In omnichannel commerce, stock accuracy becomes increasingly important as the number of channels and transaction volumes grow. An Inventory Management System (IMS) helps manage stock allocation, maintain inventory synchronisation, reduce the risk of overselling, and support promotional requirements.
Imagine a brand has 100 units of the same product available for sale across three marketplaces. Without integrated stock management, those units may appear as available across multiple channels at the same time. When orders arrive almost simultaneously, the limited stock can be sold beyond the actual quantity available. The issue is no longer simply a discrepancy in numbers, but can lead to overselling, order cancellations, and a disrupted customer shopping experience.
This complexity shows that e-commerce operations require more than a system for receiving and processing orders. In the article “The Technology Behind Omnichannel Commerce: How Brands Manage Multiple Platforms Without Operational Barriers”, we explored how different systems work together to support cross-channel operations. Having started with the Order Management System (OMS), which manages the order journey, this article looks at the system responsible for managing one of the most important resources behind every transaction: the Inventory Management System (IMS).
Understanding Inventory Management Systems in Omnichannel Commerce
An Inventory Management System (IMS) is a system that helps manage inventory allocation and publication across multiple sales channels. While OMS focuses on order management, IMS determines how much stock can be made available for sale on each channel.
For example, a brand may manage all stock as a single inventory source across several channels or define specific allocations, such as 50 units for Marketplace A, 30 units for Marketplace B, and 20 units for promotional purposes. These allocations do not necessarily involve physically moving the products. Instead, IMS manages the amount of stock that can be published as sellable inventory according to predetermined business requirements.
In practice, an IMS can help brands to:
Manage the amount of stock made available for sale.
Allocate stock across different sales channels.
Maintain inventory synchronisation.
Reduce the risk of overselling.
Manage stock for specific campaign requirements, such as bundling and promotional giveaways.
Through these functions, IMS helps maintain alignment between stock records in the system, quantities displayed as available across sales channels, and actual inventory levels. When a product is sold, cancelled, returned, or allocated for another purpose, these changes need to be reflected to ensure product availability remains accurate across channels.
According to Glock, Syntetos, and Rekik (2025), inaccurate inventory records can create inefficiencies in both cost and service. In an omnichannel context, stock data accuracy also serves as an important foundation for providing consumers with reliable product availability information.
When new stock enters the warehouse or inventory levels are updated in the primary system, the IMS reads the available inventory and applies the predefined allocation rules. These quantities are then published to each channel as stock available for sale.
When a transaction takes place on one marketplace, the available stock level changes accordingly. An IMS helps ensure that this change is reflected across other channels so that products already sold are not continuously offered to subsequent consumers. The higher the transaction volume, the more important it becomes for stock updates to be carried out consistently.
This becomes particularly important during campaign periods, when orders can rise sharply within a short period. SIRCLO’s internal data shows that during the double day campaign in August 2026, total orders increased by 58.16% compared with the same period in 2025.
Such spikes in order volume result in more frequent changes to inventory levels. Each transaction therefore needs to be reflected promptly in stock availability across channels, ensuring that products already sold are no longer presented as available elsewhere. Accurate and synchronised inventory becomes increasingly critical to reducing the risk of overselling and maintaining reliable order fulfilment.
Inventory management can become even more complex when part of the stock is allocated to promotional giveaways or specific campaigns. Products used as gifts, purchase bonuses, or part of promotional mechanics need to be accounted for separately so that they are not simultaneously made available for regular sales. In this situation, an IMS helps manage stock allocation according to campaign requirements while maintaining product availability across other sales channels.
Penting bagi brands memiliki kemampuan mengelola inventory secara akurat guna memberikan pengalaman belanja yang konsisten kepada konsumen.
As brands grow, increasing numbers of SKUs, sales channels, campaigns, and transactions can make manual stock management increasingly difficult to sustain. This can be one sign that a brand needs more integrated operational and technology support, as discussed in the article “5 Signs Your Brand Needs an E-Commerce Enabler Now”. Having the ability to manage inventory accurately is essential for brands to deliver a consistent shopping experience to consumers.
Referensi
Data internal SIRCLO, 2026.
Glock, C. H., Syntetos, A. A., & Rekik, Y. (2025). On the Measurement of Inventory Record Inaccuracies. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research.