B2B ecommerce
What stock availability should a wholesale ecommerce site show?
By Julián Medina · Director of SourcingUp and creator of CommerceUp
Show stock availability that your operation can support. Physical stock, reserved stock and stock available to sell may differ. The portal needs a shared definition and a rule for handling changes during checkout.
Distinguish stock on hand from what you can promise
Stock in a warehouse may already be reserved or not ready to ship. Before displaying quantities, define what each value means and whether rules differ by warehouse or delivery area. An availability indicator may be more useful than a seemingly exact number that ignores reservations.
Check what happens at order confirmation
While one customer fills a cart, another sales channel may sell the same stock. Test what happens at confirmation and which alternatives the business offers: a lower quantity, a pending order or restocking information when available. The response must match your trading rules and what you can actually deliver.
Make the exception visible to the team
If stock is unavailable after an order has been accepted, assign an owner and a status the team can track. Cancellations and stock-related adjustments can reveal problems with synchronization or the definition of availability. Evaluate the technical integration alongside the business rules.
Put it into practice
- Define sellable stock and reservations.
- Agree on availability rules for each warehouse.
- Test changes between adding to cart and confirming.
- Record order adjustments caused by stock shortages.
The thinking behind this guide
A guide by Julián Medina. The scenarios are illustrative, not measured customer outcomes. Explore CommerceUp.