Enable visibility into future and in-transit inventory
Authors:
Michael Wholohan, Holger Lierse
Changed on:
13 Nov 2025
Problem
Effective inventory planning requires visibility into both current stock levels and inventory that's on its way. With goods constantly moving between suppliers, distribution centers, stores, and customers across multiple systems, retailers often lack insight into inbound shipments and future inventory commitments.
Without this forward visibility, they cannot accurately forecast availability or promise against incoming stock. This results in missed revenue opportunities, ordering of excess safety stock to compensate for uncertainty, and an inability to offer pre-orders or set realistic delivery expectations based on expected arrivals.
Example
A consumer electronics retailer with seasonal product launches and global supply chains is setting up for a new launch. Their systems track on-hand inventory but provide no visibility into thousands of units in transit from overseas suppliers or moving between distribution centres.
During a highly anticipated product launch, their website showed items as "out of stock" because the DC had zero on-hand inventory. However, shipments totalling 15,000 units were in customs or arriving within days. Without visibility into this inbound inventory, the retailer couldn't offer pre-orders or communicate accurate availability, forcing eager customers to competitors who were accepting advance orders.
This lack of forward visibility resulted in significant missed revenue during high-demand launch windows when inventory was actually on the way but unaccounted for.
Solution Overview
Fluent Order Management extends inventory visibility beyond physical stock on hand by actively incorporating future and in-transit inventory into its core planning and availability calculations. Fluent OMS achieves this by integrating data on inventory that is currently moving, whether from a supplier via Purchase Orders or between internal locations via Stock Transfers from source systems like ERPs and WMSs. This In-Transit Inventory Integration converts hidden moving stock into available stock, enabling retailers to sell items before they physically arrive at their destination.
This Future Inventory Management capability tracks the expected arrival dates for this inbound stock, allowing it to be included in the Global Available-to-Promise (ATP) calculations based on projected receipt timelines, which is essential for offering accurate pre-orders.
Crucially, the system commits and reserves the future unit for the order placed, ensuring seamless allocation once the stock arrives and preventing overselling. By linking this inbound inventory data with anticipated receipt dates, the OMS can also provide Dynamic Delivery Dates at checkout, setting accurate expectations for pre-orders and back-ordered items.
By implementing Fluent OMS, retailers can turn this complex challenge of distributed inventory management challenges into revenue opportunities:
- Maximised Revenue: Retailer can sell against any inventory units in customs or transit, converting eager customer demand into immediate sales and avoiding lost revenue to competitors.
- Reduced Safety Stock and buffers: Accurate visibility into inbound stock reduces uncertainty, minimising the need for excess safety stock in warehouses and stores, freeing up capital and reducing holding costs.
- Improved Customer Experience: Customers receive clear, accurate communication regarding delivery dates for pre-ordered items, building trust and strengthening brand loyalty.
