Unified Inventory Sync Across POS, Ecommerce, and Warehouse
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Overview
What we built
A retail chain with 6 stores and an online shop was tracking inventory across 3 disconnected systems, and stock counts kept lying. We built one inventory API as the single source of truth, and overselling incidents dropped from more than 40 a month to zero.
In plain terms: the same product existed in 3 separate places at once, the point-of-sale system in each of the 6 stores, the ecommerce platform, and the warehouse, and none of them agreed on how many units were actually left. Online shoppers routinely bought items that had already sold out in a store, and in-store customers were turned away for products the system still showed as available. Staff ran a manual reconciliation each day just to bring the numbers back into agreement, and even that could not keep pace with 6 stores selling at once.
We designed a central inventory API to act as the single source of truth for every channel. It receives real-time stock movement events from the POS systems, the ecommerce platform and the warehouse via webhooks, resolves conflicts when two channels report a sale at once, and pushes updated stock levels back out within seconds, with automated reorder alerts attached. Overselling incidents fell from more than 40 a month to zero, stock accuracy across all channels reached 99.7%, and the same-day fulfilment rate rose from 61% to 89%.
The Problem
Disconnected inventory, frequent overselling
The chain sold through 3 separate systems at once: point of sale in each of its 6 physical stores, an ecommerce platform, and a warehouse system that tracked what could actually be shipped. None of the 3 talked to each other in real time, so the same unit of stock could show as available in more than one place simultaneously.
Online shoppers regularly ordered items that a store had already sold, forcing staff to cancel or delay the order after the fact. In-store customers fared just as badly: they were turned away for products the system still listed as available, only to have staff search a stockroom that no longer held the item. Every day, someone manually reconciled the numbers across all 3 systems just to get inventory back into rough agreement before the doors opened again.
Three disconnected systems
POS terminals across the 6 stores, the ecommerce platform and the warehouse system each kept their own stock count, with nothing keeping the 3 in sync.
Frequent online overselling
Customers ordered items online that had already sold in a store, since the ecommerce platform had no real-time view of what was actually left.
Customers turned away in-store
Shoppers were told an item was in stock and then turned away at the till, because the system had not caught up with what had already sold.
Daily manual reconciliation
Someone worked through all 3 systems by hand every day just to bring the stock counts back into agreement before trading resumed.
What it was costing them
Overselling incidents were running at more than 40 a month, each one a customer who had paid for something the chain could not actually deliver. In-store, customers walked away empty-handed for items the system claimed were available. Staff spent part of every day manually reconciling 3 separate systems just to keep the numbers honest, time that never went toward serving the 6 stores' customers directly.
The Solution
One real-time inventory API
We designed a central inventory API to sit above the 3 existing systems and act as the single source of truth for stock across the business. Every POS terminal in the 6 stores, the ecommerce platform and the warehouse now reports stock movement to this one layer in real time via webhooks, rather than each system keeping its own separate count.
When two channels report a change to the same item at once, a conflict resolution layer decides which update wins, so stock levels stay consistent rather than drifting apart again. Updated levels are pushed back out to every connected system within seconds, and automated reorder alerts fire before a popular item actually runs out, rather than after a customer has already been turned away.
Key decisions
One API as source of truth
Rather than syncing 3 systems pairwise, every channel now reads and writes through a single central inventory API, so there is only one number to trust.
Real-time webhook events
Stock movement events flow from POS, ecommerce and warehouse via webhooks as they happen, replacing the daily manual reconciliation across all 3 systems.
Resolve conflicts automatically
A conflict resolution layer decides the outcome when two channels report a change to the same item at once, keeping every count consistent.
Push updates back within seconds
Updated stock levels return to every connected system within seconds of a change, so the 6 stores and the ecommerce platform work from the same picture.
Alert before stock runs out
Automated reorder alerts fire as levels fall, giving staff warning before a popular item actually runs out rather than after customers are turned away.
Measurable Impact
What changed after launch
Overselling incidents fell from more than 40 a month to zero, and the daily manual reconciliation across all 3 systems disappeared entirely, since stock now updates itself in real time. Stock accuracy across every channel, the 6 stores, the ecommerce platform and the warehouse, reached 99.7%, so what the system shows is what is actually on the shelf.
That accuracy fed straight through to delivery: the same-day fulfilment rate rose from 61% to 89%, because orders were now placed against stock that genuinely existed. Customers stopped being turned away in-store for items already sold online, and staff stopped starting each day with a reconciliation exercise instead of serving customers.
Inventory systems
Stock tracked separately across 3 disconnected systems
One central inventory API as source of truth
Overselling incidents
More than 40 overselling incidents per month
Overselling incidents reduced to zero
Daily reconciliation
Staff manually reconciled stock across 3 systems daily
Manual reconciliation process eliminated entirely
Same-day fulfilment
Same-day fulfilment rate stood at 61%
Same-day fulfilment rate reached 89%
Headline results
Overselling incidents reduced from 40+ per month to zero
Manual daily reconciliation process eliminated entirely
Stock accuracy across all channels reached 99.7%
Same-day fulfillment rate improved from 61% to 89%
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