Does any of this describe your operation?
- The warehouse team manually checks available stock before starting a pick run
- Sales teams cannot confirm despatch dates without calling the warehouse
- Sales and purchasing teams cannot pre-allocate stock against future delivery when taking sales orders or creating POs
- Orders appear as open in the system with no clear indication of which can ship today and which cannot
- Customers are chasing orders that show as “in progress” with no clarity on when they will be despatched
- Stock is committed to orders that have not moved in weeks while newer orders also cannot be fulfilled
- Backorders are tracked in a spreadsheet or post-it notes alongside or separate from the main order management system
If you recognise these in your business, the issue is not warehouse efficiency or sales communication — it is the absence of a single operational view that connects committed stock, despatchable orders and backordered demand in real time.
“I spend up to 4 hours a day consolidating purchase orders and updating spreadsheets with the stock allocated to customers. I am literally drowning in manual updates and correcting spreadsheets.”
Purchasing manager, B2B wholesale distributor
Root cause: Order management and inventory are not connected at the operational level. Orders exist in the order management system. Stock exists in the inventory system. Available-to-ship is a manual calculation from both. Committed stock is tracked in one place. Backordered demand lives somewhere else, often a spreadsheet. No single view connects the three states in real time, so every decision about what to pick, what to promise and what to order requires a manual reconciliation of separate records.
Stok.ly connects orders and inventory into one operational layer.
Every order placed commits stock at the moment of creation and pre-allocation can occur when a sales order is made ringfencing that stock for a customer and a specific sales order.
Available-to-ship is a live view of orders with sufficient committed stock ready for warehouse execution.
Backordered sales orders show outstanding demand with expected fulfilment dates from confirmed purchase orders.
All three views exist simultaneously, in real time, from the same operational record.
If you are a B2B sales organisation, flexible and visible pre-allocation is critical to scaling your operations.
Trust your stock. Transfer with confidence. Control orders. Fulfill every day like clockwork.
Available-to-ship — what can go out today, automated – without need for a manual check
Available-to-ship are orders that have sufficient committed stock and are ready for the warehouse to pick and despatch today.
In most growing businesses, this view does not exist as a live system output.
It exists as a morning reconciliation: the warehouse manager exports orders, cross-references available stock, and identifies which can proceed. By the time the pick begins, the reconciliation is already stale.
In Stok.ly, available-to-ship is calculated continuously. Every order that has sufficient committed stock and no fulfilment block will be automatically processed by fulfilment rules – teams can also process manually if you prefer.
Once fulfilment rules have run, pick rules run automatically – again, this can be done manually.
Every order on the pick lists can be fully picked.
There are no surprises mid-pick from stock already committed to another order or already allocated to a transfer.
Committed stock — separated from available at the point of order creation
Committed stock is the quantity assigned to confirmed orders awaiting warehouse execution.
The distinction between committed and available matters because without it, available-to-sell includes units that are already spoken for.
Sales teams promise stock that the warehouse has already committed.
Customers receive oversell notifications.
Emergency re-ordering follows.
In Stok.ly, stock commits to an order the moment the order is placed. Available-to-sell decrements immediately across all your sales channels, stores, marketplaces and websites.
The sales team never commits to stock already allocated to another order. The committed view shows everything in the warehouse queue awaiting pick.
“What I like best about Stok.ly is that it brings inventory, orders, and sales channels into one easy system. It saves time, reduces manual errors, and gives clear visibility of stock levels across the business.”
Finance Director, automotive business
Backordered orders — demand linked to expected stock, not a spreadsheet
A backorder is a confirmed order for stock that does not yet exist on-hand in sufficient quantity to fulfil it.
In most businesses, backordered orders live in a spreadsheet or a separate tracking list because the main system has no native way to connect the outstanding order to the purchase order expected to fulfil it.
In Stok.ly, every backordered order is linked to the open purchase orders expected to fulfil it.
The confirmed delivery date on each PO generates an expected fulfilment date for every backorder line connected to it.
When that stock arrives and is confirmed by goods-in, it is automatically allocated to outstanding backorders in priority order.
See also: We’re Raising 20 Purchase Orders for the Same SKU.
