Once an inventory item is loaded into ChannelAdvisor, the system controls the allocation of quantity out to the various channels, as well as keeps track of where items are in their lifecycle.

The various inventory update types are designed for specific seller workflows which allow you flexibility in how you update your inventory quantities.  Inventory update types are not used the first time an item is loaded into the system.  It is strictly used for updates only.

Prerequisites

You should be familiar with the following topics before continuing:

• Learn about using ChannelAdvisor as your inventory management system

Overview

This page contains the following sections:

• Important Terms
• Definitions of the Inventory Update Types
• Which type do I use?
• What do the different types do?

Important Terms

Before defining the inventory update types, it is useful to understand the various states that inventory passes through in ChannelAdvisor.

• Available Total: When a new item is created in ChannelAdvisor, all quantity is placed in this "available to promise" status.  Items that are listed on ChannelAdvisor Stores, Comparison Shopping Engines, and Search Engines stay in the available status until moving to the Pending Shipment state after being purchased. Items that are listed on Marketplaces next move to the Open status after being promised to a marketplace. Quantity Available Total includes both seller managed and Fulfillment by Amazon quantities.

• Open: Promised to an online marketplace.  Once an item is open, it has been removed from available quantity. Once an item is purchased on a marketplace, it is removed from Open and either moves to Pending Checkout, Pending Payment, or Pending Shipment, depending on the type of marketplace it is. Items not using ChannelAdvisor checkout will go directly to Pending Shipment. Otherwise an item will go to Pending Checkout.

• Pending Checkout: A buyer on eBay has purchased an item, but has not yet completed ChannelAdvisor checkout.  Once checkout is complete, if the payment clears at the same time, the item is moved to Pending Shipment.  If the payment is still pending (example: money order, check, e-check), then the item is moved to Pending Payment Cleared.

• Pending Payment Cleared: A buyer on eBay has completed checkout and submitted their payment, however payment has not yet cleared.  Once payment clears, the item is moved to Pending Shipment.

• Pending Shipment: A buyer has paid for an item, but you have not yet notified ChannelAdvisor that you have shipped the item.  Once an item is marked as shipped, it is no longer tracked by ChannelAdvisor.

• Total: Available Total + Open + Pending Checkout + Pending Payment Cleared + Pending Shipment = Total Inventory managed by ChannelAdvisor.

Definitions of the Inventory Update Types

This section describes what happens to the 'Available' inventory quantity when using the various update types in an upload. Uploaded Inventory Quantity is the value of the Quantity field entered into the product file that is used in conjunction with the Inventory Update type.

Please Note: UNSHIPPED is the recommended update type. It can be said that uploading quantity with an update type of UNSHIPPED is similar to sending ChannelAdvisor the current stock status. The values submitted are NOT case sensitive. You can submit the value in ALL CAPS, or in lower case, and the value will be processed.

What do the different types do?

To demonstrate what the different inventory update types do, a few examples are able to illustrate the concepts.  The purpose of these examples is to demonstrate the effect of an inventory update spreadsheet on the value of Available inventory.

In this example, the total quantity of inventory for this SKU being managed by ChannelAdvisor is 6.

SKU XX-ABC currently has an available quantity of 2, which has not been reserved for any channel.  Defined as "Available" above.
SKU XX-ABC has quantity of 3 reserved to eBay and Amazon.  Defined as "Open" above.
SKU XX-ABC has a quantity of 1 which has sold on eBay, but has not yet shipped out.  Defined as "Unshipped" above.

What now?

The seller now wants to tell the system that there are really 7 items in their warehouse, since 1 item arrived yesterday from their supplier that ChannelAdvisor is not yet aware of. In this case, the seller should send the following values in their inventory update spreadsheet:

• Quantity Update Type: UNSHIPPED
• Quantity Value Uploaded: 7

Total quantity will become 7, and Available quantity will become 3 as a result of this update.

Note:  If the seller had used IN STOCK as an update type, available quantity would have become 4 because "Unshipped" quantity would not have been subtracted.

Similar to above, the seller now wants to tell the system that there is 1 additional item in their warehouse, but does not want to count the items in their warehouse.
In this case, the seller should send the following values in their inventory update spreadsheet:

• Quantity Update Type: RELATIVE
• Quantity Value Uploaded: 1

Available quantity will become 3 as a result of this update.

Which type do I use?

Do you update ChannelAdvisor with shipping information as you ship items from your warehouse?

If yes, prefer the UNSHIPPED update type.
If no, prefer the IN STOCK update type.

ChannelAdvisor recommends the vast majority of merchants use the UNSHIPPED update type all the time, because it allows you to count the items not yet shipped out from your warehouse, and then update ChannelAdvisor with that value.

Would you just like to add or subtract a certain # from whatever is present in ChannelAdvisor inventory?

If so, use the RELATIVE update type.

ChannelAdvisor recommends using the RELATIVE update type only if your situation that meets these criteria:

1. You are not able to make a count of items in your warehouse at this time, and
2. You are reasonably sure that the value of inventory in ChannelAdvisor is currently accurate, and
3. You just received a certain # of items, and want to add that # to the current value of ChannelAdvisor inventory, or
4. You just sold a certain # of items outside of ChannelAdvisor, and want to subtract that # from the current Value of ChannelAdvisor inventory.

If these criteria are not met, then prefer one of the update types mentioned above.