Overselling happens when a team promises more units than it can actually dispatch. The common cause is checking a physical stock total without subtracting quantities already committed to other customers. For each new B2B order, check available stock for the required SKU and warehouse, then confirm the order through the same workflow that reserves inventory.
Start with one inventory position
Suppose a warehouse holds 100 units of a SKU. Existing confirmed orders occupy 35 units and 5 units are locked. Only 60 units are available for a new order.
| Event | Physical units | Occupied units | Locked units | Available units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before the new order | 100 | 35 | 5 | 60 |
| Reserve 40 through a successful order-product save | 100 | 75 | 5 | 20 |
| Dispatch those 40 | 60 | 35 | 5 | 20 |
Available = physical − occupied − locked. Saving the 40-unit order with selected stock changes the commitment before the goods leave the shelf. Dispatch then lowers both physical and occupied quantities by 40, so it does not make another 40 available.
Where a spreadsheet process can go wrong
Two salespeople may both see 60 units and each promise 40 before either records a confirmed order. Their combined promise is 80 units, exceeding the 60 available. A shared, current inventory record and a defined order-confirmation step are needed so each team member sees the updated commitment. A draft, quote or purchase order for future stock should not be treated as inventory already available to ship.
For Wholety, selecting warehouse batches and successfully saving the sales order products validates and reserves that stock. Submission, approval and confirmation check the selected stock again; they do not reserve it twice. A draft without selected stock does not promise inventory. Warehouse stock-out records the actual dispatch and releases the reservation. See the sales order workflow and sales manual. Use physical versus available stock to investigate the quantities behind a dashboard total.
Check the right stock before promising a date
- Match the buyer's item number to the internal SKU and unit of measure.
- Check the required warehouse, quantity, batch and expiry constraints rather than relying on a company-wide total.
- Subtract existing reservations and locked quantities. Confirm whether goods in transit have actually been received.
- Confirm the customer order through the approved sales workflow, then recheck availability for later orders.
- Record the actual warehouse dispatch. Investigate a mismatch using movement and receiving records before changing a stock quantity.
An expected purchase can help you plan a future promise, but it should have its own arrival and receiving checks. If a customer needs two deliveries, keep the planned quantities and actual dispatches tied to the same order; see multiple deliveries for one B2B order.
Ask your AI Agent for a stock check before the next order
With a connected Wholety Agent, start with a read-only check against the same records your team uses. Replace the example SKU and warehouse with your own:
For SKU GCP-12 in our main warehouse, show physical, occupied, locked and available quantities, with the source records and time checked. Can a new 40-case order fit within the available quantity? Flag missing data and unit mismatches. Do not create an order or change stock.
Review the answer against the warehouse screen. If 60 cases are available, a 40-case order fits at the time of that read, but the answer does not hold stock. Another order can change availability before you save. Selecting batches and successfully saving the sales products performs the reservation check; an AI answer cannot replace it.
Try the workflow with one SKU and two orders
Start your free month in Wholety, with no credit card required. Use one representative SKU and warehouse, record a received quantity, and create a sales order with selected stock. Check that available stock falls after the order products save. Then try a second order that exceeds the remainder and verify that the stock save is rejected. Compare both records with your Agent's read-only report.
Follow the Agent connection steps for setup. If your buyers need self-service ordering, explore the B2B ordering portal: buyer checkout creates a sales draft, and your operations team then selects and reserves warehouse stock. The trial includes one hour of consultation and assistance to review how this fits your business.
Common questions
Does creating a sales draft reserve inventory?
An empty draft does not. When warehouse batches are selected and the order products save successfully, Wholety reserves that stock; insufficient stock rejects the save. Check the selected stock and order record before assuming a draft has no commitment.
Why is available stock lower than the shelf count?
Confirmed orders may occupy units, and some units may be locked. Verify the SKU, warehouse and stock dimensions, then trace the relevant orders and movements. A lower available quantity alone does not prove a counting error.
Can incoming stock be promised to a customer?
You can plan around a supplier delivery, but distinguish a forecast from stock recorded through warehouse receiving. Check the arrival, accepted quantity and timing before making a firm shipping commitment.
For the connected product workflow, see Wholety warehouse inventory software and wholesale sales order management.
Explore a complete example before entering your own data
Start your free month without a credit card or an inventory import. New owner workspaces open with a clearly labeled, fictional wholesale business: three products, supplier purchases, partial receiving, stock reservations, customer sales and recorded payments. You can trace the same SKU across the workflow instead of filling an empty system before seeing how it works.
Continue the homepage’s Harbor Market example with the same three SKUs. Over 90 days the customer ordered 120 cases of HBT-24 oolong tea, 90 of GNG-12 ginger drink and 60 of SPK-24 sparkling water. Available stock is 60, 18 and 72 cases respectively. Requesting another 48 of each leaves a 30-case shortfall in ginger drink. The original 12-case tea batch ends at A2 with 9 cases and B3 with 3, just as the warehouse animation shows. The example is read-only and separate from your business records. Choose Close example and start using Wholety before entering your own data. For self-service buyer ordering, see the B2B ordering portal; for the next Agent task, use the stock-check and purchase-draft walkthrough.