# Lead time

> Lead time is how long it takes for stock to arrive after you place the order, measured from your side of the transaction.

- Source: https://storestandards.com/glossary/lead-time/
- Updated: 2026-08-14
- Author: Nia Chambers, Product, Store Standards

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Order Monday, goods on the shelf a week on Thursday. That is ten days, not the
seven the supplier quotes.

## Measure the whole thing

The quoted figure usually starts when the supplier accepts the order and ends
when it leaves their building. Yours has to include:

- The days between you deciding and the order actually going out
- Their processing time
- Transit
- Your own [putaway](https://storestandards.com/glossary/putaway/), because stock in a box by the door
  is not sellable

## Work out your own

Take the last ten deliveries from that supplier. Count the days from order
sent to stock on the shelf. Use the longest one, not the average.

You do not reorder for a typical week. You reorder so you do not run out in a
bad one, which is what [safety stock](https://storestandards.com/glossary/safety-stock/) is for.

## Where it goes wrong

Lead time gets treated as fixed. It stretches in the run up to Christmas, it
stretches after a factory shutdown, and it stretches when you are a small
account and someone bigger orders first.

The number also hides variation. A supplier averaging eight days but swinging
between four and eighteen needs a much higher
[reorder point](https://storestandards.com/glossary/reorder-point/) than one that takes ten days every
single time.

## Related terms

- [Reorder point](https://storestandards.com/glossary/reorder-point/): A reorder point is the stock level that tells you to order more, set so the delivery lands before you run out.
- [Safety stock](https://storestandards.com/glossary/safety-stock/): Safety stock is the extra you hold to cover the weeks when sales run high or a delivery runs late.
- [Advance shipping notice](https://storestandards.com/glossary/advance-shipping-notice/): An advance shipping notice is a message from a supplier saying what they have dispatched and when it should reach you.