Glossary of Inventory Terms

This reference defines common inventory terms.

General Inventory Terms

Allocated - Count of how many units you have in stock and owe to customers for open orders.

Available - The number of available stock for any given SKU that is pushed to any connected sales channel. This is On Hand plus any additional Sell Ahead minus any allocations to open orders. In other words, On Hand + Sell Ahead - Allocations = Available.

Note: Available is the count indicated in your sales channels. Sell Ahead can be set on a Purchase Order and is frequently used for running pre-orders.

Backorder -This is the count of how many units are Allocated to orders to open orders that DO NOT have On Hand in inventory.

Name - Typically used as a readable reference for each product.

On Hand - The total count of an sellable SKU physically in the warehouse.

SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) - This is a unique identification code given to each product in your inventory. ShipHero will generate an SKU if none exists based on the product ID found in the sales channel that it exists within.

Location Terms

Bin - Defined location for organizing SKUs in the warehouse.

Overstock Bin - Static Slotting only. Stock used to restock the primary location. The quantity in overstock is included towards your On Hand amount.

Pickable Bin - Dynamic Slotting only. This is the bin that pickers will be sent to when picking orders via the mobile app. A picker will NOT be sent to a "non-pickable" bin. All items must be in a pickable bin for the order to be ready to pick.

Note: SKU in a pickable or non-pickable bin (that is to say, sellable) will count towards the On Hand amount.

Replenishment Level - Dynamic Slotting only. Used specifically for replenishment reports. SKUs will appear on the replenishment report if inventory is allocated and not enough in pickable bins, or if the pickable bin inventory is less than the replenishment level.

Sellable Bin - Dynamic Slotting only. Inventory in a sellable bin is part of the On Hand quantity and will be pushed to the store. Inventory in a non-sellable bin will not be included in the On Hand quantity. Non-sellable bins are useful for returns and other items needing a QA before being sold.

Kit Terms

Kit - An SKU that can contain a collection of other SKUs, referenced as components.

Build Kit - A kit that CAN be broken apart. For example, you can send each component in a different box. These types of kits can be partially shipped if one component is out of stock.

Note: The mobile app will show all components to be picked and packed.

Regular Kit - A kit that CANNOT be broken apart. All components must be shipped together.

Note: The mobile app will show all components to be picked, but only the kit SKU when packing.

Purchase Order Terms

On Order -The total count of an SKU that has been ordered from a vendor (also referred to as a supplier).

Reorder Amount - The number that should be reordered when an SKU reaches the Reorder Level.

Reorder Level - The Available value that an SKU must reach to trigger a Reorder. (See Reorder Amount). Setting this to 0 will prevent an SKU from automatically being added to a purchase order.

Reserve - Count of an SKU that is not to be sold in your sales channel. For example, if you’re running a flash sale and want to hold some stock for returns or exchanges, you would enter your full inventory of 100 units as the On Hand and a Reserve of 5 units. We would then tell the platform that you have 95 available for sale (On Hand minus Reserve). The Available count will remain 100.

Sell Ahead - Count of an SKU that is coming in on a Purchase Order that you want to sell on your platform but have not yet received. For example, say that you have 10 On Hand, 0 Allocated, and a Purchase Order coming in tomorrow with 100 units. You might set a Sell Ahead of 50 of those units and ShipHero will notify the sales channel that there are 60 for sale (Available plus Sell Ahead). If you have existing backorders for the product, those units are discounted from the amount pushed to the store.