3.7.3. Inventory

Inventory settings may be configured individually, on a per product basis. Please note that there are several very important global Inventory configuration settings. Many of the individual product settings can be set to use the default value (the global setting). There are benefits in discussing the product and global settings simultaneously. Please refer to the section about Stock Management (below), for more detailed information.

Note: These settings are only applicable for Simple Products. For Configurable and Grouped Products, the Stock Availability may be found on the Inventory tabs of the individual Simple Products that constitute the aggregate configurations. This view is simply a display setting, and doesn't reflect the actual inventory of the constituent products.

To customize the inventory for a specific product, select the Inventory tab, and specify the following settings:

• "Manage Stock" enables the Manage Stock option.

• "Qty". Enter the quantity available. This is a required field.

• "Minimum Qty for Items’ Status". Specify the Minimum Qty for the Items’ Status to be In Stock. Clear the Use Config Settings checkbox, to enter and use the value that you directly input into the Inventory System Configuration. Enabling the Use Config Settings checkbox will deactivate the text field, and it will not be editable.

• "Minimum Qty Allowed in Shopping Cart". Enter Minimum Qty Allowed in Shopping Cart or select the checkbox.

• "Maximum Qty Allowed in Shopping Cart". Enter Maximum Qty Allowed in Shopping Cart or select the checkbox.

• "Qty Uses Decimals". Select Qty Uses Decimals status:

  • If you select "Yes", the customer can enter a fraction of a whole number into the quantity field in the shopping cart. This is beneficial if items are being sold in alternative units such as weight or length.

  • If you select "No", the customer can only purchase quantities in whole numbers.

• "Backorders". Select Backorders status, or click the checkbox.

• "Notify for Quantity Below". Select "Notify for Quantity Below", or select the checkbox.

• "Stock Availability". You may designate the product to be "Out of Stock", even if you have stock remaining for the product. It will subsequently display as such in the front-end. This means that your customers will not be able to add the product to their carts, but may add it to their wishlists. If there is no stock remaining for the product, you do not need to manually switch this to "Out of Stock". Magento will automatically update the front-end accordingly, unless you allow for Backorders, in which case the product will display normally and customers will still be able to add quantity to their carts.