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This feature is supported for RTP|One Inventory Pools and Siriusware Max4Sale |
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This feature is NOT supported for Sirusware Points4Sale, Siriusware locations |
Key Terms
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Inventory FunctionRTP|ONE Inventory pool slots and Siriusware Max4Sale slots are synced to Aspenware Commerce inventory tables by an Azure function. The sync timer is configurable and is typically set to run to every 5 - 20 minutes. On this interval, the function obtains the latest inventory numbers from the POS and writes them to the Aspenware Commerce inventory table for each component code or DCI configured in Aspenware Commerce’s Inventory Pool administration. (Note: when newly added setup is input into Aspenware Commerce, the sync takes up to one hour to fully sync and initially appear on the PDP). Inventory LockingInventory Locking is a mechanism that prevents another guest from “stealing” inventory if they are faster at checking out. It also eliminates the possibility that inventory can oversell if the order processor is delayed. When a customer adds a product to the cart, they “lock” in their inventory and are guaranteed their spot for as long as the lock timer allows. (The duration of the lock timer is configurable.) When a guest completes their order, the system checks inventory levels again and attempts to get an order lock upon order complete. If the product in their cart is still available after the cart lock time expires, they will obtain an order lock and be able to check out. If the product in their cart sells out and is no longer available, they will be prevented from buying that product. The order lock holds the inventory until the inventory is decremented in the POS and the inventory sync runs again, at which point the order lock is released. Inventory Pools (RTP|One only)This is RTP|One’s One’s term for their inventory control mechanism. In RTP|One inventory is pooled, meaning multiple product headers can pull from a common inventory pool and all decrement the same inventory, so if the inventory pool is sold out for a date, it will be sold out for all products using that inventory pool. Max4Sale (Siriusware only)This is one of two inventory control mechanisms in Siriusware, the other being Points4Sale which Aspenware does not yet support. In Siriusware, Max4Sale inventory is configured at the Department level, or the Department + Category level, or the Department + Category + Item (DCI) level, meaning multiple DCIs cannot pull from a common inventory grouping and all decrement the same inventory unless these items are also in the same Category and Department. If Max4Sale is configured at the DCI level, each DCI has its own Max4Sale allotment, and when it's sold out for a date, only that single DCI will be sold out. |
Feature
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Detail: Enforce POS Inventory Limits
Aspenware products can sync with POS inventory. Inventory numbers in the POS will be checked at a configurable interval, blocking dates in the shop that are no longer available, or warning of low inventory if low-inventory thresholds are configured by the resort. When a guest selects inventory-controlled products and adds them to the cart, Aspenware Commerce locks the slot(s) of inventory on those products for a configurable period (default is 15 minutes), drawing from the most recently synced inventory. If a lock on a product expires before the guest checks out, the inventory is checked again. If the inventory is still available, the guest will be able to check out, but if the product is sold out, the guest will no longer be able to buy that product for that date.
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Inventory can be checked for single-day products on the day of the product and also checked for multi-day products that are consecutive or non-consecutive. On multi-day products, inventory can be checked for every day of the reservation and will not enable booking if any day of the product is sold out.
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First, redundant calls that could occur when multiple products point to a single RTP|One inventory pool and inventory location or Sirisuware Max4Sale pool are reduced to a single call.
Second, only dates from today’s date through the end of the season are called. If today’s date is outside of the season, only dates within the upcoming season are called.
Finally, for products that do not need their inventory to be synced at regular intervals and have high availability, there is an option to only sync inventory for these once daily, which limits the regular syncs to only get inventory for products that could reasonably sell out.
- Add ‘StoreId’ setting to function app
There is a ‘StoreId’ setting in the function app settings. This means if you have multiple stores, work with your Aspenware Representative to define which store’s season start and end dates the inventory function should use as parameters for dates that it gets inventory for. The current default is 0, which is “All Stores.”
For products that do not need their inventory to be synced at regular intervals and have high availability, there is an option to only sync inventory for these once daily, which limits the regular syncs to only get inventory for products that could reasonably sell out.
The function to Update Inventory Pool Codes (, which looks for changes to the configuration in Aspenware Commerce inventory pools) now , can be set to run on a different frequency from the overall Inventory Sync function.
The inventory sync function was re-written to use proper Azure Durable function architecture and function chaining to increase performance.
The inventory architecture is diagrammed below.
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By utilizing this feature, resorts have control of capacity across any of their products. In turn, this will promote increased control and allow resorts to plan proper staffing for upcoming arrivals. In the case of COVID-enforced limitations, resorts can ensure they are adhering to capacity limitations.
