Before You Start Developing with the Inventory System
For the latest version of Commerce Server 2007 Help, see the Microsoft Web site.
This topic introduces broad concepts about the Commerce Server Inventory System and provides a context for the detailed information in other topics within this section.
The Inventory System provides management of the inventory of items in your catalogs. It lets you update the inventory for all items and monitors depletion. It allows you to import and export inventory from and to external systems.
You create an inventory catalog and populate it with inventory information for all products from your product catalogs. The Inventory System uses the same properties as the Catalog System. When a product catalog is contained in an inventory catalog, it is said to be mapped to the inventory catalog. Each inventory catalog can contain multiple product catalogs, but each product catalog can map to only one inventory catalog.
An item in your inventory catalog is referred to as a stock-keeping unit (SKU). When you create a SKU, you provide information about the properties of the SKU. The Inventory System uses these properties to manage and monitor the inventory levels of each SKU. The Inventory System computes and monitors several properties and settings, including the OnHand Quantity, In Stock, Stock-Out Threshold, and Preordered Quantity.
You can retrieve inventory information by using the catalog and inventory methods and properties. Any method that returns information about products or variants includes inventory information.
By using the Inventory System you can do the following:
Program your site to display the inventory condition of your products, such as in-stock, back-ordered, or preorderable.
Use the inventory integration with the catalog objects to filter product listings by only products that are in stock.
Decrement inventory levels with order transactions.
Handle inventory exceptions during the checkout process.
Synchronize inventory levels with a line-of-business (LOB) system.
Why Use the Commerce Server Inventory System?
By using the Inventory System, you can obtain several important benefits without implementing custom code. The Inventory System provides the following benefits:
Inventory control functions. The Inventory System provides inventory information for products, including current quantities on hand, an out-of-stock threshold, and whether the item can be back-ordered and to what quantity.
Integration with the Orders System. The Inventory System provides pipeline components to check and update inventory during purchases.
Integration with the Catalog System. The Inventory System provides the same features and functionality as the Catalog System. For example, you can search inventory catalogs, import inventory catalogs, and export inventory catalogs.