Multi-inventory add-on questions

meero82

Hello,

I'm planning to get the multi-inventory add-on on behalf of my client, and I already tested the live demo and checked the documentation, but first I have a couple of questions:

What is the practical use of locations if I'm already giving the names of the different inventories? I can't think of any benefit there.
From what I can see, inventories are created for each individual product rather than being universal. In this case, and if I get the ExportPro add-on, how can I see a report of all products in a single inventory when the inventories are not universal? Or in this case I'll have to link each inventory to a location of the same name and then export a report of the location instead?
In all cases, I don't think it's practical that the inventories are not universal across products. What I expect (that is actually the case with other multi-inventory plugins) is that I create inventories in 1 place, then with every new product I add I can just find these inventories there already instead of having to recreate them every time or use CSV via ExportPro plugin! Is there such a thing like what I'm describing above?

Salva

Hi meero82

We'll be glad to reply to any questions you might have 😉

It's just a way to categorize inventories in the same way you can categorize products by assigning locations to them (when Multi-Inventory is not enabled). So its purpose is mainly informational. You can add the warehouse, section, shelf, etc where the products are placed, for example
Yes, inventories must be linked to products because each product has its own independent stock. If you need to categorize inventories (so they have something in common), we don't recommend doing this by name (mainly because is a free text field). The location is a taxonomy and it can be associated better (and if you change a location in the future, will be changed for all at the same time). With the Export PRO add-on, you can export all inventories and you can apply filters when exporting.
This is something we plan to add in a future version but don't have an ETA for it yet. Actually, the only way to create or update inventories in bulk is with our Export PRO add-on

Best Regards,
Salva.

meero82

Thanks a lot for your quick answer, even if it was disappointing that your plugin didn't have a feature that all other multi inventory plugins have.

One last question please, about giving different prices for each inventory. I know that I can order priority by Geo location and that I can set the plugin to show out of stock if the first inventory in the priority list has zero stock.

When I tested this on the demo site 2 unexpected things happened:

The product page shows the price of the inventory that is in another country, although I correctly set the countries for both inventories. Or do I have to set the exact location of each inventory, not just the country?
The product page shows "out of stock" although both inventories have stock in them.

Salva

Hi meero82

I know that I can order priority by Geo location and that I can set the plugin to show out of stock if the first inventory in the priority list has zero stock.

Sorry but this is not 100% correct. You cannot set order priority by Geolocation.

The product page shows the price of the inventory that is in another country, although I correctly set the countries for both inventories. Or do I have to set the exact location of each inventory, not just the country?

In order to restrict some inventories to some places, you must enable the region restriction and configure all the inventories accordingly.
I'd recommend you read the documentation regarding region restriction.

The product page shows "out of stock" although both inventories have stock in them.

I'd need to take a look at your configuration to figure out the cause

Best Regards,
Salva

meero82

What I meant with the priority by geolocation is actually "country restriction" =) sorry about that.

Anyway, I just found out why the stock was always showing "out of stock" although I was doing everything right. When I tested the front-end in an incognito window I saw the stock of the inventory of my country showing properly.

So it seems like the country recognition wasn't working properly only when I'm logged-in to the admin account. I went into my admin profile and found no country set in the shipping address. When I set it to my country the stock showed properly on the front-end.

I guess this is a minor bug, because the plugin gives priority to the country set in the account shipping address, but when there is no country set, it didn't detect the country by geolocation like it does in the incognito window (logged-out state).

Salva

Hi meero82

The user account always has preference, indeed. But it's true that if there is no valid address set it should try an alternative. We'll investigate that.

Best Regards,
Salva.

meero82

Hi Salva

Yes this is what I meant by the bug =) I know from your documentation that the plugin gives priority to the account shipping address.

Hopefully you'll fix this bug soon because if my client chooses to work with your plugin we will be buying it this week!

Salva

Hi meero82

It isn't normal in WooCommerce to have a user account without a shipping address.
Usually, this address is added at the checkout.

So, it is not an important issue... We'll fix it, for sure. But it is not urgent.

Best Regards,
Salva.

meero82

Yeah that makes sense too =) Thanks a lot for your prompt answers.

Salva

meero82

You're welcome 😉