Channel inventory

Channel inventory is currently not fully operational as it is not considered in reservations and routing.

Channel inventory allows inventory to be reserved for specific sales channels or other purposes. Depending on the individual use case, different rules and periods for stock assignment can be defined per channel. Reservations for specific channels are always performed at the facility level.

1. Manage availability channels

More Channels-API information can be found here: REST API documentation - Channels

Availability channels in our platform are designed to represent sales channels or other topics by which inventory should be grouped.

• name: Each channel is characterized by a unique name for easy identification.

• strategy: Depending on the priority of the distribution path, different strategies can be defined for stock reduction. In the UI, this is referred to as "allocation type":

  • RESTRICT (Only stock that has been explicitly allocated to this channel is available for sale via this channel. As soon as the allocated stock is used up, no stock is available anymore).

  • REGULAR (If an order is accepted via this channel, the allocated stock is first used up. Afterwards, a stock that has not been allocated to any channel is used.)

  • IRON_RESERVE (If an order is accepted via this channel, a stock that is not assigned to any channel is used. Only after all other stock is used the stock explicitly allocated to the channel is taken.)

2. Manage allocation groups

More Channel-Groups-API information can be found here: REST API documentation - Channel-Groups

Each allocation must belong to a group. Groups organize allocations in facilities for a specific product and channel. They are also used to display related allocations as grouped in the Backoffice.

• Active: This value can be true or false, depending on whether the allocated stock should be currently considered in stock availability and routing. This allows for flexibility in managing which distribution paths are presently operational. If active is false, the allocated stock is added back to the general availability.

• ActivePeriod: The allocated stock can be considered for a timespan defined at a group level. Channel allocations are only considered in stock availability and routing if the current time is within the defined time period. If the activePeriod is not defined, the allocations are considered as soon as they are created.

• tenantArticleIds: A group organizes allocations for a product identified by the tenantArticleId. Although not technically forbidden, we advise users only to define one product per group.

3. Manage allocations for channels

More Channel-Allocations-API information can be found here: REST API documentation - Channel-Allocations

The core functionality of channels is realized through availabilityAllocationentities. These entities link channels to specific products (identified by tenantArticleIds) and assign a predetermined quantity of stock to each channel.

• facilityRef: Each allocation can only allocate stocks from one facility to a channel.

• initialStockQuantity: Defines the quantity of items that should be initially allocated to the respective channel within the facility.