Sorting a Seed Enquiry Basket Into Opening Stock and Later Rounds

An enquiry basket tends to grow faster than a shop can absorb, because every catalogue entry looks plausible in isolation. The useful discipline is to stop treating the basket as one order and split it into three roles before anything is sent: opening stock that must be on the shelf from day one, test lines that earn their place only after a first season, and deferred items that wait for a later round. This overview explains how demand evidence, physical shelf capacity and budget act as the deciding factors, so that a single large selection becomes a staged plan.

Why a basket needs roles rather than a single order

A basket that is sent as one block commits your attention, your shelf space and your cash to items with very different levels of evidence behind them. Splitting the selection into roles makes the difference visible: some lines justify a firm opening position, others are experiments, and some are simply not yet supported by anything you can point to. This sorting is a planning step you do on your own desk. It does not turn a catalogue selection into an order, because submitting an enquiry only starts a review and any supply terms are agreed separately in the quotation.

Gathering demand evidence before you judge any line

Each candidate line should carry a short note of why it is in the basket. Usable evidence is concrete: recorded counter requests, repeat questions from customers, a crop group that already sells well in your shop, or a clear gap on your shelf that customers have asked about. Weak evidence is a variety you find interesting, a name you recognise, or a line added because the neighbouring entry looked similar. If a line has no note at all, that absence is itself information and usually places it in the deferred group until something real appears.

Opening stock: the lines that must be there

Opening stock is the smallest group and should be the best defended. A line belongs here when you can name the demand behind it and when the crop group is one your shop is known for. Keep this group narrow enough that you could explain each entry to a colleague in one sentence. Because pack sizes, availability and final prices are only confirmed in the quotation, treat the opening group as a list of varieties and required weights rather than a fixed financial commitment until the offer comes back.

Test lines: deliberate experiments with a defined exit

Test lines are varieties you want to try but cannot yet justify at opening scale. Their value depends on being labelled as tests from the start, with a small quantity and a clear question attached, such as whether customers respond to a particular herb selection or an unfamiliar colour. Decide in advance what would count as a positive result and what would send the line back to deferred. Without that exit condition, test lines quietly become permanent stock that nobody has actually assessed.

Deferred items and the second enquiry round

Deferring is not rejection. Items move to a later round when the evidence is missing, the shelf space is not yet free, or the budget is already spoken for by the opening group. Write down what would change the decision, for example a run of counter requests or space released by a line that did not perform. A later round also gives you a natural point to revisit the whole selection, and unlisted varieties can be raised at that time by sending the species or variety name, quantity and destination.

Using shelf capacity as a hard limit

Shelf capacity is the constraint that keeps the sorting honest, because a variety that cannot be displayed is not really in your range. Measure the space you actually control for the crop group and translate it into a maximum number of lines rather than a feeling about how much room there is. When the opening and test groups exceed that number, the surplus has to move to deferred regardless of how good the individual entries look. A tight fixture is a legitimate reason to cut, and it protects the lines that remain from being diluted.

Using budget as a second filter, not the first

Budget should decide how deep each line goes, not which lines exist. Sort by role first, then allocate spending within the opening group, and only then see whether anything is left for tests. This order prevents a single expensive line from silently pushing several core lines out of the plan. Because quantity tiers and listed prices are confirmed in the quotation, keep your own budget notes separate from the enquiry itself and compare them against the offer when it arrives rather than assuming the listed figure is final.

Crop groups behave differently when sorted

Not every group deserves the same treatment. A crop group with an established customer base can carry a wider opening selection, while a group you are introducing should start almost entirely as test lines. Herbs, leafy salad crops and flower seeds each have their own rhythm of customer interest, so sort within a group before comparing across groups. This prevents a strong performer in one group from being used to justify weak entries in another, and it keeps the opening stock aligned with what your shop is actually known for.

Recording the split so it survives the season

Write the three groups down and keep the notes with your enquiry reference, including the evidence behind each opening line and the question behind each test. When the quotation arrives, check availability, pack sizes and the recorded unit against your notes, since a price per kilogram and a price for a stated number of seeds are different bases. After the season, the same record tells you which tests earned promotion and which deferred items still lack evidence, so the next basket starts from something better than memory.

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