The Product Inventory View Page within HotWax Commerce offers users a comprehensive snapshot of a product's inventory information. This feature is crucial for retailers as it empowers them to make informed decisions regarding sales and overall inventory management for their products.
Step-by-Step Usage Instructions:
Within the Hamburger Menu of HotWax Commerce, find and select the Warehouse option from the list of menu choices.
Once in the Warehouse section, a submenu will appear. Click on Inventory from this submenu to proceed.
On the Find Product Inventory page, you'll find a list of available products. Click on the product name of the desired item to open its Product Inventory View Page.
Alternate Access Method:
Click on the PIM section, then select Products to access the Find Products Page.
Browse through the list of available products or search for the product name. Click on the name of the desired product to open its Product View Page.
On the Product View Page, locate and click on the View Inventory button to access the Product Inventory View Page, offering comprehensive inventory information for the selected product.
Navigate to the Overview section on the Product Inventory View page to access essential product information, including product name, SKU, size, and color variants.
Sections within Overview
A. Order Queue: This section displays orders that currently lack allocated inventory. Orders in different queues, such as brokering queue, unfillable hold queue, pre-order queue, and backorder queue, are listed here. Explore further details about these queues here.
B. Threshold: Retailers can establish a global threshold for products through the Threshold Management app. This quantity is subtracted from the overall Quantity on Hand (QOH) to prevent overselling on e-commerce platforms. Users can see the inventory that is subtracted from the overall QOH as the threshold.
C. Physical ATP: HotWax Commerce calculates Physical Available to Promise (ATP) by considering various factors, such as safety stock, threshold, reserved quantity, and orders in the queue. The excluded ATP comprises safety stock and reserved quantities, with adjustments made at the facility level.
Example: Consider a product blue shirt from Brand ABC with a QOH of 100 units. If 10 units are excluded ATP, 5 units are the threshold, and 5 units are in the brokering queue, the ATP can be calculated as follows:
ATP = QOH - (Excluded ATP + Threshold + Orders in brokering queue) ATP = 100 - (10 + 5 + 5) = 100 - 20 = 80
D. Online ATP: Online ATP is derived by subtracting the excluded facilities' ATP, i.e., facilities not participating in online fulfillment, from the total ATP. The excluded facilities' ATP can be different for different online facility groups. For instance, if the total ATP is 100 across 10 facilities and 5 facilities with a cumulative quantity of 60 are excluded for online selling on Shopify, the Shopify Online ATP can be calculated as: Shopify Online ATP = ATP - Excluded Facilities’ ATP = 100 - 60 = 40
Online ATP may vary for each sales channel.
The item inventory section allows users to get a detailed breakdown of the received inventory at each facility, along with the date and time of each transaction and where the inventory is located within the facility.
View Inventory Logs
The Inventory Logs feature within the item inventory section offers users the ability to access detailed logs of inventory transactions for the selected product across all facilities. Users can track inventory movements, monitor changes, and identify any discrepancies or trends promptly.
Step-by-Step Usage Instructions:
On the View Product inventory page, navigate to the item inventory section
Locate the Inventory Logs checkbox and check the box to activate the inventory logs feature.
Once activated, detailed logs of each inventory transaction for the selected product across all facilities will be displayed.
Review these logs to track inventory movements, monitor changes, and identify any discrepancies or trends.
If you want to view inventory details for a specific facility, use the facility dropdown menu to select the desired facility.
You can click on the Inventory Item ID available in the records to view the complete breakdown of when and where the inventory is received.
The Record Variance feature” allows users to manually document any discrepancies in inventory levels and manage adjustments effectively. This feature is crucial for maintaining accurate inventory records and ensuring transparency.
Step-by-Step Usage Instructions:
Within the View Products Inventory page, locate and click on the Record Variance function, available at the top of the page.
This will open a new form, select the relevant facility where the inventory adjustment is taking place from the dropdown menu.
Choose the specific location within the selected facility and enter the quantity of the inventory adjustment.
From the dropdown menu, choose the relevant reasons for the inventory variance. This could include factors such as damaged goods, discrepancies in shipment, or theft.
