Indent Meaning
A formal replenishment request from distributor to brand specifying SKUs and quantities needed, the heartbeat of primary sales that drives production planning and dispatch cycles.
Full definition
An indent is the Indian distribution term for a replenishment order placed upstream. When a distributor needs stock, they raise an indent against the brand's depot or factory, specifying the SKUs, quantities, and preferred delivery date. The indent is essentially a purchase order from the channel partner's side, though in many Indian operations the term "indent" is used even for internal stock transfers between a mother warehouse and a forward warehouse.
The indent cycle is the heartbeat of primary sales: distributors indent weekly or bi-weekly based on their secondary sales velocity, stock on hand, and upcoming schemes. Brands often set indent cut-off times (e.g., Tuesday 6 PM for Thursday dispatch) to batch orders and plan production. Late indents miss the cut-off and wait for the next cycle, potentially causing stockouts at retail.
Digital order management platforms let distributors raise indents from a mobile app, auto-suggest quantities based on historical offtake, and feed confirmed indents directly into warehouse picking queues, compressing the indent-to-dispatch cycle from 48 hours to under 12.
Real-world example
A Haldiram's distributor in Jaipur raises a weekly indent every Monday for Rs 4-5 lakh worth of namkeen and sweets, with dispatch expected by Wednesday from the Nagpur factory.
Where it applies
Applicable industries
This term is relevant across the following SpireStock-supported industries.
How SpireStock handles it
Related SpireStock features
The concepts described above are implemented end-to-end in these product modules.
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