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Your Shift4Shop store can keep track of product inventory and update itself when items are ordered. This can help you avoid overselling an item that is out of stock and help you determine when to replenish your stocks. Shift4Shop does this through the use of a function called "Inventory Control."
Inventory Control
To enable Inventory Control please follow these steps.
- Go to Settings >General >Store Settings
- Next, click on the "General" tab found along the top of the page.
- In the Inventory Control section (along the right hand side) check the box labeled "Enable Inventory Control."
- Select your product stock display option (see below)
Below the Enable Inventory Control checkbox you will see four radio buttons. These are display settings to determine how the store will treat and display a product when it runs out of stock.
- Hide Item
simply hides the product altogether when it is out of stock and will not allow it to be purchased.
- Show as "Out of Stock"
This option will show the option as out of stock, and will not allow the item to be ordered at all.
- Allow Back Order
This will display the item as being on back order as well as allow the product to be purchased. The idea behind this is that you will fulfill the order when the item arrives back in stock
- Use Waiting List
This will allow your customer to be placed on a waiting list for a product when it is out stock. The Waiting List function will allow them to input an email address to notify them of when the product stock is replenished so that it can be purchased.
- After making your selection, click on the Save button at the top right of the Settings Page.
Setting your Product's Inventory Level
After enabling inventory control, you will now be able to specify your individual products will contain a section for your inventory option.
To set product inventory levels:
- Go to Products >Product List
- Search for and locate the product that you'd like to edit.
- To select the product, click on either the product's ID or Name or look to the far right of the product listing and click on its "Action/Edit" button.
- In the product's main "Information" tab, scroll down to the section labeled "Inventory Options" and specify your stock levels.
Under Inventory Options you will have the following fields
- Inventory Control
This drop down menu will allow you to set the product's display when the product is out of stock. This is similar to the setting within the "Store Settings" section, however it allows you to set the display option at the product level whereas the "Store Settings" display options (mentioned above) are global to all products in your store. By choosing "Default" in this drop-down, you are making the product follow the global setting configured in the Store Settings.
- Stock
This is the actual number of inventory you have for the specific product
- New Stock
Here you can configure your store's current stock on the product. You can either enter the whole number, or enter values in increments. For example, if your current stock is 50, and you have a new shipment of 17 units that came in, you can either enter 67 as the new value, or +17 to have the store update the current value accordingly.
- Stock Alert
When the item's stock falls below whatever number you place in this field, Inventory Control will alert you via email. This is useful in order to know if you need to replenish stock on an item. The email address specified in your Store Settings section will be used for these notifications. To have the store notify you when you run out of stock completely, enter a 1 so that the store notifies you the moment it reaches 0. (Entering a 0 in this field will disable the function altogether)
Note
Please keep in mind that the New Stock and Stock Alert fields only supports numeric characters and can take a maximum of nine digits. By entering a number that is longer than this value, it will return an alert informing you of this.
These next fields will allow you to place a custom stock message on the individual item when Inventory Control is enabled.
- In Stock Message
- Out of Stock Message
- Back Order Message
Tip:
The above "Stock message" fields will apply only to the individual product. If you would like to customize stock messages globally on the whole store, you may do this in the Store Language section found in Settings >Design >Store Language (search for "Availability" to find the options easier )
Inventory Control and Advanced Options
In some cases, you may have a product that is available with several options and you need to keep control over inventory of specific options. For example, if you sell shirts and they are available in different colors, you may need to keep track of inventory on specific colors. This can also be accomplished using Advanced Options and Inventory Control.
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