[inventory] Stock allocation update

How stock allocation worked until now

Stock allocation has been drastically improved to optimize in-stock sales and order management . To understand it, we have to remind how allocation previously worked: when editing or confirming an in-stock order, the system was computing stock availability of the ordered SKUs by taking into account all other allocated orders (see allocated statuses). If an SKU was globally out of stock, editing the order would reset its quantity to 0 and confirming the order would be blocked, even if there actually was enough stock to fulfill that specific order.

Introducing order prioritization in stock allocation

With this update, pending in-stock orders are now prioritized: the more advanced in the status workflow the order is, the more priority it gets on stock (precise prioritization rules are defined below). When updating or confirming the order, the system will computes where the order stands in the prioritization queue to know whether stock is available or not for that specific order.

ORDER PRIORITIZATION RULE (default inventory mode)
- first by descending order status (open for brand > open for buyer)
- then by ascending order status date
- then by ascending order creation date

ORDER PRIORITIZATION RULE (advanced inventory mode)
Same as above, except for order status which becomes: invoicing > confirmed > open for brand > open for buyer

What changes in order management

Order edition
When editing an in-stock order, stock is now reserved for this order is it has enough priority in the allocation queue. This means that if some SKUs are globally out of stock but are available for that specific order because of its position in the allocation queue , quantities are now kept in basket when opening the order for edition.

Order confirmation
When confirming an in-stock order, stock control takes into account where the order stands in the prioritization queue. Order confirmation is now allowed if there is enough stock to fulfill that specific order.

Out of stock errors
When reviewing an order in the brand back-office, stock availability errors are now displayed in every allocated statuses (see allocated statuses). A pending order cannot be confirmed until its stock availability errors are fixed, either by reducing ordered quantities or by updating the stock level.

The allocated order statuses

• Default inventory mode: Open for buyer, Open for brand
• Advanced inventory mode (option required): Open for buyer, Open for brand, Confirmed, Invoiced