Local Store Inventory

This documentation was modified on 10/1/2021 to include details on the LSI Price Comparison Export feature.

When a visitor to your site searches for a title, they generally see books listed with one of these availability statuses:

• Usually Ships in 1-5 days - indicates that Ingram has at least one copy in one of their warehouses
• Special Order - indicates that Ingram does not have any available copies
• Backordered - indicates that Ingram has at least one copy on order, but not on hand
• Hard to Find - indicates the book is believed to be out of stock indefinitely at all sources. More copies may or may not be printed in the future.
• Out-of-Print - indicates the title is out of print
• Unavailable - indicates this book is not available for sale, possibly because it has been removed from sale by the publisher/author.
• Not Yet Published - indicates that the publish date is more than 120 days away
• Coming Soon Available for Pre-Order Now - indicates that publish date is less than 120 days away - 120 days is the default threshold, however, you can change the threshold through Store > Configuration > Account Information and Preferences > Configure Book Settings.

NOTE: Stores can customize the labels for all the availability statuses from Store > Configuration > Account Information and Preferences > Configure Book Availability Statuses You may change the text itself and use any of the following HTML tags to alter the appearance: <b><i><strong><em><u><font><span>, for example:

<strong>Usually Ships in 1-5 Days</strong> = Usually Ships in 1-5 Days or <span style="color:#B22222;"><strong>Special Order</strong></span> = Special Order

By uploading a snapshot of your local store inventory (LSI), you can make it possible for the customer to see if a particular book is in stock at your store(s). For books that are available on your store shelves, the availability status would read like... ‘On our shelves as of 9/1, 10 copies on hand’. The ‘Inventory Upload’ feature is most effective when used at least once every day, ideally at the beginning or close of business.

Please be aware that uploading your local store inventory does not add titles to the database. Uploading your inventory overlays your information on top of Ingram's. As long as an ISBN from your upload matches one in our database, the item will appear as "On our shelves as of...", with a time and date stamp, and an on-hand count. If an ISBN is not recognized, that item is dropped from the upload.

UPLOADING YOUR LSI FILE

If you wish to use the LSI feature on your IndieCommerce site, first contact [email protected] and let us know, so we can enable the necessary modules on your site.

You can upload your file using 1 of the following 3 methods (the steps for each method are listed further down in this document):

1. Manual upload: Upload the file from the LSI admin page on your IndieCommerce site. This method gives you complete control over the file content, but cannot be automated.
2. Above the Treeline: Upload the file to Above the Treeline (If you have an account with ATL), where it is processed first. IndieCommerce will scan ATL servers a few times a day, grab any new files and process them. To use this method, you have to write to ATL to initiate the process. This process can be automated. You may not have complete control over the file content since ATL processes the file first.
3. LSI via FTP: Upload the file directly to the IndieCommerce servers via FTP. This can be automated on your end (with help from your POS vendor or a developer), and you will have complete control over the file content.

LSI FILE TYPE AND FORMAT

Files uploaded via the ‘Manual upload’ or ‘LSI via FTP’ methods should follow the following format guidelines.

Files should be in either one of the 2 formats listed here - ISBN (books) or SKU (non-book), Price, and Quantity are required, Location is optional.

• File Type 1: ISBN or SKU, Price, Quantity, Location
• File Type 2: ISBN or SKU, Quantity, Price, Location

GUIDELINES
These guidelines will help you generate the necessary file from your POS system. If you are not familiar with generating a file like this, it is recommended that you contact your POS system's Help Desk for assistance.

