Slot Inventory Groups
We currently support Inventory Groups on all of our digital media product types. Inventory Groups are a way for you to manage inventory across products. The setup for each type of Inventory Group is the same, but the behavior varies a bit depending on the type of product. For information about how to set up Inventory Groups, please reference our 'Digital Media Inventory Group Setup' help center page. For information about how Inventory Groups affect Slot products, continue reading below.
Relevant System Configurations
Before reading through this document, you should review the below System Configuration, as it can affect what items count toward your slot inventory.
Pending Media Items Count Against Inventory
You can choose to count pending orders for your digital media inventory management. For example, when this configuration is enabled, if you have 1 slot sold for 11/20 on an order waiting for approval, another user won’t have the ability to enter another order for that slot on the same date. If you don’t count pending sale items against inventory, users could have multiple orders for the slot product on 11/20, until one of the orders gets fully approved. This configuration only applies to digital media products, it does not affect print or digital advertisements.
How Inventory Groups Affect Slot Sales
Slot inventory is managed on line item creation and editing. Because of this, you will see the effects of Inventory Groups when creating orders for Slot products. Unlike other product types, Slot product inventory groups will be influenced by whether or not the products have channels and sizes, as well as if you restrict the group to one size or one channel per date. Below, we will walk through all of the potential configurations of how you can set up your Slot inventory groups, and how it will look on order entry.
Inventory Group without Channels and Sizes
The simplest configuration for Slot inventory groups is if an inventory group is for products that do not have channels and sizes. Products without channels and sizes only have one slot available per date. Below is an example of what this scenario would look like. On the left is an item on a sold order for the 'New daily slot' product, which was sold on 12/1. On the right, I am attempting to add a new line item to an order for my 'Slot Newsletter' product, which is in the same inventory group as my 'New daily slot' product. I have not sold the 'Slot Newsletter' product for 12/1, but it is showing that it has been sold, because an item from the same group was sold on that date.
Important
No matter how you set up your Slot inventory groups, it's important to note that inventory checks for Slots are done based on the Start Run Date of the line items. For instance, if you have a product set up with a weekly frequency, and a product set up with a daily frequency in the same group, the inventory may not be restricted even if they have overlapping dates. Using this scenario, if you have a weekly slot product that was sold with a Start Run Date of 11/15 and an End Run Date of 11/21, you won't be able to add a daily slot in that same inventory group for the date of 11/15. But you can add a daily slot in the same group for 11/17, even though the dates are technically overlapping, because the system only verifies against the Start Run Date.
Inventory Group with Channels and Sizes
The next possible configuration for your Slot inventory group is to have an inventory group for products that do have channels and sizes. For this scenario, I have two products in the group, and inventory will be restricted per date for the group if the line items also share the same size and channel. You will be able to sell multiple items per date as long as they have differing channels or sizes.
Inventory Group with Channels and Sizes (cont.)
For example, in the below screenshot, the item on the left is on a sold order. Its date is 1/1, and it is using the 'Channel' channel and the 'Banner (100x200)' size. The item on the right is a different product but is in the same inventory group. You'll notice the product is showing as 'sold' for the 1/1, Channel, Banner (100x200) slot, but is showing available for the other channels and other sizes on that same date.
Inventory Group with One Size Per Date
On inventory groups for products with channels and sizes, you have two additional options. The first is to Only Sell One Size Per Date. For this scenario, inventory will be restricted per date and size for the group if the line items also share the same channel. You will be able to sell multiple items per date and size as long as they have differing channels.
Inventory Group with One Size Per Date (cont.)
For example, in the below screenshot, the item on the left is on a sold order. Its date is 1/1, and it is using the 'Channel' channel and the 'Banner (100x200)' size. The item on the right is a different product but is in the same inventory group. You'll notice the product is showing as 'sold' for the 1/1, Channel, Banner (100x200) slot, and 'not available' for the 1/1, Channel, Banner (200x300) slot, but is showing available for the other channels on that same date. This is because it is restricted to only allowing one size to be sold in the group per date and channel.
Inventory Group with One Channel Per Date
On inventory groups for products with channels and sizes, you have two additional options. The second is to Only Sell One Position/Channel Per Date. For this scenario, inventory will be restricted per date and channel for the group if the line items also share the same size. You will be able to sell multiple items per date and channel as long as they have differing sizes.
Inventory Group with One Channel Per Date (cont.)
For example, in the below screenshot, the item on the left is on a sold order. Its date is 1/1, and it is using the 'Channel' channel and the 'Banner (100x200)' size. The item on the right is a different product but is in the same inventory group. You'll notice the product is showing as 'sold' for the 1/1, Channel, Banner (100x200) slot, and 'not available' for the 1/1, Banner (100x200), 'Main Page' and 'Test Digital 2' channel slots, but is showing available for the other size on that same date. This is because it is restricted to only allowing one channel to be sold in the group per date and size.
Inventory Group with One Size and Channel Per Date
The One Size and One Channel Per Date settings can be used in combination. For this scenario, inventory will be fully restricted to one slot per date for every product in the group.
Inventory Group with One Size and Channel Per Date (cont.)
For example, in the below screenshot, the item on the left is on a sold order. Its date is 1/1, and it is using the 'Channel' channel and the 'Banner (100x200)' size. The item on the right is a different product but is in the same inventory group. You'll notice the product is showing as 'sold' for the 1/1, Channel, Banner (100x200) slot, and 'not available' for every other size and channel on 1/1. This is because it is restricted to only allowing one channel and size to be sold in the group per date.
New 11/10/2023