Stocking an office pantry without over-ordering

Office supply ordering goes wrong in one of two directions: a cupboard full of things nobody wanted, or a Tuesday morning with no coffee.

Start by separating what you buy into two lists. Consumables run out on a predictable schedule and should be ordered on a fixed cycle. Durables get replaced when they break, and should never be on a standing order.

For a twenty-person office, a month typically looks like: 4 to 6 reams of A4 paper, 8 to 10 packs of kitchen towel, 2 to 3 large bottles of hand wash, 5 litres of multi-surface cleaner, and considerably more tea, coffee, sugar and long-life milk than anyone estimates. Water depends entirely on whether you have a cooler or bottles.

The four things that always run out first, in our experience, are kitchen towel, hand wash, printer paper and teaspoons. Three of those are cheap to over-order slightly. The fourth is a mystery nobody has solved.

Two habits make the difference. First, put one person in charge, not a rota. Shared responsibility for ordering means nobody notices the paper is low until it is gone. Second, count on the same day each month rather than when something runs out; you are trying to replace panic buying with a routine.

Order in one delivery rather than five. It is cheaper, it is less admin, and for anyone on a wholesale account the tier price usually improves at the point where a monthly order for twenty people sits anyway.

Keep a written list of exactly what you order, with pack sizes. It takes ten minutes once, and it turns a recurring twenty-minute task into a two-minute one. If you have a trade account with us you can upload that list as a CSV and skip the clicking entirely.