Tendlio adds a few fields to each product’s edit screen in WooCommerce, for the things Tendlio can’t tell from your orders: who you buy the product from, how your supplier packs it, and how Tendlio should treat it. None of them are required, so you can fill them in as you go.
You will learn #
- Where the Tendlio fields are on the product edit screen
- What each field changes in Tendlio
- When a change shows up on Tendlio’s pages
Before you begin #
- You need to be able to edit products. The fields show for someone who can open Tendlio and who can also edit products in WooCommerce. Other users don’t see them.
- The free gift field works with an Experimental feature. Checking Offer as a free gift has an effect only while Experimental features are on and the free gift is set up on the Experimental page.
Find the fields #
- In your WordPress admin, open Products → All Products, and click the product you want to change.
- In the Product data box, open the General tab.
- At the bottom of the tab, under the prices and any tax or download fields, find the section headed Tendlio.
- Change the fields you need, then click Update.
In the Publish box, Open insights opens the product’s own page in Tendlio, with its price, stock, cost, margin, selling pace and health color.
What each field does #
Supplier #
Who you buy the product from. Start typing and pick one of the suppliers you’ve already added, or type a new name. With a supplier set, the Restock list puts the product in that supplier’s order, and the Suppliers page counts the product’s stock value, and the cash tied up in it, under that supplier. Set each supplier’s lead time and order email under Inventory → Suppliers. The supplier is separate from the product’s brand.
Pack size #
How many of this product your supplier sells in one pack. The Restock list rounds its suggested order quantity up to whole packs, so with packs of 12, a suggestion of 7 becomes 12. A quantity you type yourself on the Restock list stays as you typed it. Leave the field empty, or enter 1, when you buy the product one at a time.
Bulky item #
Check this for a product that takes a lot of space, so it costs more to store. Tendlio then marks it as a slow seller sooner than your other products: to count as Fast or Steady, a bulky product has to sell faster than an ordinary one.
Exclude from Outlet Auto #
With this box checked, Auto outlet never changes this product’s price or adds the Outlet tag to it. The product then shows in the Excluded from auto-outlet list on the Protection & exclusions tab of the Auto outlet page, where Re-enable lets Auto outlet consider it again. If the product already has an Outlet discount, checking the box stops the discount from growing but doesn’t remove it. To remove it, click Revert next to the product on the Results tab of the Auto outlet page.
The box only applies to the automatic steps. On Manual outlet you can still discount the product yourself.
Offer as a free gift #
Offers this product as the free gift a shopper can claim in the cart. The offer appears only while Experimental features are on and you’ve turned on Offer a free gift under Free gift with an order on the Experimental page, with a Minimum cart total set. The checkbox is there for simple products only. The Experimental page suggests what to give away: dead or slow-moving stock that still looks like a prize.
Seasonal handling #
Tells Tendlio how to treat the product’s season:
- Auto-detect (default): if you gave the product’s category a season under Seasons by category on the Seasonal page, the product follows it, and a line under the field names the category. Otherwise seasonal detection decides from the product’s sales, while detection is on.
- Never seasonal: the product stays off the seasonal list, whatever its sales look like and whatever season its category has.
- Always seasonal (set the months): you tick the product’s Season months, and Tendlio uses exactly those months as its season, with nothing added around them. Tendlio keeps this season even while seasonal detection is off. If you pick this option and tick no months, the product saves as Auto-detect.
When a seasonal product is out of its season, whether detection found it, you set it to Always seasonal or its category has a season:
- its health color reads Seasonal, whatever it sells;
- Auto outlet doesn’t discount it;
- Add everything that needs restocking on the Restock page skips it.
The full list of seasonal products is under Inventory → Seasonal.
When your changes show up #
- Supplier, Pack size, Exclude from Outlet Auto and Offer as a free gift take effect as soon as you click Update.
- Bulky item and Seasonal handling take effect at the next analysis. To see them sooner, run one with Re-scan store on the To do page. With seasonal detection on, Re-check seasonal products on the Seasonal page applies a Seasonal handling change without a full analysis.
Why these fields work this way #
Pack sizes round up, never down #
A supplier who sells in packs of 12 can’t send you 7, so Tendlio asks for 12. Rounding down would turn “you need 7” into “order none”.
Tendlio flags a bulky product sooner #
A bulky product that sells slowly costs you more than a small product selling at the same pace, because it takes up more of your storage. Flagging it sooner lets you decide about it before that cost grows.
Additional resources #
- How to set up your suppliers and order from each one: lead times, order emails and minimum orders.
- How to decide what to restock and how much to order: where Tendlio uses Supplier and Pack size.
- How to set up Auto outlet to clear your dead stock: the automatic discounts the exclude box keeps a product out of.
- How to set up seasonal detection
- How to set up a Deals page and offer a free gift
- Product health colors (Fast / Steady / Slow / Dead)
Frequently asked questions #
Do I have to fill in these fields? #
No. Everything in Tendlio works without them. They make the Restock list, the Suppliers page and Auto outlet fit how you buy and sell.
Can I set the supplier for many products at once? #
Yes, on the Suppliers page, with a CSV file. The product edit screen sets one product at a time.
Why don't I see the Tendlio fields? #
They show only for users who can open Tendlio and edit products, and only on the General tab of the product edit screen.
Does Exclude from Outlet Auto stop me discounting the product by hand? #
No. It only keeps Auto outlet away. You can still discount the product on Manual outlet.