• The field separators can be commas, tabs, or | (pipe symbols).
• The ‘Location’ field refers to the shelving section in the store where the book belongs. This field can be 100 characters long, cannot include commas and is optional for both file types.
• There can be no other lines in the file, other than ISBNs, etc.
• ISBN cannot have hyphens or spaces.
• ISBN for books can be either ISBN-10 or ISBN-13, however, ISBN-10 will automatically be converted to ISBN-13
• Fields CANNOT contain quotes.
• Price must include the decimal point and no ‘$’ sign
• Files must use the .txt or .csv extensions.
• The maximum length for any SKU is 20 characters

We recommend you use the Check Only processing mode to validate your file

• Check Only: this option will check your file for errors without affecting data on your site. This option is particularly useful if you are uploading your file for the first time to confirm you have the proper format.
• Process and Publish to Site: this will upload the file to your site and update the displayed information

NEW: If you would to like compare the prices within your LSI file to the prices listed on IndieCommerce, you can use the LSI Price Comparison Export. This is located under Store > Configuration > Local Store Inventory > LSI Price Comparison Export and it will export a CSV file of books with a different price in your LSI than on IndieCommerce. You can use this to help identify books whose price has been changed by the publisher

NOTES:

• A new file should be uploaded at least daily and no more than every 2 hours. If new files are not uploaded at least weekly, the inventory information on your site will be voided. Uploaded files are processed within the hour.
• If an item has 0 quantity, your site will display the uploaded price (and location, if provided) and the availability status as per Ingram's data. Such titles will still be considered as 'in stock' by search. For best search relevance, please do not include books that are actually not on hand in the LSI file.
• An ISBN should not be included more than once in your file, one line entry per ISBN
• Include non-book products together with books in a single file.
• SKUs for non-book products in your LSI feed must match the SKUs for non-book products on your IndieCommerce site.

MANUAL UPLOAD OF LSI

Navigate to: Store > Configuration > Local Store Inventory

1. Select Browse
2. Find your file locally and select open
3. Select  a processing mode:
   • Check Only: this option will check your file for errors without affecting data on your site. This option is particularly useful if you are uploading your file for the first time to confirm you have the proper format.
   • Process and Publish to Site: this will upload the file to your site and update the displayed information
4. Submit

If you have multiple outlets, a file can be uploaded for each outlet, by selecting the outlet from the ‘Store Outlet’ selection.

NOTES:

• You should receive a confirmation of the upload across the top of the page: “Your file was received successfully. Thank you! Please allow up to 1 hour for processing.”
• ABA processes the LSI files within 1 hour of uploading.
• If your file is not being processed and the check tool does not help, you may send us your file to [email protected] for further assistance.

LSI FILE VIA ABOVE THE TREELINE

If you are a member of ‘Above The Treeline’ (www.abovethetreeline.com), you can upload the LSI file to ATL, and ATL will provide it to us on your behalf. To initiate this process, reach out to ‘Above The Treeline’ and they will, in turn, notify us when they have completed setup on their end.

LSI VIA FTP

1. Send an email to us at [email protected] requesting FTP credentials for LSI
   • Once we receive this request, we will create an FTP account and send you the credentials.
   • If you already have FTP credentials for theming, you will still need to request credentials for LSI as they are separate.
2. Format your file:
   • The format of your LSI file should still match “File Type 1” or File Type 2” from the above section “LSI File Type and Format”. However, there is also a required naming convention for files uploaded via FTP. The file name should follow this convention:
     • dbprefix'_'$YEAR'-'$MONTH'-'$DAY'_'$HOUR'-'$MIN'-'$SEC'_'$OUTLETID.txt   Example:
       • teststore_2011-03-14_03-00-00_1.txt    for the primary outlet
       • teststore_2011-03-14_03-00-00_2.txt    for the second outlet

The email we send you will contain your actual “dbprefix”, which will go in place of “teststore”. A sample email is provided below to give you an idea of what to expect.

1. If you currently use “Above the Treeline” and would like to switch to the FTP method, you have to stop uploading files to ATL before you start using the FTP service.
2. Before you begin using FTP access, you should send your initial file to [email protected], named and formatted as you intend, for us to review.

