I'd like to introduce another new feature I've been working on. It started with an update you would've already noticed if you use lettuceshare, at the top page of the purchase page there's a message that describes your group:
In this example for my group, Turnstyle, it just shows the date I'm purchasing on. For groups that pre-order, it will tell you how much time you have left to order. You might be wondering though, why does it includes your group's name? After all, what other group could you buy from? This is where Special Buying Groups come in, let me give you an example.
One of the things you should know about me is that I really like my coffee. Walking down to my local roastery to buy a bag of beans has become part of my weekly routine. Our group has also run some trials to buy bulk quantities at a discount. What makes this difficult though, is that we don't pre-order at Turnstyle. This makes the group more accessible for members who just want to drop in on a Wednesday night, but we want to make sure all the coffee has been purchased each week, since it's more expensive than most produce. How can we make sure this happens when we don't pre-order?
A Special Buying Group group allows us to do this. As a group administrator, I can create a new ordering group for Turnstyle members to pre-order coffee, without affecting our normal weekly purchase. I can give my coffee order it's own opening and closing times, when the order opens Turnstyle members will see a new option on their home page:
 When they select the coffee option, the description is updated for the new group, and whether or not I've placed an order. Clicking the order here link takes me to the purchase page, which is updated for this order:
Purchases made in a Special Buying Group are added to the members normal invoice, they still just pay for their normal account. This new feature allows multiple buying groups to be run simultaneously, each with their own opening and closing dates. It's even possible to delay providing a closing date and just creating an "open order". This can be used in conjunction with stock tracking to allow items to be ordered until they're "out of stock". You can keep an eye on how close your quotas are to being met, and when they're full you can close the order.
This is available now! If you're a group administrator, the group settings dialog has been updated to allow you to create new groups:
Once you click create, you will be editing the group settings for the new group:
You can click through each of the sections like you would for you default group. The name of the group you are updating is displayed in the title bar of the dialog for reference. Some sections aren't shown because they aren't required. For instance you don't need to reconfigure your invoices as your default group settings are always used.
Once you've created a new group, you will need to create special supplier accounts and products on the stock page. Both the stock page and the new report page will let you know what group you are currently viewing.
I've provided just one example of how Special Buying Groups can be used, I would love to hear how you use it. What happens if your Special Buying Group has some really big quotas to fill? Next week I'll talk about how you can invite other groups to join your special order.
Introducing Special Buying Groups
In this example for my group, Turnstyle, it just shows the date I'm purchasing on. For groups that pre-order, it will tell you how much time you have left to order. You might be wondering though, why does it includes your group's name? After all, what other group could you buy from? This is where Special Buying Groups come in, let me give you an example.
One of the things you should know about me is that I really like my coffee. Walking down to my local roastery to buy a bag of beans has become part of my weekly routine. Our group has also run some trials to buy bulk quantities at a discount. What makes this difficult though, is that we don't pre-order at Turnstyle. This makes the group more accessible for members who just want to drop in on a Wednesday night, but we want to make sure all the coffee has been purchased each week, since it's more expensive than most produce. How can we make sure this happens when we don't pre-order?
A Special Buying Group group allows us to do this. As a group administrator, I can create a new ordering group for Turnstyle members to pre-order coffee, without affecting our normal weekly purchase. I can give my coffee order it's own opening and closing times, when the order opens Turnstyle members will see a new option on their home page:
 When they select the coffee option, the description is updated for the new group, and whether or not I've placed an order. Clicking the order here link takes me to the purchase page, which is updated for this order:
Purchases made in a Special Buying Group are added to the members normal invoice, they still just pay for their normal account. This new feature allows multiple buying groups to be run simultaneously, each with their own opening and closing dates. It's even possible to delay providing a closing date and just creating an "open order". This can be used in conjunction with stock tracking to allow items to be ordered until they're "out of stock". You can keep an eye on how close your quotas are to being met, and when they're full you can close the order.
This is available now! If you're a group administrator, the group settings dialog has been updated to allow you to create new groups:
Once you click create, you will be editing the group settings for the new group:
You can click through each of the sections like you would for you default group. The name of the group you are updating is displayed in the title bar of the dialog for reference. Some sections aren't shown because they aren't required. For instance you don't need to reconfigure your invoices as your default group settings are always used.
Once you've created a new group, you will need to create special supplier accounts and products on the stock page. Both the stock page and the new report page will let you know what group you are currently viewing.
I've provided just one example of how Special Buying Groups can be used, I would love to hear how you use it. What happens if your Special Buying Group has some really big quotas to fill? Next week I'll talk about how you can invite other groups to join your special order.