Inventory fulfiller-managed updated event

Understand the inventory fulfiller-managed update event.

The inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated event plays a pivotal role in the seamless inventory management for merchants using third-party fulfillment services. It is designed to ensure real-time updates and accuracy of inventory levels, thereby maintaining the integrity of stock information across various sales platforms. This immediate synchronization aids in keeping product availability current, enhancing inventory accuracy and streamlining the order fulfillment process.

See Getting started with webhooks in Commerce API for instructions on configuring the webhook events and Inventory source and management for comparing inventory self-manged updated and inventory fulfiller-managed updated events.

The inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated event monitors and tracks updates made by third-party fulfillers on inventory levels. This event is essential for merchants leveraging external fulfillment services for inventory management. It plays a key role in:

  • Keeping product availability up-to-date: Ensures inventory levels across all sales channels are immediately updated following changes by the fulfiller.

  • Enhancing inventory accuracy: Maintains precise inventory records by reflecting current stock information.

  • Streamlining order fulfillment: Assists in the smooth operation of the order fulfillment process by minimizing discrepancies in inventory data.

This event allows merchants to maintain operational efficiency, ensuring that inventory data is consistent and optimizes the sales experience.

Integrating the inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated event into an eCommerce system is crucial for maintaining real-time synchronicity between physical inventory, the eCommerce platform, and sales channels. Here's a concise overview:

Integration with sales channels

  • Real-time inventory updates: When a fulfiller manages an inventory update, it triggers the inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated event, immediately reflecting changes across all connected sales channels. This prevents overselling and ensures that the available stock is accurately represented online.

  • Enhanced customer experience: Keeping inventory levels accurate allows customers to see real-time availability, reducing the chances of ordering out-of-stock products. This transparency builds trust and enhances the buying experience.

Integration with fulfillment processes

  • Streamlined order fulfillment: With accurate inventory levels, the eCommerce system can efficiently allocate orders to the fulfillment queue, ensuring that products are in stock and ready for shipment. This minimizes delays and accelerates the fulfillment process.

  • Inventory reconciliation: The event provides a foundation for automated inventory reconciliation processes, enabling the system to identify discrepancies between reported and actual inventory levels, thus facilitating timely adjustments.

Technical integration example

For a practical integration example, consider a webhook set up within the eCommerce system that listens for the inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated event. Upon receiving this event, the system can:

  1. Update the inventory count across all listings on various sales channels.

  2. Notify the sales and fulfillment teams of inventory changes, prompting necessary actions like adjusting marketing strategies or preparing for increased order volumes.

  3. Automatically adjust order routing rules based on stock availability and fulfillment center locations, optimizing delivery times.

Integrating the inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated event into the broader eCommerce ecosystem enables businesses to synchronize their physical and digital operations, enhancing efficiency, customer satisfaction, and operational transparency.

Key attributes

When integrating the inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated event into your eCommerce platform, it's essential to understand the key attributes of the event payload. These attributes provide detailed information about the inventory change, enabling more accurate and efficient processing. Below is an overview of these attributes and their significance in managing inventory updates:

  • id: A unique identifier for the event instance allows easy tracking and reference.

  • type: Specifies the type of event, in this case, inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated, to differentiate from other inventory or system events.

  • data: Encapsulates the event-specific data, including:

    • object: Contains details about the item, such as:

      • quantity: Indicates the current inventory level. A 0 indicates an out-of-stock event.

      • timestamp: The exact time when the inventory change was recorded.

      • products: Contains an array of products affected by the inventory update. Each product has:

        • externalReferenceId: A unique external reference identifier for the product (null if not provided).

        • productId: The unique identifier of the product.

    • eventType: Identifies the specific action that triggered the inventory update event. This attribute is crucial for understanding the nature of the event, such as inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated, indicating that the inventory managed by the fulfiller has been updated. This helps in filtering and responding to various types of inventory-related events effectively.

    • partNumber: The part number related to the inventory item.

    • fulfiller: The name of the third-party fulfiller managing the inventory (DR globalTech).

    • allowBackOrder: Indicates whether backorders are allowed for the out-of-stock product (false).

    • inventoryManagement: Specifies the inventory management type, which is Fulfiller Managed.

  • previousAttributes: Contains critical product information regarding the state of inventory before the update. This is especially important for tracking and understanding the changes in inventory levels. This can include:

    • quantity: Reflects the inventory level before the update. This attribute allows systems and stakeholders to measure the change in inventory, enabling more informed decisions regarding sales strategies, fulfillment operations, and inventory management.

    Understanding the previousAttributes is essential for analyzing inventory trends over time and can be a pivotal factor in making data-driven decisions within the eCommerce ecosystem.

  • liveMode: Indicates if the event was triggered in a live operational environment or a test mode (false).

  • createdTime: Records the timestamp of when the webhook event was generated, providing a chronology.


{
    "id": "cda6bf91-96e6-463b-959b-8e82dd81addd",
    "type": "inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated",
    "data": {
        "object": {
            "quantity": 1,
            "timestamp": "2024-01-30T08:49:44.331Z",
            "products": [
                {
                    "externalReferenceId": null,
                    "productId": "15116720197"
                }
            ],
            "eventType": "inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated",
            "partNumber": "CCC",
            "fulfiller": "DR globalTech",
            "allowBackOrder": false,
            "inventoryManagement": "Fulfiller Managed"
        },
        "previousAttributes": {
            "quantity": 0
        }
    },
    "liveMode": false,
    "createdTime": "2024-01-30T14:49:45.55875Z"
}

See the Creating a webhook section for instructions on creating the webhook.

inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated use case

If you use Global Commerce's fulfiller-managed inventory, inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated is triggered when you update inventory from 2 to 50. The following image displays the payload for this webhook event.

Manually set inventory to 0 use case

There are several reasons why you might want to set the inventory to 0 manually:

  1. Out of stock: If the item is temporarily or permanently unavailable, setting the inventory to 0 prevents customers from ordering it.

  2. Seasonal or discontinued products: For seasonal items not currently available or products that have been discontinued.

  3. Inventory reset: When doing an inventory count or audit, it might be simpler to reset the count to 0 and build it back up as you verify stock.

  4. Error correction: If there was a mistake in the inventory count, setting it to 0 can be a step in correcting the inventory level.

  5. Platform synchronization: To synchronize inventory across various sales channels, ensuring they reflect the same availability.

If you want to set the inventory to 0, use Global Commerce's self-managed inventory, inventory.self_managed_updated, or fulfiller-managed inventory, inventory.fulfiller_managed_updated.

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