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Configuration Links
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On the PDP, If inventory is sold out the date will be displayed with a strikethrough and on mouse-hover a “sold out” message will show.
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If enabled, an inventory display threshold can set in Aspenware, the PDP will display available inventory once a date is selected and the available inventory is below that threshold.
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NOTE: Currently the product must also be dynamically priced in order to show inventory on the PDP. |
The large calendar view will display a crossed-out date with “Sold Out” when inventory is at 0. And if an inventory display threshold is set in Aspenware, inventory below that threshold value will display on the large calendar.
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When a guest attempts to add inventory to the cart and no inventory is available. A “toast message” pop-up will appear:
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Scenarios in which inventory could be oversold
There are a few scenarios, some of which may be found only in testing, in which inventory could be oversold.
Scenario 1: If the inventory is sold out, or a resort admin manually changes slots to 0 for a date or date range, and the inventory sync to Aspenware Commerce has not yet run, a guest could checkout on Aspenware Commerce with the remaining inventory slot (or slots) recorded from when the sync ran last. This scenario could result in overselling inventory in the POS system.
*Important: For resorts using RTP|Connect order processing, in this scenario, the order may fail in the order queue. In this case, inventory will not be oversold, but the failed order will need to be handled. For resorts using Unity order processing, the Aspenware order will process successfully, which will overbook inventory for the applicable slot or slots.
Scenario 2: This scenario is rare, but if two guests are competing for the same final inventory slot or slots, and they both complete checkout within a few seconds of each other, before the lock is released for guest 1 or guest 2, both orders may successfully process to the POS, thereby overbooking the inventory.
Scenario 3: This scenario was found in internal testing, and is also rare. If product A and product B both map to the same inventory pool in the POS, and a shopper adds the last slot for product A to the cart, waits for the lock to expire, and then adds product B to the cart (thereby taking that same last slot from inventory), that guest’s order for Product A and Product B will succeed, thereby overbooking inventory. A guest cannot successfully checkout with 2 slots for product A when only 1 remains, but a guest could overbook for that same slot if it’s configured on both product A and product B.
Scenarios where a guest could add to cart, but not be able to check out with an inventory product
Scenario 1: If a shopper books the last remaining slot in inventory when only 1 slot remains for an inventory group for the selected date, checks out, and returns to the shop to buy that product for the same date again before the order is processed and the lock expires, the shopper might see that date/slot as available and add it to cart, but be unable to check out with that product, if the lock has expired by the time he attempts to complete the order.
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Feature Detail: Inventory for Add-ons (Cloud UI)
Aspenware allows resorts to define inventory directly on add-on products, rather than on the core product with the add-on attribute value selected in Inventory Pools.
This improvement provides a clearer distinction between core product and add-on product availability, enhancing the guest experience by ensuring accurate product availability information. Previously, if an add-on product was configured with “inventory,” when an add-on product was unavailable but selected, it would incorrectly indicate that the core product was also unavailable. Now add-on availability is clearly separated, improving clarity for guests.
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Feature Detail: Creating Urgency for Inventoried Products
Research shows that creating a sense of urgency for inventoried products is a motivation for guests to purchase, and is proven to drive more revenue and boost conversions. Color coding low inventory dates offers the messaging that creates that sense of urgency.
One resort ran an A/B test on its lesson products for the 2023/24 season, splitting traffic 50/50, with 50% of the traffic seeing today’s calendar which only shows dates that are sold out, and 50% of traffic seeing a calendar that color-coded dates running low on inventory as yellow to drive urgency. In this test, the color-coded experience won with a 4.4% increase in lesson purchases compared to today, and $110k more in-test revenue.
Display the same low inventory color-coding that is available on the full dynamic pricing calendar across both the large dynamic pricing calendar and calendars displayed on the product detail page.
Offer low inventory color-coding that is available today across more product types, with the introduction of calendar templates that enables the assignment of specific thresholds to specific products.
If a selected date is below the threshold, display the number left on that date on the PDP. This feature can be used to educate guests booking multiple quantities of spots left, for example, a person booking for a party of 4 will now know there are only 2 spots left before adding to cart and can call to get help or choose an alternate date.
To create urgency for inventoried products by revealing the number left and color-coding dates that are running low on inventory, consider defining a calendar template. For more information see: Overview: Calendar Templates. To configure Calendar templates go to Configuration: Calendar Templates.