Inventory availability in Drop Control

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Inventory availability decides how much of each product can be sold on a drop. You set a default for the whole drop and override it for individual products, colors or SKUs that need to behave differently.

Setting the drop default

  1. Open the drop in Drop Control.
  2. In the Inventory availability card on the right, select a mode.
  3. Click Save now.

Hover over the help icon next to a mode for a short explanation.

Mode What can be sold When to use it
Stock + Sell ahead PO Stock on hand, plus incoming pieces from production orders that sell ahead into this drop. Ongoing sales, where both warehouse stock and incoming supply should be available.
Only sell ahead PO Only incoming pieces from production orders that sell ahead into this drop. When current warehouse stock should not be offered on this drop, for example because it is kept for another drop.
Unlimited until PO, then only sell ahead PO Any quantity until a production order is placed. After that, only what the production order sells ahead. Open-ended pre-orders that should be capped once production is planned.
Unlimited until PO, then stock + sell ahead PO Any quantity until a production order is placed. After that, stock on hand plus what the production order sells ahead. Pre-orders where leftover warehouse stock should stay available after production is planned.
Unlimited Any quantity, regardless of stock. Made-to-order products, or when inventory should never block a sale.

Only production orders with sell ahead turned on for this drop add sellable pieces. In the Products table, the PO column shows a sell-ahead badge on those production orders.

How the "Unlimited until PO" modes switch

The switch happens per SKU. It happens when a production order for the drop is put into production and includes the SKU's product. Draft production orders do not switch anything.

From then on, each SKU follows the buying decision on that production order:

  • Ordered: the SKU is capped at what the production order sells ahead (plus stock in the "+ stock" mode).
  • Not buying: the SKU is capped too. Nothing was ordered, so it can only be sold from stock in the "+ stock" mode.
  • Buy later: the SKU stays unlimited until the next production order decides it.

See MOQ and buying decisions in Drop Control – what Sellable, Available and from stock

Overriding per product, color or SKU

Every row in the Products table has an Inventory availability dropdown. Use it when some products on the drop must be sold differently from the rest.

  1. Find the product in the Products table. Expand it to reach a color or SKU if needed.
  2. In the Inventory availability column, select a mode.
  3. Click Save now.

Rows without their own setting show Inherited above the mode they use. To remove an override, select Drop default. The mode in brackets is the one the row will fall back to.

The most specific setting wins:

  1. A SKU's own setting.
  2. Otherwise, its color's setting.
  3. Otherwise, its product's setting.
  4. Otherwise, the drop default.

Until you save, the Sellable column shows a warning icon on the affected product. The numbers are recalculated when you save.

When to override

Situation Drop default Override
A pre-order drop that also carries in-stock carry-over styles Unlimited until PO, then only sell ahead PO The carry-over products: Stock + Sell ahead PO
An in-stock drop with one made-to-order product Stock + Sell ahead PO That product: Unlimited
A color that will not be produced again and should sell out Any unlimited mode That color: Stock + Sell ahead PO
One size that is limited by the supplier Any That SKU: Only sell ahead PO

If most of the drop needs the same mode, change the drop default rather than overriding many rows.

Changing many colors at once

  1. Tick the checkboxes on the product or color rows you want to change.
  2. Click Bulk actions.
  3. Click Change inventory availability.
  4. Select the mode and click Apply to [number] colors.
  5. Click Save now.

Important: Bulk changes are saved on each SKU of the selected colors. SKU settings win over product settings. A later change on the product row therefore does not affect those SKUs. To undo a bulk change, set the SKUs back to Drop default.

Display settings

The bottom of the Inventory availability card controls what buyers see:

  • Show available stock quantity: only shown for Unlimited. Buyers still see the stock quantity, even though they can order more.
  • Show sell-ahead as stock within [number] days: incoming sell-ahead pieces expected within this number of days are shown as stock.

Inventory allocation

Allocation decides whether orders on the drop get pieces allocated to them. Allocated pieces are shown in the From stock column.

  1. In the Inventory allocation card, enable Enable allocation.
  2. Under Allocation mode, select a mode.
  3. Click Save now.
Allocation mode What it does When to use it
Brand default Uses the allocation mode from your inventory settings. The label shows which one. To follow future changes to the brand default.
Just in time Allocates to the latest available supply within the delivery window. To keep current stock for orders that need it sooner.
Ship as soon as possible Prefers stock once the delivery window opens. When shipping early matters more than keeping stock.

If allocation is off, the From stock column header shows a warning icon, and the column shows a dash.

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