Vendor Managed Inventory lets your suppliers monitor their own products' stock levels and catch low inventory before you lose a sale—opt-in and limited to their own SKUs only.
Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) lets the brands you carry help manage their own shelf space at your store. By sharing nightly stock and sell-through data with your suppliers, brands can flag low inventory before it costs you a sale; and they only ever see their own products, and only if you choose to turn it on.
What is vendor managed inventory?
VMI shares your stock levels and sell-through data with the brands you carry, refreshed every night. Brands can see what is selling and what is running low, but only for their own SKUs at your store, and only after you opt in.
A live feed, nightly: Stock and sell-through shared with your suppliers
Fewer stockouts: Brands catch low stock before it costs you the sale
Opt-in and brand-scoped: You control it, and it only ever shows brands their own products
Why it matters
Your best sellers run out between counts, between rep visits, between the moments anyone is actually looking. By the time it shows up on a report, you have already lost the sale, and maybe the customer. VMI closes that gap, but only on the terms you set.
What this enables
Your decision: VMI is off by default. Nothing shares with any brand unless and until you turn it on.
Your data, scoped: Once on, a brand's visibility is limited to their own SKUs at your store (never your full inventory, other suppliers, or margins).
Fewer stockouts: The brands you carry can see when a top seller is running low and act before the shelf goes empty.
Built for what is next: The same data powers suggested reorders coming soon: POs that arrive in your Backoffice instead of a call from a rep.
What brands can (and can't) see
When you're connected, a brand can see inventory levels and sell-through metrics for their products only, across all your locations. There's no broader view and no back door — a brand's access stops exactly where their own SKUs end.
Brands do not see:
- Other brands' metrics
- Your store's aggregate performance
- Any customer information
- Your margins or pricing
- Brands see (for their own products only):
- Units on hand
- Units sold per day
- Days of supply
- In-stock rate
- Expiring products
- Their own sell-through metrics
How it works
You decide to turn it on: Head to the Connect tab in Backoffice, and select "Opt in here". Until you flip this switch, no data shares with anyone.
Your sales sync every night: Every checkout throughout the day rolls into a nightly sync that updates stock levels and sell-through velocity for the brands you have allowed.
Each brand sees only their own products: A brand's view is limited to their SKUs at your store (the same numbers you would see yourself, nothing more).
You can change your mind, anytime: Block any brand from seeing your data whenever you want, for any reason or none.
When a brand reaches out
If you haven't connected with one of your brands yet, that brand may send a one-time request letting you know they'd like to connect. You'll see a banner in your Dutchie Backoffice flagging that the brand has reached out — it's just a nudge, not an obligation.
Nothing changes on your end unless you act on it. No data shares, no settings flip, until you choose to opt in. Think of it as a knock on the door: you decide whether to open it, and when.
Privacy and control: the details
Off by default. VMI does not turn on until you flip it in Settings; no data flows to any brand until you say so.
Opting in is entirely your decision. VMI does nothing until you turn it on in Backoffice. Once it is on, you can block any individual brand from seeing your data at any time, for any reason, and unblock them again whenever you want. Nothing about this is permanent, and nothing happens without your say-so.
A brand only ever sees their own products. When a brand has access, that access is limited strictly to the SKUs they supply you: their stock levels, their sell-through, nothing more. Brands never see your other suppliers' data, your margins, or anything outside the products they sell you. There is no broader view, no back door, and no way for a brand to see more than what belongs to them.