How Stok.ly controls order fulfilment visibility
| Capability | What it controls | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Available-to-ship view | Live view of orders with sufficient committed stock ready for warehouse execution | Warehouse team runs clean pick lists; no manual morning reconciliation and no mid-pick stock surprises |
| Committed stock tracking | Stock assigned to confirmed orders, immediately separated from available-to-sell | Sales teams commit only against genuinely unallocated stock; overselling eliminated at the architecture level |
| Backorder management | Outstanding orders linked to open purchase orders and expected receipt dates | Operations team knows when each backorder can be fulfilled; no separate spreadsheet tracking |
| Allocation control | Stock allocated to orders by placement date, customer priority or manual override | Oldest orders or highest-value customers fulfilled first; allocation is systematic, not whoever calls first |
| Expected despatch dates | Fulfilment dates for backordered orders calculated from confirmed PO delivery dates | Customer service answers despatch queries from the system; no manual calculation required |
| Order fulfilment status view | All orders grouped by status: ready to ship, committed awaiting pick, partial, backordered | Operations team sees the complete fulfilment picture in one view without exporting from two systems |
Current approach versus Stok.ly
| Current approach | What tends to break | Stok.ly |
|---|---|---|
| Available-to-ship calculated manually from separate order and stock exports | Pick runs begin before discovering stock is short; warehouse effort wasted on incomplete orders | Live available-to-ship view; warehouse runs clean pick lists from the operational record |
| Committed stock not separated from available-to-sell at order creation | Sales commit to stock already allocated; overselling and emergency purchasing follow | Stock commits at order placement; available-to-sell reflects only genuinely unallocated stock |
| Backorders tracked in a spreadsheet separate from the order system | Backorder list diverges from system; duplicate orders raised; customers not updated accurately | Backorders managed in the same record as live orders and inventory; no parallel tracking |
| Stock allocated first-come-first-served without rules | High-value customers receive stock later than lower-priority orders placed after theirs | Allocation by order age, customer tier or manual override; systematic, not arbitrary |
| Expected despatch dates unknown until warehouse manually confirms | Sales and customer service cannot answer “when will my order ship?” from the system | Expected dates calculated from confirmed PO delivery data; visible to operations and customer service |
| No single view of all order fulfilment states | Operations must check multiple systems or exports to see the complete picture | All orders grouped by fulfilment state in one operational view; no multi-system reconciliation |
“We have gone from a pen and paper warehouse to a completely digital system that has streamlined our business immensely.”
Verified G2 review, 5 stars — Read on G2
Who this is for
- Operations managers who manually reconcile what can ship against available stock before every pick run
- Sales teams who cannot confirm delivery dates without calling the warehouse
- Customer service teams spending time on backorder status queries the system should answer
- B2B wholesale and distribution businesses managing orders with long lead times and backorder commitments
- Growing retail, wholesale and distribution businesses whose order management and inventory run as separate systems
Who this is not for
Single-channel businesses with very low order volumes where manual available-to-ship checks are practical and backorder complexity is minimal. The value of a connected order management and inventory layer increases sharply with order volume, channel count and the proportion of B2B trade orders in the mix.
G2 Customer Reviews
What do you like best about Stok.ly – Inventory-Centric Cloud ERP?
“we have been a user for the last 4 years and we cannot think of life without it for our retail business. it makes listing to shopify and other marketplaces easy, keeps inventory accurate online and the POS is easy to use. accurate inventory across all sales channels is the big win for us.”
Order management and inventory ERP software for growing retail, wholesale and distribution businesses.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between committed stock and available-to-sell?
Available-to-sell is the quantity that can be committed to a new order. Committed stock is the quantity already assigned to confirmed orders awaiting warehouse execution. When an order is placed in Stok.ly, stock moves from available-to-sell to committed immediately — not at pick, not at despatch. Sales teams never commit to stock already allocated to another order.
What is available-to-ship and how does Stok.ly calculate it?
Available-to-ship is the live view of orders that have sufficient committed stock and are ready for warehouse execution now. Stok.ly calculates it continuously from the operational record: every order where the committed quantity matches the order quantity and no fulfilment block exists. The warehouse team runs a pick list from this view. Every order on the list can be fully picked and despatched without a manual stock check.
How does Stok.ly manage backordered orders?
Backordered orders in Stok.ly are linked to the open purchase orders expected to fulfil them. The confirmed delivery date on each PO generates an expected fulfilment date for each backorder line. When stock arrives against the PO and is confirmed by goods-in, it is allocated to backorders in priority order automatically. Operations teams see which backorders can be fulfilled and when, without a manual spreadsheet.
How does Stok.ly allocate stock when demand exceeds available quantity?
Stok.ly allocates stock to orders by configurable rules: by order placement date (oldest first), by customer priority tier, or by manual override for specific accounts. When stock is short, allocation is systematic rather than whoever calls first. Operations managers can override allocation rules for specific situations without losing visibility of the downstream impact on other orders.
Why can’t growing businesses see what can ship in real time?
Available-to-ship visibility fails when order management and inventory are in separate systems that do not share a live operational record. The connection between them — which orders have enough committed stock to ship today — requires a manual calculation from both sources. At scale, this calculation becomes impractical in real time. Stok.ly connects both into one record, making available-to-ship a live view rather than a morning export-and-reconcile exercise.
How does Stok.ly connect order management and inventory into one view?
In Stok.ly, every order placed commits stock at the point of creation. The order and the inventory record update the same operational data simultaneously. Available-to-ship is calculated continuously. There is no export from an order system and import into an inventory system. One record, updated by every order and every stock transaction immediately.
How does Stok.ly compare to Cin7 for order fulfilment visibility?
Cin7 has strong multi-channel order intake but its fulfilment visibility — particularly the connection between committed stock, backorder management and warehouse execution — is less tightly integrated than its channel connectivity. Businesses that have grown into B2B wholesale, multi-location warehousing and complex backorder management often find Cin7’s operational depth insufficient at this level. Stok.ly connects order management, inventory, warehouse execution and B2B trade into one operational layer.
Can Stok.ly show expected despatch dates for backordered orders?
Yes. Stok.ly calculates expected fulfilment dates for backordered orders from confirmed delivery dates on open purchase orders. Customer service teams answer despatch queries from the system without a manual calculation. B2B customers with portal access see expected dates directly in their account view without needing to call or email.
Related pages
Contact Information
All our sales, support and development team are located in Hereford and Cheltenham in the U.K. Please submit the contact form and we will contact you within the same business day.