NOTES:

• FTP files will be processed within 1hr of being uploaded.
• If you would like to automate the FTP service, the automation will need to occur on your end with help from your POS vendor and / or a developer.
• We recommend FileZilla for manual FTP of the LSI files, but any client should work.

SAMPLE EMAIL:

Your FTP credentials and the necessary file format are below:
URL:
Port:
Username:
password:
File Name Format:
dbprefix'_'$YEAR'-'$MONTH'-'$DAY'_'$HOUR'-'$MIN'-'$SEC'_'$OUTLETID.txt
teststore_2019-03-14_03-00-00_1.txt   

LOCAL STORE INVENTORY SETTINGS

In addition to uploading LSI, the system provides you with some control over how that information should be used on your website; there are 5 settings available for you to configure the LSI feature on your site.

Navigate to: Store > Configuration >Local Store Inventory > LSI Settings
 

1. Fulfillment Cascade Priority: This setting controls whose inventory is looked at first to fill an order - the store’s or Ingram’s
   • If the checkmark is PRESENT, the store's inventory will be checked first. If the item(s) are found to be on hand in your store inventory, the order will be left to be store fulfilled and the wholesaler inventory will not be reviewed.
   • If the checkmark is REMOVED, the wholesaler inventory will be checked first. If the item(s) are found to be available through the wholesaler, your store inventory will not be checked and the ‘Send to Wholesaler’ button will appear. If you have opted to allow ‘Automatic Wholesaler Fulfillment’ the order will be sent directly to the wholesaler to be filled.
2. Use Prices Provided in LSI?: This setting allows you to choose whether or not the site uses the uploaded local inventory price
   • Use LSI Pricing: If the checkmark is PRESENT, the price provided in your local store inventory file will be used and displayed
   • Web Discounts Override Inventory Pricing: If the checkmark is PRESENT, the price set through single product pricing rules using the Store Pricing Tool by Model will be used and displayed instead of the price provided in your LSI file.
3. Use LSI Availability?: This setting allows products in your local inventory to be available for sale through the site, even if they are unavailable from Ingram. The default for this setting is ‘On’.
   • If the checkmark is PRESENT, items in your local inventory, even when not found through the wholesaler, will be available for sale.
   • If the checkmark is REMOVED, only items that can also be found through the wholesaler will be available for sale
4. LSI Preorder Settings: This setting determines whether titles that are included in your LSI file but are considered 'Preorder' display as 'On Our Shelves Now' or 'Coming Soon'
   • If the checkmark is PRESENT, Preorder titles will be displayed as "On Our Shelves Now" as soon as they appear in your LSI File regardless of publication date.
   • If the checkmark is REMOVED, Preorder titles will be displayed as "Coming Soon" until the publishers given publication date.
5. Hide Quantity On Hand For LSI?: This setting allows you to choose whether or not you display an ‘On Hand’ quantity.
   • If the checkmark is PRESENT, the ‘On Hand’ quantity will be hidden.
   • If the checkmark is REMOVED, the ‘On Hand’ quantity will be displayed.
6. LSI Only - Show only books that appear in your LSI file - (Not recommended): Meant for specialty stores only, not recommended for general bookstores - A useful feature for stores particular about what books are available for customers on their website. This setting hides ALL books on the site other than the ones you have in stock. Customers will no longer be able to see or purchase any other book. Normally, custom products (sidelines etc.) will appear in search. But, enabling this feature will limit search to only books uploaded in the inventory file and will exclude custom products. You will need to create clear links for custom products elsewhere on the site.
   • If the checkmark is PRESENT, only books included in your LSI file will appear in the search results.
   • If the checkmark is REMOVED, all books in the database will appear in the search results.
7. LSI Only - Sell only books that are in stock in LSI: A useful feature for all bookstores to limit online sales to what is in stock at the store. This setting will show the 'Add to cart' button only if a book is currently in stock in LSI. Customers will still be able to see other books but cannot buy them. This feature can be enabled and disabled as needed.

Make sure you ‘Save Configuration’ if you make any changes.