Once you have created Magento 2 inventory sources, you can organize them into stocks. This is the other option of Magento 2 MSI that helps you to manage your inventory appropriately. If you have multiple locations, then it is crucial to track the salable quantity and map your sources to the sales channels.
In this article, we will cover what are stocks exactly and how you can add them in Magento.
What is Stock in Magento?
Basically, a stock is a virtual representation of the sources and your inventory. Stocks help you to keep track of the number of products you have and manage their shipping to different locations.
You can assign multiple sources and sales channels to one stock. But keep in mind, that one sales channel can be connected to one stock only. In this context, a sales channel is actually your Magento website.
During the initial setup, you see a Default stock which your sources and websites are assigned to by default. You cannot disable or delete it, while it is in the Single Source mode.
Note: if you unassign a source or a sales channel and do not add it to any other stock, then they will be automatically assigned to the Default stock.
How to Add New Stock in Magento 2?
1. Go to Stores > Inventory > Stocks and press the Add New Stock button.
2. Fill in General information. Create the unique Name for your stock.
3. Set the Sales Channels. Add the websites you would like to assign to the stock.
If you choose the sales channel that is already assigned to some stock, it will be unassigned from the old stock and added to a new one you are currently creating.
4. Go to the Sources section and press the Assign Sources button.
5. Choose the sources you would like to assign to this stock and press Done.
5. Change the positions of the added sources (move them from the top to the bottom or vice versa with the drag-and-drop tool) to set a priority for each source during shipping.
When you finish filling in the fields, don't forget to press the Save&Continue button. And that's it. You have successfully added a new stock in Magento.
It is also important to remember that you can delete stocks, but not disable them. If there is such a need, you can simply edit all the stock information and reassign new sources and sales channels to it.
Thanks to the Magento 2 MSI stocks you can set your shipping cost effectively, easily track the salable quantity, and properly manage sources and sales channels.
