Challenge

Unavailability of Pre-Order Option for a product on Shopify Store Despite 0 Inventory and Linkage to HotWax Commerce

Description

HotWax is encountering issues accurately reflecting product availability, notably during pre-orders for specific items. The problem arises when HotWax depends on Shopify for inventory data, resulting in products being inaccurately displayed as in stock when they are, in fact, out of stock.

Explanation

Inventory within Shopify:

• Shopify's available inventory is computed by deducting open orders from the physical inventory published by the ERP.

• During pre-selling, inventory levels can go below zero due to overcommitment of inventory, causing negative inventory.

HotWax's Inventory Computation when reading inventory from Shopify:

• HotWax deliberately disables specific functionalities to reserve inventory for committed orders, ensuring that committed inventory is not deducted twice. This precaution is taken because Shopify already incorporates committed inventory within its shared inventory levels.

Current State of Inventory Deduction in HotWax

• HotWax relies on Shopify's inventory-level webhooks as a crucial mechanism to determine the available inventory for its products. In HotWax, negative inventory values from Shopify are systematically treated as zero, mitigating the risk of inaccurate stock calculations. The issue arises when HotWax reads inventory from multiple locations. This process introduces a potential for inaccuracies in product availability computations, particularly when Shopify indicates negative stock levels.

Troubleshooting Steps

For Shopify

1. Navigate to the Product on Shopify:

   • Locate the specific product within your Shopify admin panel.

2. Check Inventory:

   • Review the inventory level for the product at all the locations. Hint: There must be locations with negative inventory numbers.

3. Verify the sum of location Inventories:

   • Ensure that the combined inventory from all locations sums to 0.

For HotWax

1. Find the Product in HotWax:

   • Locate the corresponding product in the HotWax Commerce Pre-order app's Catalog page and click the product to open the Product Audit page.

2. Check Inventory in the Online ATP calculation card:

   • Examine the inventory level for the product within HotWax. The online ATP would be more than 0.

To see how HotWax allocates pre-orders to physical inventory when HotWax is the source of inventory, check out this blog: https://www.hotwax.co/blog/how-to-capture-and-release-shopify-pre-orders-with-ease

Challenge

Despite having 0 inventory in both HotWax Commerce and the Shopify store, the pre-order option is unavailable for a product. The root cause is the absence of proper linking between the product in HotWax Commerce and the Shopify store.

Description

HotWax Commerce encounters difficulties in showcasing products for pre-orders on the Shopify store when there is no linkage between the products in HotWax Commerce and the corresponding Shopify store. This issue commonly arises when a retailer manages the same product catalog across multiple Shopify stores.

Explanation

Products within Shopify

Retailers streamline their operations by employing a unified product catalog across multiple Shopify stores. Consequently, products obtain distinct internal IDs on each store, while retaining a consistent and unique identifier, typically the SKU. It's important to note that not all stores carry the entire product range; instead, a hierarchical structure is established with one store functioning as the master catalog and others as child catalogs, each tailored to specific product offerings. This approach facilitates efficient management and customization of product availability across diverse Shopify storefronts.

Products in HotWax

In instances where a common product catalog is employed across multiple Shopify stores, HotWax adopts a structured approach. It designates one specific Shopify store as the master catalog, responsible for comprehensive product information. The same set of products is then associated with other Shopify stores, considering them as child catalogs. To establish a connection with HotWax, a product must be initially configured in the parent store and subsequently linked to the corresponding child store. Failure to follow this setup process inhibits HotWax from establishing a connection with the Shopify store and transmitting updated product information. This systematic approach ensures a cohesive and organized integration between HotWax and the various Shopify stores within the shared product ecosystem.

Association in HotWax Commerce

Troubleshooting Steps

Step 1: Verify Product Association with the Shopify Store

1. Locate the Product in HotWax

   • Navigate to the Pre-order Catalog within HotWax Commerce.

   • Open the Audit page and examine the Shop listing status card to check the stores to which the product is currently listed. If it's not linked to the desired store, proceed with the following steps:

Step 2: Link product to Shopify store

1. Access the Find Product Page

   • Visit the Find Product page:https://{instanceName}.hotwax.io/commerce/control/FindProduct.

   • Open the detailed page for the specific product.

2. Inspect the Shopify Shop Product Section

   • On the detailed page, review the Shopify shop product section to identify the store with which the product is currently connected.

3. Establish the Connection

   • Initiate the connection by clicking the Add button.

   • Select the Shopify store designated as the Shop in OMS.

   • Input the Shopify product ID and Inventory ID (extracted from the product on the Shopify store).

Step 3: Refresh products to reflect changes

1. Execute Jobs in the Job Manager App

   • Within the Job Manager app, initiate the following jobs: Auto refresh pre-order catalog and Sync variant details by searching them from the pipeline page.

2. Review products in Hotwax and Shopify

By following these steps meticulously, you ensure a seamless and accurate linking of products, ultimately improving the functionality of the pre-order option on the Shopify store.