Lightspeed and NuORDER showcase what's next in brand-retailer innovation at TRE

From booth conversations to practical guidance

That theme came to life during Lightspeed and NuORDER’s in-booth happy hour, where NuORDER’s Grant Buckland hosted a special 10-minute session titled From Guesswork to Growth: Three Key Ways to Stock Smarter and Sell Faster. Designed to be both aspirational and practical, the session focused on how brands and retailers can move beyond reactive decision-making and build more confident, profitable buying strategies.

Grant opened by addressing a challenge many retailers know all too well: deciding what to buy when trends shift quickly and assortments grow more complex. Retailers are choosing sizes, fabrics, and quantities, all while trying to avoid excess inventory or missed sales. Without access to broader market context, those decisions often rely on guesswork.

By sharing how order trends across the Wholesale Network surface real-world buying behavior, Grant showed how retailers can ground those decisions in data rather than intuition alone. When retailers understand what’s gaining traction across the network—and combine that insight with their own sales data—they’re better equipped to build differentiated assortments that still perform. Brands benefit in turn, with stronger sell-through and faster conversions driven by better-aligned buys.

Visibility that keeps pace with demand

The session also explored how inventory visibility plays a critical role in keeping assortments fresh. As retailers are asked to source products more frequently and react faster to what’s selling, manual workflows and outdated spreadsheets quickly become bottlenecks. This is especially true during high-pressure retail moments like holiday or peak training seasons, when delayed orders can mean lost revenue.

With real-time visibility into product availability and delivery timelines, retailers can act proactively instead of waiting for updates. When brands update inventory in NuORDER, those changes are immediately visible across their retail partners—making it easier to reorder top-performing products before momentum is lost. For brands, that transparency helps move inventory more efficiently while strengthening trust with retail partners.

Simplifying reorders in a fragmented landscape

Reordering was another focal point of the session, particularly as wholesale operations grow more complex. Brands often manage multiple reps, territories, and account types, while retailers juggle in-store and ecommerce channels supported by disconnected systems. In that environment, reorders can quickly become time-consuming and error-prone.

Grant highlighted how a unified digital platform simplifies that process for both sides. Retailers gain the tools and context they need to reorder quickly and accurately, while brands gain clearer visibility across reps, channels, and accounts. The result is faster time to shelf, fewer cancellations, and better alignment between inventory availability and consumer demand.

A week fueled by connection (and espresso)

Beyond the power session, the booth stayed lively throughout the week. Attendees stopped by for conversations and grabbed a cup from the Starbucks espresso cart, connected with the Lightspeed and NuORDER teams, and entered for a chance to win one of two pairs of Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses. Lightspeed was also proud to support the Indie 5K, One-Mile Fun Run, and Race Breakfast—celebrating the independent retailers that anchor the running specialty community.

As TRE wrapped up, one message stood out: wholesale works best when brands and retailers operate as true partners. By sharing data, aligning on inventory strategy, and streamlining how they work together, businesses can replace guesswork with confidence. With NuORDER at the and Lightspeed, brands and retailers are better positioned to stock smarter, sell faster, and grow together.