The Inventory History feature offers a robust solution for tracking and managing changes to your product inventory. This tool is designed to provide comprehensive visibility into all modifications, whether they originate from supplier updates or internal user actions. By leveraging this feature, you can swiftly identify and address discrepancies in stock levels, ensuring that your product availability remains accurate and that stock-related issues do not hinder your sales or negatively impact customer satisfaction. This capability is invaluable for merchandising teams, customer support, and internal operations, fostering a synchronized and efficient workflow across your organization.
User Scenarios
Merchandiser / Primary User: As a merchandiser, you can utilize the Inventory History to verify and analyze recent inventory adjustments. This ensures that stock levels are maintained accurately, optimizing product availability and preventing potential stock-related issues that could disrupt sales and diminish customer satisfaction.
Customer Support: When assisting customers with order inquiries or issues, Customer Support can swiftly trace back inventory changes. This allows for the prompt resolution of problems related to stock discrepancies, enhancing the overall customer experience by providing timely and effective solutions.
FLX Support: FLX Support teams benefit from the ability to diagnose inventory-related problems efficiently. By identifying whether discrepancies stem from supplier data errors, system delays, or user mistakes, support can be provided swiftly without the need to involve developers or switch platforms, ensuring minimal downtime and maintaining operational continuity.
How to View History
Accessing the Inventory History involves a straightforward process:
Access Inventory: Begin by navigating to the Products and then Inventory Variants section in from the main menu. This section serves as the central location for managing all inventory items.
Open Inventory Item: Select the specific Inventory Item you wish to review. This action will display the detailed information related to the selected item.
Select Variant: If the inventory item has multiple variants, locate the variant you want to inspect. Click the ellipse button (⋯) next to the desired variant to access additional options.
View History: From the dropdown menu, choose View History. This will open a combined log of parent and variant changes within a single panel, displaying fields such as “Parent Title” and “Variant Title.” This unified view ensures that all relevant changes are visible in one place, simplifying the review process.
What You’ll See
Upon accessing the Inventory History panel, you will be presented with detailed information about each change:
Field: This column specifies the exact data attribute that was altered, such as Title, Quantity, Cost, or Brand. Understanding which field was changed helps in pinpointing the nature of the adjustment.
Value: For numerical changes, you will notice a transition arrow that indicates the change (e.g., 4 → 3). For textual modifications, the new value is displayed directly, allowing you to quickly grasp the update made.
Operation: This indicates the type of action performed, such as Get Inventory or Get Pricing & Quantity, providing context about how the change was initiated.
Date & Time: The precise timestamp of when the change occurred is recorded here, enabling you to track the chronology of inventory updates.
Display Rules (Last 15 Days + Most Recent Quantity)
The Inventory History adheres to specific display rules to ensure relevance and manageability:
Time Frame: Only inventory changes from the past 15 days are displayed. This ensures that the history remains concise and focused on recent activities.
Exception: The most recent quantity update is always included in the history, even if it falls outside the 15-day window. This exception ensures that critical quantity changes are never overlooked, regardless of when they occurred.
Note: While the Inventory History will always display the latest quantity update, any other updates older than 15 days will be excluded from the history log, maintaining a balance between comprehensiveness and clarity.
“No Recent Changes” Message
In instances where there have been no changes to the item's fields within the last 15 days (excluding the most recent quantity update, if applicable), the system will display the following message:
No recent changes were found for this item.
This message informs you that there have been no relevant updates, ensuring you are aware of the current state of the inventory item without unnecessary information.
Key Features
The Inventory History is equipped with advanced features that provide deeper insights and greater control:
Detailed Change Logs: Track a comprehensive range of inventory changes, including API integrations and committed stock updates. This thorough logging ensures that all modifications are accounted for, providing a complete audit trail.
Enhanced Filtering: Utilize advanced filtering options to sort changes by date, operation type, or specific fields. This capability allows for more precise tracking and easier navigation through extensive history logs.
Combined or Separate Views: Depending on your preference, you can view parent and variant changes either in a combined log or maintain separate histories. This flexibility caters to different user needs and organizational structures.
Extended History: Access a longer history of changes beyond the Standard version’s 15-day limit, if applicable. This extended access is beneficial for in-depth analysis and long-term inventory management.