What Are the Inventory Concepts?
For the latest version of Commerce Server 2007 Help, see the Microsoft Web site.
The Inventory System allows for the real-time management of inventory for items in your catalogs. This section describes the concepts of the Inventory System. You should understand the concepts in this topic before you setup your inventory catalogs.
Before you can use the Inventory API, you must understand Commerce Server development tasks and concepts. To learn more about these tasks and concepts, see Developing with Commerce Server.
You should also read and understand the topics in Getting Started with Commerce Server. This section describes the features of Commerce Server 2007 and the skills required to work with it.
You should also understand how the Catalog System works. Make sure that you read the topics in Developing with the Catalog System.
An inventory catalog contains products and product variants from your product catalogs. The product catalog can be either a base catalog or a virtual catalog. When a product catalog is contained in an inventory catalog, it is said to be mapped to the inventory catalog. If a virtual catalog is not mapped to an inventory catalog, it takes the mapping of the base catalog. For example, if you create an inventory catalog from a base catalog and then create a virtual catalog from the base catalog, the virtual catalog and the base catalog are both mapped to the inventory catalog.
An inventory catalog can contain products from multiple product catalogs. But a product catalog can be mapped to only one inventory catalog. For information about how to create an inventory catalog, see Managing Inventory Catalogs by Using the Inventory API.
You can extend the Inventory System by adding custom properties for the products and catalogs. For more information about how to extend the Inventory System, see Managing Catalog Definitions and Schema by Using the Catalog API.
The Inventory System supports import and export of inventory data. This allows you to extract data to an XML file or data stream and import data from an XML file or data stream. For more information about how to import inventory data, see Importing Inventory Data. For more information about how to export inventory data, see Exporting Inventory Data.
Before you use the Inventory System you should understand the terms and concepts that the following table lists. For information about how the Inventory System computes the condition of SKUs, see How to Determine SKU Condition.
Term |
Definition |
|---|---|
Backorder |
The ability to order a SKU that is currently sold out, but will be available in the future. If a product or variant is considered on back-order by the Inventory System it may not be shown, or be shown as back-ordered and unavailable, or back-ordered but still available to order. Also, an expected availability date may be displayed. .gif "Note") Note:
A SKU may be back-orderable but may not be on back-order if the OnHand Quantity is more than the Effective Stockout Threshold.
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A SKU that can be back-ordered; that is an order can be placed even if the OnHand Quantity is less than the Effective Stockout Threshold. Back-ordering occurs for items that are already selling and have gone out of stock. |
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The earliest date when the back-ordered SKU will be available for shipping. |
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A value of the InventoryCondition enumeration. The SKU is back-ordered. If a product or variant is back-ordered it may not be shown, or be shown as back-ordered and unavailable or back-ordered but still available to order. |
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The number of units that have been back-ordered. |
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The value below the Effective Stockout Threshold beyond which it is not prudent to take back-orders. Back-ordering cannot occur beyond this value. This is to restrict overselling and prevent failure to fulfill an order. If an item is pre-orderable and also back-orderable, the Preorder Limit is used first and then the Backorder Limit is used. |
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Effective Stockout Threshold |
This is the value of Stockout Threshold if Floor Is Stockout Threshold is true. Stockout Threshold may apply based on the resource setting for the parameter Floor Is Stockout Threshold. |
The value above which the inventory is in excess. |
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Floor Is Stockout Threshold |
A site level setting that overrides the Stockout Threshold value of each product. If true, the Effective Stockout Threshold for each product is the Stockout Threshold. If false, the Effective Stockout Threshold for all the products is overridden to be 0. The default is true. |
A value of the InventoryCondition enumeration. The SKU is in stock to meet the request. If the product or variant is considered In Stock by the Inventory System, it is always displayed, and may also show a quantity remaining. |
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Date that the SKU was last changed. This property is maintained by the system. |
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Date when the inventory was last restocked. This property is maintained by the user. |
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OnHand Quantity |
The quantity of product in inventory that is available to be sold per SKU. |
A value of the InventoryCondition enumeration. When a SKU can no longer be sold because of quantity conditions, being disabled, or if it is missing (depending on the site configuration). If the product or variant is considered out of stock by the Inventory System, it may not be shown, or it might be shown as being out of stock. In this case, the Inventory System could display a list of suggested alternatives by using the Related Products feature of the product catalog. |
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Preorder |
The ability to order a SKU that is currently not available for delivery. If a product or variant is considered pre-orderable by the Inventory System, it is always displayed and can be purchased on the site. You do this because there is a certain quantity that will become available at a later date. Also, expected availability date may be displayed. Note:
A SKU may be pre-orderable but may not at that time be on preorder if the OnHand Quantity is more than the Effective Stockout Threshold.
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A value of the InventoryCondition enumeration. The SKU is pre-ordered. If a product is pre-ordered, it is always displayed and can be purchased on the site. |
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The SKU can be pre-ordered; that is an order can be placed even if the OnHand Quantity is less than the Effective Stockout Threshold. Pre-ordering occurs for items that have never been in stock. |
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The earliest date when the pre-ordered SKU will be available for shipping. |
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Cumulative quantity preordered to this point for the SKU. Tracking this is important for comparisons with the Preorder Limit. This is a computed value. If Preorder Limit and OnHand Quantity are less than zero, the Preordered Quantity is the smaller of these two. |
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The value below the Effective Stockout Threshold beyond which it is not prudent to take pre-orders. Pre-ordering cannot occur beyond this value. This is to restrict overselling and prevent failure to fulfill an order. |
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Regular SKU |
A SKU that is neither back-orderable or pre-orderable is called a regular SKU. This is a computed attribute of the SKU. |
Reorder Point (ROP) Quantity. If the OnHand Quantity falls below the Reorder Point, it indicates the inventory should be replenished from the vendor. |
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SKU (data) |
Inventory data for a single directly sellable product or a variant. |
Stock Handling |
A site level setting that overrides the Backorderable and Preorderable properties of each SKU. If this value is 0, there is no special handling and no back ordering for the SKU. If this value is 1, use the Backorderable and Preorderable properties to determine back-order/pre-order handling for the SKU. The default is 0. |
A value that the SKU quantity must be above or equal to for the SKU item to be considered in stock. For example, the value can be one or zero. Usually the value is low. This value is frequently kept at one so that the item appears to be in stock, because if the inventory is zero, some systems will not show the item itself, therefore losing potential back-order sales. |
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The amount of inventory you want to keep based on buying patterns. |
Site Resource Properties
The following table describes the properties of the inventory site resource.
Property |
Resource Name |
Definition |
|---|---|---|
Display Backordered Items |
f_display_bo_skus |
Specifies the filtering criteria for SKUs that are back-ordered. |
Display Out of Stock Items |
f_display_oos_skus |
Specifies the filtering criteria for SKUs that are out of stock. |
Display Preordered Items |
f_display_preordered_skus |
Specifies the filtering criteria for SKUs that are pre-ordered. |
Ignore Missing SKUs |
f_ignore_missing_skus |
Indicates whether missing inventory SKUs should be treated as in stock or out of stock. |
Record Inventory Deltas |
f_record_inventorydeltas |
Controls recording of the quantity decrements when buyers purchase items on the site or return items. |
Stock Handling |
i_stock_handling |
Specifies the way in which the stock is handled in the site. |
Use stockout threshold for floor |
f_floor_is_stockout_threshold |
The threshold value to be used across the site. |