Overview and Core Features
The Inventory Service is a multi-tenant, multi-location inventory management capability for the Equinox commerce platform. It tracks stock across warehouses, stores, dark stores and vendor locations; manages lots/batches with expiry; holds inventory via reservations; records an immutable transaction audit trail; moves stock between locations via transfers; answers real-time availability questions with multi-location fulfillment planning; and drives automated replenishment.
Every business record is scoped to an instance (a tenant). Each request must carry an instanceId so data never leaks across tenants.
Business Value
| Capability | Business value |
|---|---|
| Real-time multi-location stock (5 quantity buckets) | Accurate availability for omnichannel selling; prevents overselling |
| Reservations with FEFO allocation + TTL | Holds stock during checkout; auto-releases abandoned holds |
| Cart reservations with location consolidation | Fewer shipments per order, lower fulfillment cost |
| Availability checks + fulfillment planning | Optimal sourcing across locations by proximity/priority |
| Lot tracking with FEFO / expiry / recall | Perishable and regulated goods compliance and traceability |
| Transfers with ship/receive/cancel workflow | Balance stock across the network |
| Automated replenishment (MIN_MAX / REORDER_POINT / PERIODIC_REVIEW) | Prevents stockouts without manual monitoring |
| Immutable transaction ledger | Auditability and financial reconciliation |
| Channel policies (priority, allocation strategy, capacity) | Per-channel sourcing control (WEB/STORE/BOPIS/SFS, etc.) |
| Per-instance validation extensions | Tenants can customize validation rules without code changes |
Who Uses It
| Consumer | How they use it |
|---|---|
| Order Management Service (OMS) | Reserves/confirms/releases inventory (via event bus and/or REST) |
| Cart / Checkout | Cart reservations, availability checks |
| Storefront / PDP | SKU availability snapshots |
| Warehouse / store ops | Positions, adjustments, transfers, lot lifecycle |
| Merchandising / admin | SKUs, locations, channel policies, replenishment policies |
| Platform automation | Replenishment schedule; bulk import/export pipelines |
Related Resources
- Source repository and platform catalog entry for the Inventory Service
- Managed infrastructure: a MySQL database and an optional Redis cache
- Published technical documentation site (TechDocs)
Core Features
| # | Feature | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Multi-tenancy (Instances) | Every entity scoped by instance; instance must exist and be ACTIVE |
| 2 | Instance configuration | Key-value properties and typed attributes per instance |
| 3 | Locations | Warehouses/stores/dark stores/vendor/transit with geospatial (lat/long) search and fulfillment capabilities |
| 4 | SKUs | Product masters with lot/serial/perishable/hazmat flags, dimensions, pricing, backorder/preorder config |
| 5 | Lots | Batch lifecycle with manufacture/expiry dates, quality grade, supplier, FEFO, recall/quarantine |
| 6 | Inventory Positions | Per location-SKU-lot quantities (on-hand/available/reserved/blocked/in-transit + backorder/preorder), optimistic locking |
| 7 | Reservations | Order-based holds with FEFO allocation, TTL expiry, PENDING to CONFIRMED to FULFILLED state machine |
| 8 | Cart Reservations | Multi-SKU checkout with location consolidation optimization |
| 9 | Transactions | Immutable audit ledger of all quantity movements |
| 10 | Availability | Single/multi-SKU checks + fulfillment plans + cross-location snapshots |
| 11 | Transfers | Inter-location moves: PENDING to IN_TRANSIT to RECEIVED/CANCELLED (supports partial receipt) |
| 12 | Location Channel Policies | Per-channel sourcing (priority, allocation strategy, capacity: floor stock, BOPIS/SFS caps, cutoff) |
| 13 | Replenishment Policies | MIN_MAX / REORDER_POINT / PERIODIC_REVIEW with lead time and safety stock |
| 14 | Replenishment Orders | DRAFT to SUBMITTED to APPROVED to IN_TRANSIT to RECEIVED (or REJECTED/CANCELLED) approval workflow |
| 15 | Automated replenishment job | Scheduled evaluation of policies that auto-creates DRAFT orders |
| 16 | Backorder / Preorder | Reservation types and dedicated quantity buckets |
| 17 | Validation extension points | Per-instance custom validators selected through instance configuration |
Revision History
2026-08-05 | AN – Page created and uploaded the contents