Challenges

Learn how challenges in inventory sync between HotWax Commerce and Retail Pro Prism POS could overcome for accurate inventory management.

While developing this integration, several challenges surfaced, necessitating additional logic that is uncommon in typical inventory reset syncs. Here are the challenges and their solutions:

Unfiltered inventory file

In a usual setup, ERP systems share a file comprising all active products for inventory synchronization with HotWax Commerce. However, the client’s Retail Pro version could only share a file containing all products ever created in Retail Pro, not just the active ones. This led to an inflated file size, causing prolonged processing times in HotWax Commerce.

To address this, we implemented additional logic to filter the file against products created in HotWax from the eCommerce platform. The refined file now only contains inventory by facility for online-published products, significantly reducing file size from 300MB to 70-80KB. HotWax Commerce reads this new file and updates the inventory records to match Retail Pro's data accurately.

Incorrect inventory counts due to partially shipped orders in HotWax Commerce

HotWax Commerce sends orders to Retail Pro for invoicing, but only fully fulfilled orders are pushed. The Order section discusses why partially fulfilled orders are excluded. Because partially fulfilled orders are excluded, the morning inventory reset file sent by Retail Pro does not account for these scenarios. This discrepancy inflates the inventory count in HotWax Commerce and requires a specific solution.

To address this, the HotWax Commerce integration platform identifies partially fulfilled orders, calculates the inventory deductions not communicated to Retail Pro, and generates an inventory variance file. HotWax Commerce loads this file after the main reset inventory file to correct inventory numbers.

Example showing intricacies of the "Partially shipped orders"

1. Inventory snapshot in Retail Pro Prism POS and HotWax Commerce at 8:00 AM, showing initial counts for SKUs A, B, and C in New York and Nashville.

   Inventory snapshot at Retail Pro:

   SKU/Location	New York	Nashville
   A	10	10
   B	10	10
   C	0	0

   Inventory snapshot at HotWax Commerce:

   SKU/Location	New York	Nashville
   A	10	10
   B	10	10
   C	0	0

2. Customer Order imported in HotWax Commerce from eCommerce at 8:30 AM. Representation of the customer order captured in HotWax Commerce at 8:30 AM, specifying quantities for SKUs A, B, and C.

   Customer Order:

   SKU	Quantity
   A	2
   B	2
   C	2

3. HotWax Commerce fulfills the order for SKUs A and B from New York at 9:00 AM. Inventory snapshot after order fulfillment in Retail Pro and HotWax Commerce:

   Inventory snapshot at Retail Pro:

   SKU/Location	New York	Nashville
   A	10	10
   B	10	10
   C	0	0

   Inventory snapshot at HotWax Commerce:

   Updated inventory snapshot in HotWax Commerce after the fulfillment of the customer order, reflecting adjusted counts for SKUs A, B, and C.

   SKU/Location	New York	Nashville
   A	8	10
   B	8	10
   C	0	0

4. Retail Pro is unaware of the partial fulfillment in HotWax Commerce and sends an inventory reset file the next morning at 7:00 AM. The file includes counts of 10 for SKUs A and B across both New York and Nashville, not accounting for the partial fulfillment. This table represents the inventory reset file including new inventory for SKU C at each location.

   Inventory Reset file from Retail Pro:

   SKU/Location	New York	Nashville
   A	10	10
   B	10	10
   C	5	5

5. HotWax Commerce resets the inventory counts for SKUs A, B, and C when it reads this file. The reset for SKU C is correct; however, resetting SKUs A and B to 10 in New York is incorrect. SKUs A and B in New York should be 8.

   Inventory snapshot at HotWax Commerce:

   SKU/Location	New York	Nashville
   A	10	10
   B	10	10
   C	5	5

6. Now as per the discussed solution, Inventory variance file is generated by HotWax Commerce integration platform, this table represents the inventory variance file:

   Inventory Variance file from HotWax Commerce:

   SKU/Location	New York	Nashville
   A	-2	0
   B	-2	0
   C	0	0

7. Finalized and accurate inventory counts in HotWax Commerce after processing both the main reset inventory file and the inventory variance file.

   Inventory snapshot at HotWax Commerce:

   SKU/Location	New York	Nashville
   A	8	10
   B	8	10
   C	5	5

This detailed example provides a step-by-step explanation of the inventory synchronization process and the corrective measures taken to ensure accuracy.