Availability - How it Works
Author:
Fluent Commerce
Changed on:
6 June 2024
Overview
Availability Module provides various availability information for different products, taking into account custom attributes defined in a business workflow. Utilising the Fulfillment Options Workflow, the Availability Module generates Fulfillment Plans for the requested items. This process involves interaction with the Inventory module and applying sourcing logic to select plans from a designated Virtual Catalog for the relevant channel.
Key points
- Fulfilment Options entity retrieves and identifies the Fulfillment option for the proposed order. A Fulfilment Options call returns multiple plans for how an order might be fulfilled, such as ETA and pricing information.
- Fulfilment Plan entity identifies the strategy to be used to fulfil an order. A fulfilment plan may identify multiple fulfillments to complete an order.
How it works
The process below illustrates how the Fulfilment Options workflow works to produce options and plans to present on an eCommerce site.
Refer to numbers 1 to 5 in the diagram and the corresponding steps described below:
(1) Request for Fulfilment
Availability requests for fulfilment can come from any e-commerce site or external API. The Fulfillment Option is processed upon receiving a request.
(2) Synchronous Request
A synchronous request, the Fulfilment Options API call generates all possible plans before returning to the eCommerce site.
(3) Fulfilment Plan
In response to the Fulfillment Option, a Fulfillment Plan is created and is sent back to the eCommerce site.
(4) Check Location / Items
The Fulfillment Options Workflow checks the relevant Virtual Catalog to find the best locations for the requested items. This action generates a Fulfillment Plan for the response.
(5) Look up ATS
The Fulfilment Options API call is the synchronous request which means that it will generate all possible plans before returning to the eCommerce site.
