Real-time Inventory Synchronization with Miva Merchant

Note: This topic relates to older versions of Miva Merchant shopping carts or Miva 5.5 (PR7) users who need to use the Order Manager's WebOptionCodeDelimiter or WebOptionProductDelimiter features. Miva 5.5 (PR7) users that do not employ the WebOptionCodeDelimiter or WebOptionProductDelimiter features, should review the Knowledge Base topic, Miva Merchant 5.5 Attribute Level QOH Synchronization.

 

Miva Merchant only can only synchronize inventory at the product level. If you want to synchronize inventory at the attribute level, purchase and install one of the two available third party inventory tracking modules:

 

 

Follow these directions completely to setup inventory tracking and synchronization of the Quantity on Hand (QOH) between the Order Manager and Miva Merchant. Thereafter, refresh the QOH at regular intervals such as monthly or quarterly.

 

 

Setup Inventory Tracking at the Product Level

 

  1. Log into your Miva Merchant store:

    1. Turn on inventory tracking.

    2. Mark individual products for tracking.

  2. Open the Order Manager and go to Main Menu>Maintenance Menu>Set System Parameters or Quick Clicks>System Parameters.

  3. Click on the Order group.

  4. Set the system parameter CheckInventory to True.

  5. Click Close.

 

 

Setup Inventory Tracking at the Attribute Level

 

  1. Purchase and install one of the two third party modules mentioned above.

  2. Open the Order Manager and go to Main Menu>Maintenance Menu>Set System Parameters or Quick Clicks>System Parameters.

  3. Click on the Order group.

  4. Set the system parameter CheckInventory to True.

  5. Go to the Miva group and set one of the following parameters to True based on the third party inventory tracking module purchased:

    1. Inventory Manager - Set UseVikingCodersInventoryMgr to True

    2. InventoryTrk Pro - Set UseModStopInventoryTrk to True

  6. Click Close.

  7. If necessary, add all products with attributes to your Miva store.

  8. Go to the inventory tracking module interface in Miva Merchant and define which attributes affect inventory, e.g. color, size, or style.

  9. In the Order Manager, go to Main Menu>Maintenance Menu>Cart Functions.

  10. Click the Shopping Cart Functions button. Click on the appropriate store.

  11. Click Import Inventory. Click OK. The Import Options dialog box opens. You are presented with a number of options as to how the incoming product data should be handled if the product already exists in the Order Manager. Note: Established stores should backup their data file before continuing from this point.

    1. Start by deleting all existing inventory?

      1. Click Yes (the default) to replace all inventory data in the Order Manager. Users installing the program or testing the system may choose this option; it is not recommended for established stores. Click OK.

      2. Click No and the Order Manager will not replace all inventory data upon import.

    2. Replace all existing data - This option is recommended if you want incoming inventory data to replace existing inventory data in the Order Manager.

    3. Only replace existing fields - Use this option if you've made changes to price, description, name, etc.

    4. Replace data in fields that are checked below - For Miva Merchant users, the user can select the following fields to replace: Name, Description, Price, Weight, QOH, Taxable, Discontinue, Thumbnail, Image. If none of the fields are selected, no user definable inventory data is changed.

    5. Do not modify existing data - This option is recommended if you are only adding new products from the website.

    6. Option Lists - Select Replace All Option Lists to delete and re-write all attributes and options for all products in the system, in effect applying the attributes you selected in the inventory tracking module.

  12. Click Close.

  13. Click on the Inventory & Suppliers tab.

  14. Click on the Build Sub SKUs button and build Sub SKUs for all of your products with attributes.

 

Note: On the Build Sub SKUs dialog box, there is a Cleanup: Delete any un-needed SubSKUs checkbox. If the option is not checked, the program will leave all Sub SKUs that can not longer be built from existing options in the system. If the option is checked, the program will delete any Sub SKUs that can not longer be built from existing options from the system. For example, you sell a shirt in three sizes (Small, Medium, Large) and in three colors (Red, Blue, Green). You find out that you can no longer get the shirt in green but now you can get it in black. You replace the Green option in Miva with the new Black option. When the Order Manager builds Sub SKUs, it will build the new Sub SKUs for the Small, Medium and Large black shirts but will not build the Sub SKUs for the Small, Medium and Large Green Shirts (because the option does not exist any more). The three Sub SKUs for the Small, Medium and Large Green shirts are deemed "un-needed". However you may still have green shirts in stock so deleting un-needed SKUs may not be wise.

 

There is also a Create SubSKUs For: option on the Build Sub SKUs dialog box. You can choose  All Option List Entries (recommended) or Just Products Marked as Parent SKUs which is designed for re-running the Build Sub SKUs function. A product is not marked as a "parent" until Sub SKUs are built from them, therefore this option would not produce Sub SKUs if you select it the first time you build Sub SKUs.

 

  1. Add the QOH to the Order Manager for each Sub SKU.

    1. Go to Main Menu>Maintenance Menu>Inventory & Suppliers>Inventory.

    2. The View Inventory screen opens.

    3. Complete the # On Hand field on the Product Info tab.

    4. Click Save. Click Close.

 

 

Set up Synchronize QOH

  1. Go to Main Menu>Maintenance Menu>Set System Parameters or Quick Clicks>System Parameters.

  2. Click on the Program group.

  3. Set the system parameter SynchQOH to True. Click Close.

  4. Go to Main Menu>Maintenance Menu>Cart Functions>Create/Edit Shopping Carts button or Quick Clicks>Create/Edit Shopping Carts.

  5. Select the appropriate shopping cart. Click Edit Cart.

  6. Click the Synchronize Inventory checkbox. Click Save. Click Close.

  7. Follow the directions below to refresh the QOH.

 

 

Refresh Quantity On Hand (QOH)

 

Note: Refreshing QOH data between the Order Manager and your Miva store is meant to be done on a monthly or quarterly basis, not daily. The Order Manager synchronizes changes to your inventory in the Order Manager for you as they occur.

 

  1. **Important** Ensure all outstanding orders have been imported.

  2. **Important** Ensure all abandoned baskets have been cleaned up in Miva Merchant.

  3. In the Order Manager, go to Main Menu>Maintenance Menu>Cart Functions.

  4. Click the Miva Merchant Functions button.

    1. If the latest QOH data is in Miva Merchant, click the Get QOH from Miva Store button.

    2. If the latest QOH data is in the Order Manager, click the Send QOH to Miva Store button. Note: If you encounter time-out errors from Miva Merchant, decrease the Maximum number of items per send before clicking the Send QOH to Miva Store button. This value is not saved after you exit this screen.

      1. You will see a prompt at the completion of the upload regarding the location of the "log file". This file contains the results of the update for each SKU sent.

      2. The log file shows "SKU=?", where the ? is one of the following three values:

        1. OK - the export module was able to find the product and write the new QOH data to the Miva Merchant database.

        2. NA - The SKU was found on the Miva Merchant site but was not marked for inventory tracking. Consequently, the QOH was not written to the Miva Merchant database.

        3. NF - The SKU was not found in Miva Merchant. Consequently, the QOH was not written to the Miva Merchant database.

Modified: 2/11/11