choose: 7, 14 or 30 days. This page answers the questions that come up when you pick one of the three, and what each choice does to the reorder point and the days of cover it feeds.
Which of the three windows you are choosing
Restoc averages the past 7, 14 or 30 days of sales to get units per day for a SKU, then calculates the reorder point from that velocity and the lead time you enter. Our page on sales velocity, units per day, works through that arithmetic; this page is about picking the number.
Treat it as a trade-off, not a preference. A short window reacts fast and jumps around. A long window is steady and slow to notice a change. One window applies store-wide, set in the reorder rules settings, and the server accepts only 7, 14 or 30, so the figure behind every reorder point is always one of the three. On Pro, a SKU can carry its own window that overrides the store-wide default.
How to settle on a window
- Set the store-wide window to 14 days
Fourteen days is the middle choice for a mixed catalogue. One quiet Tuesday or one bulk order does not drag the velocity far, and a SKU picking up shows inside a fortnight.
- Get lead time honest first
The window only decides how demand is measured. Lead time decides how far ahead you need to see, and it is the number only you can supply, per SKU. Tuning the window against a guessed lead time tells you nothing.
- Read the dashboard, not your gut
The dashboard is built to show current stock, days of inventory remaining and reorder status for every active SKU. That column is where a window that is too twitchy or too patient shows itself.
- Watch the weekly report for a week or two
The weekly reorder report lists the SKUs below their reorder point with a suggested order quantity, viewable in the app and exportable as CSV. A SKU that keeps appearing and disappearing is telling you the window is too short.
- Move one notch, not two
Go 14 to 7 when alerts keep landing too late, 14 to 30 when they keep landing on lumpy sellers. Then leave it alone until a lead time or a sales pattern actually changes.
The three windows side by side
| Window | What it follows | Suits | The cost of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 days | Last week's sales only | Fast movers, short lead times, a SKU in a promotion | One strange week moves the reorder point hard |
| 14 days | A fortnight of sales, lightly smoothed | Most of a mixed catalogue | Slower than 7 days to catch a sudden climb |
| 30 days | A month of sales, heavily smoothed | Slow or lumpy sellers, long supplier lead times | Lags a real change in demand by weeks |
Questions
What does the sales velocity window actually change?
It changes one number: average units sold per day for each SKU. Restoc takes that velocity and the lead time you entered and calculates a reorder point from them. Because the reorder point moves, so does the days-of-inventory-remaining figure on the dashboard and the moment an alert fires by email or Slack. The window is the only lever you have over how twitchy or how patient that calculation is.
Which window should I start with?
Start store-wide at 14 days. Then let the screens tell you. The dashboard is built to show days of inventory remaining per SKU, and the weekly reorder report lists what sits below its reorder point with a suggested order quantity. If alerts keep arriving when a SKU is already down to a day or two of cover, shorten the window to 7. If the same SKU keeps dropping in and out of the weekly report week after week, lengthen it to 30.
When is 7 days the right choice?
Seven days suits SKUs that sell every day and come back from the supplier quickly. If your lead time is a week, you only need to know about the next week of demand, and a month-old average describes a period that no longer applies. It is also the window to reach for during a promotion or a launch, when last week is the only honest guide to next week. The price is noise: one unusual week lands on the reorder point at full weight.
When is 30 days the right choice?
Thirty days suits slow and lumpy sellers. A SKU that moves four units some weeks and none the next has no meaningful seven-day velocity, so a short window reads zero one week and a rush the next. It also suits long supplier lead times, where you commit far ahead and want the steadiest demand figure available. The trade-off is lag: a SKU that genuinely doubled two weeks ago is still averaged against the three quiet weeks behind it.
Should the window match my supplier lead time?
They are separate inputs doing different jobs. Lead time says how far ahead you need to see. The window says how you measure what is coming. A rough rule holds: the longer the lead time, the more you want a steady number than a fast one. So lean towards 30 days on slow suppliers and 7 to 14 on quick ones. Get the lead time honest before you tune the window.
Can I set a different window for different SKUs?
Not on Starter or Growth. There the window is store-wide: one choice of 7, 14 or 30 days for every tracked SKU. Starter is $29 a month, Growth $59. Pro at $99 a month adds custom reorder rules, which means a per-SKU window override on top of the store-wide default. Pick Pro if your catalogue genuinely splits, say a few daily movers and a long tail of slow stock. Every plan carries a 60-day free trial.
What happens to a SKU with less sales history than the window?
The calculation still returns a number. The reorder-point function is tested on SKUs whose history is shorter than the chosen window, and it returns a defined, non-negative reorder point instead of failing or going blank. A SKU with no sales in the window has no velocity, so it creates no reorder pressure. That answer is correct, and it is not useful to you. A shorter window reaches a usable velocity sooner, because it asks about fewer days. Our page on a newly connected store goes through what the first week looks like.
Can I change the window later, and what happens when I do?
Yes, it is a setting, not a one-time decision. Change it and reorder points are recalculated from the new velocity. Some SKUs will cross their reorder point, others will stop sitting below it. Expect the weekly reorder report to read differently in the week after a change, and treat the suggested order quantities with that in mind. Revisit the window when your lead times change or your sales pattern shifts, not on a schedule.