Inventory management workflow VI

Tutorial created by Ray Borduin, WebAssist

Categories: Data Bridge, eCart, Dreamweaver, PHP

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What do you need to start?

1. Site defined with Dreamweaver CS4 or higher.
   
2. Product and admin pages built with DataAssist. For more assistance, view tutorials: Create a product catalog I and Create a product catalog II.
   
3. A checkout experience previously generated with eCart 5 or higher.

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Manage your inventory

1. Open the product update page where you will see your current inventory count and a link to the inventory update page.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Click the Update Inventory link which leads to the inventory update page.
   
   The ProductUpdateDate (month, day, year, hour, and minutes) will set automatically but can also be manually adjusted.
   
   
3. Set the ProductStock to 10.
   
   
4. Click Update which updates your database.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Open the product detail page and add 1 item to the shopping cart by clicking the Add to Cart button.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Due to sufficient inventory, the cart does not display error messages. The customer may proceed to checkout and purchase the desired amount.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Now go back to the product detail page and add 13 items to the shopping cart by clicking the Add to Cart button.
   
   
   
   
   
8. Notice the shopping cart's error messages regarding insufficient quantity and the maximum available (10) to be purchased.
   
   
   
   
   
9. Now let's assume a customer progresses through checkout and completes their transaction by buying 1 item.
   
   
10. Return to the inventory update page. The ProductStock field will indicate the decreased number of products in inventory, accounting for the purchase. (10 items stocked - 1 item purchased = 9 items remaining in inventory.)
    
    
    
    
    
11. Because of the snippets you added to the confirm and ppconfirm pages, a customer will be alerted should inventory become insufficient to complete their transactions during the checkout process. For example, one pair of shoes remaining in inventory are simultaneously placed in the shopping cart of two customers. The first customer to complete the checkout process will be able to purchase the shoes while the second customer will receive the error message.
    
    
12. Handle refunds by manually editing the number in ProductStock on your inventory update page.

WebAssist inventory management series

In the WebAssist inventory management series for eCommerce sites, you will learn how to track and update inventory as an administrator. Additionally, you will learn how to inform your customers throughout the shopping and purchase process when the quantity of the product they wish to purchase is insufficient or no longer in stock.

1. Inventory management series: A summary of six in-depth tutorials which walk you through the steps of managing inventory on your eCommerce site using administrative pages as well as product detail, shopping cart and confirm pages.
   
   
2. Inventory management introduction I: Learn about inventory control for eCommerce sites and how to set up your database to manage product stock.
   
   
3. Inventory management administration II: Learn how to set up inventory control so that an Administrator can track and update the amount of stock carried in an eCommerce site.
   
   
4. Inventory management product detail III: Learn how to alert online customers to insufficient inventory on the product detail page for the product they wish to purchase.
   
   
5. Inventory management shopping cart IV: Learn how to alert online customers to insufficient inventory in the shopping cart for the product they wish to purchase.
   
   
6. Inventory management checkout V: Learn how to alert online customers during checkout to insufficient inventory for the product they wish to purchase.
   
   
7. Inventory management workflow VI: In this final tutorial, you will be walked through the inventory management workflow process from start to finish.

For further inventory management help, check our Community Forums or post comments to this tutorial.

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