After confirming all details are accurate, click the Save button to record the variance in the system.
The Product Inventory Configurations page in HotWax Commerce offers users the ability to configure product inventory settings globally or for individual facilities. This is crucial for retailers with large product catalogs, as it allows for product-specific settings that cannot be covered across all the facilities. For example, bespoke items may only be available from certain facilities, necessitating specific configurations at the product level.
The Global Settings section enables users to customize various product configurations at the company level. This customization includes managing product thresholds, order brokering, store pickup options, and shipping timelines. These settings are essential for optimizing inventory management and order fulfillment processes.
To avoid overselling due to inventory inaccuracies, merchandisers prefer not to promise all the inventory to the online sales channel. So the merchandising team keeps a buffer stock on a company level before promising the inventory to online channels, also called Inventory Threshold. Adjusting the threshold is crucial for maintaining optimal inventory levels. During peak seasons, increasing the threshold prevents stockouts, while reducing it during slower periods prevents excess inventory. Here's how retailers can adjust thresholds
Navigate to the Global Settings section on the Product Inventory Configurations page.
Click on Threshold to access the dialog box.
Modify the threshold value to match your requirements.
Retailers may sometimes want to ensure that some products are routed to only specific locations and they may want manual control on these products. Enabling or disabling order brokering based on product-specific requirements ensures optimal order routing for the products. This step is essential, particularly for bespoke products that cannot be fulfilled from all locations.
Navigate to the Global Settings section on the Product Inventory Configurations page.
Open the dialog box by selecting Order Brokering.
Toggle the setting to enable (Y) or disable (N) order brokering based on your business needs.
Retailers sometimes have bulky items in their catalogs that are not optimized for store pickup. Enabling or disabling store pickup options ensures accurate order fulfillment options, for the customer.
Navigate to the Global Settings section on the Product Inventory Configurations page.
Access the dialog box for Store Pickup.
Toggle the setting to allow (Y) or disallow (N) store pickup according to your business model.
Setting minimal days to ship the product is crucial for meeting customer expectations and optimizing order fulfillment timelines. For example, bespoke items may require a minimum of 2 days to ship, therefore, they cannot be available for same-day or next-day delivery.
Navigate to the Global Settings section on the Product Inventory Configurations page.
Open the dialog box by selecting Days to Ship.
Edit the number of days required for order shipment.
The Inventory Configuration section empowers users to efficiently manage their inventory by configuring facilities, adjusting safety stock levels, and organizing locations within each facility. This feature is aimed to optimize inventory levels, streamline warehouse operations, and ensure seamless order fulfillment processes.
Adding facilities is crucial for retailers operating in multiple regions or countries to streamline storage and distribution efficiently. Not all products are available at all facilities, so facilities need to be associated with the product where the product will be sold or fulfilled from. This ensures accurate order routing and efficient inventory management across various locations.
Click on the Add Facility function in the Inventory configuration section to open a dialog box.
Select the desired facility and its location from the dropdown menu.
Click Add to confirm the addition of the facility.
Adding locations within each facility helps in optimizing product storage and organization. It enables businesses to effectively manage their warehouse space, improve inventory visibility, and streamline order picking and packing processes, resulting in enhanced operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Click on the Add Location function to open a dialog box.
Choose the facility to which you want to add a location from the dropdown menu.
Select the geographical information or address for the location from the dropdown menu.
Click Add to confirm the addition of the new location to the selected facility.
Editing a product's safety stock levels ensures maintaining an adequate level of stock to meet demand and prevent stockouts. Safety stock is set to ensure stores have stock that can be used in case of any inventory variance or to reserve stock for in-store sales. By adjusting safety stock levels, businesses can optimize inventory investment, minimize carrying costs, and mitigate the risk of stockouts, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction and revenue generation.
Locate and click on the edit icon of the facility for which you want to adjust the safety stock.
Update the minimum stock (Safety Stock) as required.
Click Add to confirm the changes in safety stock.
