Configure inventory buffers and inventory levels
This article explains how to configure inventory buffers and inventory levels that determine the messaging about inventory availability on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce sites.
Dynamics 365 Commerce headquarters holds inventory data and various channels such as point of sale (POS) applications, e-commerce storefronts, and other custom integrated applications that pull and push inventory around in an asynchronous manner. Therefore, the available inventory values that are obtained through the on-hand inventory page in headquarters, through the POS user interface (UI), and through e-commerce inventory availability APIs aren't always 100-percent accurate in real time.
Instead of showing actual inventory values in e-commerce storefronts, many retailers prefer just to show messaging about inventory availability status (for example, "Available" or "Out of stock") to inform customers whether an item is available for purchase or potentially out of stock. For this approach, inventory buffers and inventory levels that determine the inventory availability messaging must be made available and configured.
Prerequisite: Turn on the inventory buffers and inventory levels feature
The feature for inventory buffers and inventory levels is controlled through Feature management in headquarters. To turn on the feature, follow these steps.
- Go to System administration > Workspaces > Feature management.
- Search for the Enable inventory buffers and inventory levels feature, select its row, and then select Enable now.
After the feature is turned on, you can find inventory levels at Retail and Commerce > Inventory management.
Create and configure an inventory level profile
An inventory level profile determines whether a given product quantity status is considered in stock, out of stock, or some other custom status. You can create and configure multiple inventory level profiles per legal entity. Each profile consists of a set of inventory levels, and each level is defined by a range, a code, and a label.
- Range – Each range is defined by a start quantity and an end quantity. A quantity value falls in a range if it's more than the start quantity of that range and not more than the end quantity. The quantity value is treated as the sales unit of measure in calculations.
- Code – A code is an internal abbreviation that represents the level. Customers who directly integrate with the inventory APIs can use codes to build additional logic for a given inventory level. For example, they can turn off the purchase capability for a product when its inventory level code is OOS ("out of stock").
- Label – A label is a meaningful customer-facing message that conveys an inventory level to customers on an e-commerce site.
Create an inventory level profile
To create an inventory level profile, follow these steps.
- Go to Retail and Commerce > Inventory management > Inventory levels.
- On the Action Pane, select New, and then enter values in the Profile ID and Description fields.
- On the Ranges FastTab, select Add to add a new level, and then enter values in the Start quantity, End quantity, Code, and Label columns for that level. Repeat this step to add more levels. As you require, you can edit the values in the data grid, or you can select Delete to remove a level.
- On the Action Pane, select Save.
When a new profile is created, two inventory levels are automatically initialized:
- OOS – The "out of stock" level, where the lower bound of the range is negative infinity. The start quantity and code can't be edited for this level.
- AVAIL – The "available" level, where the upper bound of the range is infinity. The end quantity and code can't be edited for this level.
Note
There can be no gaps or overlap between ranges in the profile definition.
You can use the Translations button on the Action Pane to configure localized strings for the label message. You must then run the 1110 (Global configuration) distribution schedule job to sync the localized strings to channels.
Configure an inventory level profile
You can configure an inventory level profile at either the product category level or the individual product level. When an inventory level profile is configured for a product, the inventory level is determined based on the ranges that are defined in the linked profile. Otherwise, the "available" or "out of stock" inventory level is determined based on whether the product has a positive on-hand quantity.
To configure an inventory level profile for a category, follow these steps.
- Go to Retail and Commerce > Products and categories > Commerce product hierarchy.
- Select the category to configure an inventory level profile for.
- On the Sell product properties FastTab, select a legal entity.
- In the Commerce inventory section, in the Inventory level profile field, select one of the predefined inventory level profiles.
You can use the Update products button on the Action Pane to propagate the value of the category-level profile to the category's underlying products. For more information, see Manage product categories and products.
To configure an inventory level profile for a released product, follow these steps.
- Go to Retail and Commerce > Products and categories > Released products by category.
- Select a product, and then open its product details page.
- On the Sell FastTab, in the Commerce inventory section, in the Inventory level profile field, select one of the predefined inventory level profiles.
When a new product is created, the Inventory level profile field, like many other product-level attributes, will be set to the value that is configured for the category that the product is associated with.
Note
The inventory level profile is a legal entity–specific attribute. For the same category or product, the inventory level profile value can vary across legal entities.
To sync the configurations of inventory level profiles to channels, follow these steps.
- Go to Retail and Commerce > Retail and Commerce IT > Distribution schedule.
- Run the 1040 (Product) distribution schedule.
Configure an inventory buffer
The inventory buffer is a user-defined value that subtracts the additional quantity of an item from the original quantity to calculate the estimated quantity. This estimated quantity gives retailers a safe buffer so that they don't oversell a product by selling more than its actual on-hand inventory. You can configure the inventory buffer at either the product category level or the individual product level. If no inventory buffer is specified, the default value of 0 (zero) is used.
To configure the inventory buffer for a category, follow these steps.
- Go to Retail and Commerce > Products and categories > Commerce product hierarchy.
- Select the category to configure the inventory buffer for.
- On the Sell product properties FastTab, select a legal entity.
- In the Commerce inventory section, in the Inventory buffer field, enter a positive value.
You can use the Update products button on the Action Pane to propagate the value of the category-level buffer to the category's underlying products. For more information, see Manage product categories and products.
To configure the inventory buffer for a released product, follow these steps.
- Go to Retail and Commerce > Products and categories > Released products by category.
- Select a product, and then open its product details page.
- On the Sell FastTab, in the Commerce inventory section, in the Inventory buffer field, enter a positive value.
When a new product is created, the Inventory buffer field will be set to the value that is configured for the category that the product is associated with.
Note
If both the inventory buffer and inventory level profiles are configured for a product, the product's estimated quantity (that is, the original quantity minus the buffer value) will be used for range calculation to determine the inventory level.
To sync the configurations of inventory buffers to channels, follow these steps.
- Go to Retail and Commerce > Retail and Commerce IT > Distribution schedule.
- Run the 1040 (Product) distribution schedule.
Use inventory buffers and inventory levels in e-commerce scenario
Commerce site builder uses the inventory buffer and inventory level capabilities in headquarters to determine inventory availability messaging on e-commerce sites. For more information, see Apply inventory settings.
Alternatively, if you integrate with a third-party e-commerce solution, you can use the GetEstimatedAvailability and GetEstimatedProductWarehouseAvailability APIs to show inventory availability for a product in your e-commerce scenario. For more information about these APIs, see Calculate inventory availability for retail channels.
The introduction of inventory buffers and inventory levels enables these APIs to return inventory level codes and label messages that are determined based on total available and available physical values. The APIs can be further configured to determine whether the inventory quantity is returned together with the message, and whether the available quantity is reduced by the inventory buffer value.
To configure the response of the product availability APIs, follow these steps.
- Go to Retail and commerce > Headquarters setup > Parameters > Commerce parameters.
- In the Store inventory section, on the Inventory tab, in the Product availability APIs for e-Commerce field, select a value.
- To apply the settings to channels, run the 1110 (Global configuration) distribution schedule job.