The Products page and the Inventory Report show several different
quantities for each SKU. They're all correct, but they answer different
questions. This article explains what each number means, how they relate to each other, and which one your store actually sees.
On Hand is the physical count. It's how many units of the SKU are sitting in sellable locations in the Mountainy warehouse right now. When a shipment is received, On Hand goes up. When an order is picked and shipped, On Hand goes down (units that have been picked but not yet shipped show under In Tote).
Allocated is how many of those On Hand units are already committed to open orders that haven't shipped yet. As soon as an order imports and there's stock to cover it, the portal allocates units to that order.
Available is what's left to sell: On Hand minus Allocated. This is the number the portal pushes to your connected stores, so it's the number your customers are effectively buying against.
Backorder is the number of units customers have ordered that you don't have On Hand to cover. If 5 units are On Hand and an order comes in for 8, the order gets 5 allocated and 3 backordered, and it can't ship until the other 3 arrive or the order is marked allow partial.
On Order is how many units are on open Shipping Plans headed to Mountainy but not yet received. It doesn't count toward On Hand or Available.
Say you have a SKU with 100 units On Hand and 30 units committed to open orders.
Number | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
On Hand | 100 | 100 units physically in the warehouse |
Allocated | 30 | 30 units spoken for by open orders |
Available | 70 | 100 − 30 = 70 units your store can still sell |
Backorder | 0 | Every open order is fully covered |
On Order | 500 | A Shipping Plan for 500 more units is on its way |
Now 80 more units are ordered. The portal allocates the remaining 70 and backorders 10:
Number | Value |
|---|---|
On Hand | 100 |
Allocated | 100 |
Available | 0 |
Backorder | 10 |
On Order | 500 |
When the Shipping Plan is received, On Hand becomes 600, the 10 backordered units get allocated, and Available becomes 490.
Reserve. If you reserve units on a product (for example, holding 50 units back for a wholesale customer or an upcoming promotion), the portal subtracts the reserved quantity from what it pushes to your store. The Available column in the portal doesn't change; only the number sent to your sales channels does. Reserving doesn't stop the warehouse from picking those units if an order for them comes in, so it's a sales-channel control, not a physical one.
Sell Ahead. If Sell Ahead is enabled on a Shipping Plan, some or all of the incoming units are added to what your store can sell before they've arrived. In that case, Available = On Hand − Allocated + Sell Ahead. As units are received, the Sell Ahead quantity is reduced so nothing is double-counted.
A kit's availability isn't stored separately; it's calculated from the components. For each component, the portal divides that component's Available quantity by how many of it the kit needs, and the kit's availability is the lowest result. A three-item gift set where the components have 200, 500, and 4,000 units available can be sold 200 times. If any component hits zero, the kit shows as unavailable even though the other components are in stock.
Products page. Each row shows the inventory columns for the SKU (On Hand, Available, Allocated, Backorder, Reserved, On Order). Use the tabs at the top (In Stock, Backorder, Needs Reorder, Expected) to filter.
Product detail page. Open any SKU to see the same numbers per warehouse.
Reports > Inventory. A real-time snapshot of every SKU, filterable by warehouse and exportable to CSV. Best practice: export at the end of the day so you have a stable snapshot for reconciliation.
Reports > Inventory Change Log. Every change to On Hand, with the reason (a shipment, a receipt, a cycle count adjustment, a return restock). Use this when a count looks wrong and you want to see why.
Inventory syncs from the portal to your store automatically, usually within a minute or two for platforms like Shopify. Some marketplaces (Amazon, for example) receive inventory updates on a periodic schedule instead of instantly. During very high order volume (a flash sale, a large bulk shipping run) the sync can lag a little. If you see a difference that persists for more than a few minutes, or your store shows more Available than the portal does, message us in Slack with the SKU so we can check the store connection.
Fulfillment Glossary: Inventory and Order Terms
What is lot tracking?
Receiving Guidelines