About Order Allocation

Guidance on how parcel orders are allocated after creation.

IN THIS TOPIC

• Standard Allocation
• Non-standard Order Allocation

Allocation refers to the process of reserving inventory for a line on an order, so that a shipment can be generated.

Standard Allocation

Once an order is submitted, the system uses these criteria for the allocation process: 

Reservation Selection

If a reservation is specified during order creation, the system will first try to allocate inventory from that reservation. 

Single Warehouse

This only applies if you partner with a single warehouse within Flexe. During allocation, the system will confirm whether inventory for all lines on an order is available at the warehouse. If inventory is not available for at least one line on an order, that line is flagged with issues on the Orders page; and the entire order will not ship until all inventory is available. 

Multiple Warehouses

This only applies if you partner with multiple different warehouses within Flexe. Here's how the allocation process works across multiple warehouses: 

• If inventory for all lines on an order is available at all warehouses, the lines will be allocated to the warehouse closes to the shipment destination (based on distance-based routing and the shipment ZIP code). 
• If inventory is only available at one warehouse for all lines on the order, the lines will be allocated to that warehouse, regardless of the distance from the shipment destination. 
• If inventory for at least one line on an order is not available at any warehouse, the line will be flagged with issues on the Orders page; and the entire order will not ship until inventory is available. 

Note: If shipments associated with lines are cancelled, but the lines themselves are not cancelled, those lines will reallocate. Also, if inventory quantities change at a warehouse after shipments are cancelled, lines may reallocate to a new warehouse. 

Non-standard Order Allocation

By default, an order (and all associated lines) remain unallocated until inventory is available. However, other configurations are available: 

Order Splitting Across Multiple Warehouses

This only applies if you partner with multiple warehouses within Flexe. If inventory is available at one warehouse for at least one line on an order, and remaining inventory is available at another warehouse, the order is split and shipped from multiple warehouses. To learn more, go to Order Splitting Across Warehouses. 

Backorder Splitting Across Multiple Warehouses

This only applies if you partner with multiple warehouses within Flexe. If inventory for at least one line on an order is not available at any warehouse, the line is flagged as "backorder" and will ship when inventory becomes available at any warehouse. Any remaining lines on the order with available inventory will ship as normal. To learn more, go to Backorder Splitting.