HotWax Commerce provides a unified view of inventory by seamlessly connecting with various technology systems used by retailers, including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Point of Sale (POS), and Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). HotWax Commerce ensures that inventory updates from all these systems are synchronized to support various business scenarios. HotWax Commerce determines the "Available to Promise (ATP)" or the amount of inventory that can be sold and then sends it to e-commerce channels. This makes HotWax Commerce the ultimate authority on inventory availability. Users can see both consolidated ATP and facility-wise ATP by clicking on the total ATP count.
Retailers need real-time insights into their product inventory, to ensure informed decision-making and efficient inventory management. The Find Product Inventory page within HotWax Commerce serves as a centralized hub for managing specific inventory details of products. It offers a comprehensive view of various reservations and availability statuses, including reserved, committed, and available ATP (Available to Promise). Retailers can get visibility into reservations, queues, and excluded facilities, and the Find Product Inventory page empowers users to optimize their inventory allocation and fulfillment processes. Users can see all the columns in which inventory is reserved and the available-to-promise at the end. The following details are available for the inventory on the page:
Brokering queue
Queue that holds orders awaiting brokering.
Unfillable hold queue
Queue that holds orders that cannot be fulfilled at the moment.
Pre-order queue
Queue that holds pre-orders awaiting fulfillment.
Backorder queue
Queue that holds backorders awaiting fulfillment.
Excluded facilities ATP
Shows inventory of facilities excluded from online selling.
Excluded ATP
Shows inventory excluded from online selling.
Threshold
Limit set by a merchandiser to avoid overselling online.
Online ATP
Inventory available for promise on online channels.
Available to Promise (ATP)
Inventory available for promise to customers, representing actual availability.
Log in to HotWax Commerce by entering your credentials on the login page.
Within the hamburger menu, find and select the Warehouse option. This will open a submenu with various warehouse-related functionalities.
From the Warehouse submenu, choose the Inventory option. This action will direct you to the Find product Inventory page
Users can search for products based on various identifiers such as Product ID, Product name, SKU, Parent Product, or Keyword to get an instant overview of the inventory status of the searched product, facilitating informed decision-making and resource allocation for the retailers. The Search Products feature on the Find Product Inventory page provides users with quick access to information regarding a specific product inventory. It streamlines the process of checking ATP (Available-to-Promise) computation for specific products.
Retailers operating multiple warehouses or stores need facility-specific inventory visibility to efficiently manage and monitor product availability at each fulfillment location. The Facility filter provides users with visibility of products available at a particular facility, enabling users to make decisions regarding restocking, fulfillment, and redistribution. The Facility filter enhances workflow by enabling users to swiftly identify stock levels, assess inventory distribution, and optimize their supply chain operations.
Navigate to the Find Product Inventory page within HotWax Commerce. Look for the Facility filter option located at the top of the page.
Click on the dropdown menu associated with the Facility filter. A list of available facilities or locations will appear.
Once you've selected a facility from the dropdown menu, the page will display a list of products associated with the chosen facility. Review product availability, quantities, and details related to inventory management at this location.
Use the search filter option to find specific products within the selected facility. Enter the product identifier of the product to access its inventory breakdown at the chosen facility.
For example: If you'd like to search for the available product inventory of the SKU "WJ08-XS-Gray" in the Times Square facility, search for the SKU in the search bar and select 'Times Square' from the facility filter.
In a multi-channel retail environment, efficient inventory management across various sales channels is crucial for success. The Inventory Channel Filter in HotWax Commerce provides users with the ability to view available products and their inventory on specific inventory channels. This feature enables retailers to view separate Available-to-Promise (ATP) inventories for each channel, minimizing risks and ensuring streamlined operations.
For example, if a retailer chooses the Amazon sales channel and searches for SKU "WJ08-XS-Gray" in the search bar they will get the breakdown of the product ATP that is available to sell online on Amazon.
Navigate to the Find Product Inventory page within HotWax Commerce where inventory details are displayed. Look for the Inventory Channel Filter, which is typically located at the top of the page.
If you want to view inventory details for a specific inventory channel, click on the dropdown menu to select the desired channel from the available options.
If you need to find a specific product's inventory breakdown for the selected channel, use the search functionality provided within the interface. Enter the identifier of the product you're interested in, and the system will display its inventory details for the chosen channel.