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Overview

Channelape supports syncing of inventory to warehouse locations and for aggregate syncing of inventory to virtual locations linked to channels like Shopify.

The Inventory Management System (IMS) is a software tool that helps businesses track and manage their inventory levels.

It allows users to see real-time data on inventory levels, track orders, and make adjustments to inventory as needed.

The IMS can be used to manage inventory for multiple warehouses and locations, and can integrate with other systems such as our Order Management System (OMS) to streamline the fulfillment process.

This article explains the relationship between the Inventory Items, Locations, and Statuses used in our Inventory Management System.

See our Knowledge Base for more details.

Inventory Items​

An Inventory Item is used to represent items you are selling or fulfilling. They can be tangible goods like inventory shipped from your warehouse or digital like a bundle.

Inventory Items can be created in one of three ways

  1. Create Inventory Item API
  2. Adjust or Set Inventory Item Quantity by SKU API
  3. Create Batch API

Once an Inventory Item has been created, it needs to be associated with a location

Inventory Statuses​

Inventory balances are tracked by status and location.

The supported statuses are:

  • ON_HAND - the number of units currently in a location regardless of its disposition.
  • AVAILABLE_TO_SELL - the number of units that can be sold. ChannelApe expects Available to Sell to be exclusive of On Hold and On Order, and inclusive of Committed.
  • ON_HOLD - the number of units on hand that cannot be sold. This includes Damages or holds for any Quality Control processes like inspection or refurbishment.
  • COMMITTED - the number of Available to Sell units allocated to an order. This number increases with each new order allocated to a location and decreases with fulfillments or cancellations.
  • ON_ORDER - the number of units that have been shipped to the location but not yet arrived. For eCommerce channels, like Shopify, this is added to Available to Sell so a limited number of orders can be accepted, even if it's not stocked on hand.
  • RESERVE - the number of units that cannot be used to sell or fulfill orders, typically set aside as a buffer or safety stock. Reserve is another special status that can be used to indiscriminately reduce inventory availability on both channels and warehouse locations.
  • INCOMING - Units in transit to a destination location.
  • UNAVAILABLE - The number of units that are damaged at a location.

ChannelApe's integrations use these statuses to calculate how much inventory can be used to fulfill an order or is available to purchase on channels like Shopify.

This calculation is referred to as Available to Promise (ATP) and is available in one of two varieties depending on its use:

To fulfill an order:

AVAILABLE_TO_PROMISE = AVAILABLE_TO_SELL - RESERVE - COMMITTED

For sale:

AVAILABLE_TO_PROMISE = AVAILABLE_TO_SELL + ON_ORDER - RESERVE - COMMITTED