Backorder Release

When inventory is not currently available but you know that more will be delivered to fulfillment locations at some point, backordering allows those items to be still be ordered. Shipments with backordered items will be placed on hold, then "released" for fulfillment when all of their items can be allocated with current inventory, future inventory, or both. 

How Backorder Works

The product settings (shown below) allow you to configure whether that product can be backordered. If so, it can still be ordered from your storefront when out of stock. Order Routing will evaluate the partial and no match after-actions and suggest placing the items into a shipment with the Backorder status if appropriate. These shipments will not be allocated immediately, but will wait to be released until inventory is available.

Release with Current Inventory Only

The system follows the below steps when releasing backorders based on current inventory levels:

1. The system checks current inventory levels. 
   • For STH, Order Routing will look for assignment suggestions across locations.
   • For BOPIS, inventory will only be checked for the pickup location.
2. If all items in the shipment can be assigned, the shipment is released. This generally means that the shipment moves into the Ready status. However, it may get split by quantity, line item, and/or locations depending on availability and Order Routing suggestions.
3. If not all items can be assigned, the shipment will remain in backorder.

Release with Future Inventory Only

When future inventory is enabled, the system can release backorders if the following rules are met: 

1. Future inventory must be enabled in your site settings and product settings for that specific product.
2. The incoming inventory can be allocated within the Future Date Limit that you configured.
3. If all items in the shipment can be assigned, the shipment is released. This means that a new child shipment is created with the Future status, while the original parent shipment is moved from the Backordered status to Reassigned.
4. If not all items can be assigned, the shipment will remain in backorder.

Release with Current and Future Inventory

Backorder release also supports a combination of current and future inventory, though current inventory is always prioritized. If the system finds that some items can be assigned with current inventory and the remainder can be assigned with future inventory, then the shipment will be released as long as it satisfies the above rules.

In this case, at least two child shipments are created with the Ready and Future statuses (containing the current and future inventory, respectively) while the original parent shipment is moved from the Backordered status to Reassigned.

Examples

The following examples describe how backorder release would work with different current and future inventory cases.

Current Inventory Examples

If a shipment has five KTP and five KTP2 items in backorder, then the following scenarios may happen after inventory refreshes.

• Order Routing suggests assignment of five KTP at Location A and five KTP2 at Location B. Since all items can be assigned, the shipment is released from backorder.
• Order Routing suggests assignment of five KTP at Location A but the KTP2 items are not available anywhere. Since not all items can be assigned, the shipment will remain in backorder.

Future Inventory Examples

If a shipment has five KTP and five KTP2 items in backorder, then the following scenarios may happen after inventory refreshes.

• Two KTP will be available at Location A on the future date of 5/01 and another three KTP will be available at the same location on 5/10. Five KTP2 will be available on 5/15 at Location B. Since all items can be assigned for a future date, the shipment is released from backorder.
• Five KTP will be available at Location A on any future date(s) but the KTP2 items do not have an expected date. Since not all items can be assigned yet, the shipment will remain in backorder.

Future and Current Inventory Examples

If a shipment has five KTP, five KTP2, and five KTP3 items in backorder, then the following scenarios may happen after inventory refreshes.

• Five KTP will be available at Location A on any future date(s) while five KTP3 will be available at Location B on any future date(s). Five KTP2 are now available at Location B. Since all items can be assigned with current and future inventory, the shipment is released from backorder.
• Five KTP will be available at Location A on any future date(s) while five KTP2 are now available at Location B. However, five KTP3 do not have an expected date. Since not all items can be assigned with current or future inventory, the shipment will remain in backorder.