Skip to main content

Onboarding Wizard

The onboarding wizard appears the first time you open Synplex after installing it. It collects the configuration Synplex needs to generate accurate forecasts and inventory recommendations for your specific store. Without completing it, the background pipeline cannot run and the platform has no data to work with.

If you need to revisit it, navigate to Getting started in the left sidebar — the wizard reopens at Step 1 if setup was never completed, or at the processing dashboard (Step 5) if it was.

The wizard at a glance​

The wizard has five steps:

  1. Welcome — confirms Shopify connection
  2. Supplier & Procurement Settings — lead times, MOQ, thresholds
  3. Analytics & Classification — ABC/XYZ parameters, anomaly detection
  4. Notifications & Launch — email address; settings saved here
  5. Background processing pipeline — not a form step, live progress view

Steps 1–4 are a single form held in memory. Nothing is saved to your shop until you click Finish Setup & Start Processing on Step 4. You can navigate back and forward freely without losing your inputs.

Step 1 — Welcome​

Confirms that Synplex is successfully connected to your Shopify store. No inputs required. Click Start Configuration to proceed.

Step 2 — Supplier & Procurement Settings​

Supplier defaults​

These are store-wide fallback values used in forecasting whenever a product variant has no specific supplier assigned. They do not override supplier-level settings where those exist.

FieldDefaultWhat it means
Default lead time (days)30Days from order placement to stock arrival. Synplex uses this to calculate the latest safe date to place a reorder.
Default minimum order quantity (MOQ)1Minimum units you must order per purchase order line. Synplex rounds recommended quantities up to meet this.
Default pack size1Units per pack. Synplex rounds order quantities up to the nearest full pack.

Procurement thresholds​

FieldDefaultWhat it means
Stock buffer days5Safety cushion added on top of lead time. Protects against supplier delays or demand spikes.
Running low threshold (days)40When remaining days of stock falls below this number, the variant is flagged as Running Low. Should be set equal to or higher than lead time + buffer.
Overstock threshold (days)120When days of cover exceeds this number, the variant is flagged as Overstocked.
Example: Lead time 30 days + buffer 5 days = 35 days. Set Running Low to at least 35 so you're alerted before you actually need to reorder.

Shopify inventory sync​

FieldDefaultWhat it means
Sync PO receipts to ShopifyOffWhen enabled, receiving a purchase order shipment in Synplex automatically updates Shopify inventory levels at the destination location.
Sync transfer orders to ShopifyOffWhen enabled, confirming a transfer order in Synplex creates a corresponding inventory transfer in Shopify.
These are shop-wide defaults. Both can be overridden on individual purchase orders and transfer orders.

Step 3 — Analytics & Classification​

Sales assessment​

FieldDefaultWhat it means
Daily average window (days)30How many days of sales history Synplex uses to calculate a variant's average daily sales rate.
Performance review window (days)90The look-back period used when assessing whether a product is performing above or below expectations.
Dead stock threshold (days)90A variant with no sales in this many days is classified as Dead Stock.

ABC classification (revenue share)​

ABC classifies your products by their share of total revenue. Synplex uses a cumulative revenue model:

ClassMeaningDefault threshold
ATop revenue driversTop 80% of cumulative revenue
BMid-tier contributorsNext 15% (i.e. 80–95%)
CLow-revenue SKUsRemaining 5%
The A and B thresholds are stored as decimals (0.8 and 0.15). Their sum must not exceed 1. C-items are everything that doesn't qualify as A or B.

XYZ classification (demand predictability)​

XYZ classifies products by how consistent their demand is, measured by the coefficient of variation (CV) of weekly sales:

ClassMeaningDefault CV threshold
XStable, predictable demandCV ≤ 0.5
YModerate variabilityCV ≤ 1.0
ZHighly irregular demandCV > 1.0
X-items are the easiest to forecast and need less safety stock. Z-items are hardest to forecast and need more buffer.

The X and Y thresholds are stored as decimals (0.5 and 1.0).

Demand anomaly detection​

FieldDefaultWhat it means
Sigma threshold (σ)2Controls how sensitive Synplex is to demand spikes and drops. Lower values (e.g. 1.5) flag more anomalies. Higher values (e.g. 3) are more selective. Recommended range: 1.5–3.

Step 4 — Notifications & Launch​

Notification email​

FieldDefaultWhat it means
Default notification emailShop owner emailThe address Synplex sends alert emails and scheduled reports to. Can be any address — it does not need to be a Shopify admin account.

What happens when you click Finish Setup​

Clicking Finish Setup & Start Processing does the following in sequence:

  1. Saves all procurement, analytics, and notification settings to your shop record
  2. Sets onboardingWizardCompleted = true so the wizard doesn't restart on next visit
  3. Triggers the background processing pipeline (see below)
  4. Advances to Step 5 — the live processing dashboard

If the save fails, an error banner appears and you remain on Step 4. Nothing is saved until the error is resolved.

Step 5 — Background processing​

Step 5 is not a form. It's a live dashboard that shows the progress of the five background jobs Synplex runs to build your store intelligence. The page polls your shop record in real time and updates automatically as each job completes.

You can safely close this tab. The jobs run on Synplex's servers regardless of whether you keep the page open. You'll receive an email at your notification address when everything is ready.

The five jobs​

1. Shopify Sync

  • Pulls all products, variants, locations, inventory levels, and pending stock from your Shopify store into Synplex
  • This is the foundation — all subsequent jobs depend on it

2. Sales History Import

  • Imports exactly 13 months of Shopify order history
  • 13 months is chosen to capture a full seasonal cycle plus one month of overlap for year-over-year comparison

3. Forecast Creation

  • Builds demand forecasts per variant per location using your sales history and the analytics settings from Step 3
  • This is the most compute-intensive step

4. Inventory Metrics

  • Calculates reorder dates, projected stockout dates, days of cover, and stock health scores for every variant
  • Produces the status classifications (Healthy, Running Low, Out of Stock, Overstocked, Stock Gap) visible on the Dashboard

5. Setup Complete

  • Finalises ABC/XYZ classification scores and product intelligence
  • Sets initialDataSync = true on your shop record
  • Triggers automatic redirect to the Dashboard

How long does it take?​

Store sizeTypical duration
Small (< 500 variants)20–40 minutes
Medium (500–5,000 variants)1–2 hours
Large (5,000–10,000 variants)2–4 hours
Very large (10,000+ variants)Up to 5 hours
Jobs run sequentially. If one job is taking longer than expected, it's usually Forecast Creation (step 3) — this is normal for large catalogues.

What the app looks like before processing completes​

  • The Dashboard exists but shows zeros or empty states
  • The Inventory Report exists but has no data
  • Demand planning and supply planning have no forecasts
  • This is expected — the platform is not usable for planning until Step 5 completes

What triggers a redirect to the Dashboard​

When initialDataSync is set to true on your shop record (Step 5 completion), the processing page automatically redirects to the Dashboard after a 2-second delay. If you've already closed the tab, just navigate to the Dashboard directly.