> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Inventory Split by Channel, BigCommerce > Per-SKU stock visible to each channel. Surfaces concentration risk (one channel hoards stock, others stock-out). How to read it, why it matters, and how to... **Metrics type:** [Supporting Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Ecommerce Platform](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) > Per-SKU stock visible to each channel. Surfaces concentration risk (one channel hoards stock, others stock-out). ## At a glance > Per-SKU stock visible to each channel, decomposed by `channel_id` and `inventory_location`. Surfaces concentration risk in BC stores running Channel Manager: a single hot SKU with stock allocated 80% to Amazon and 20% to web means web shoppers see "out of stock" while Amazon hoards a stockpile. The card is essential for merchants using BC's Channel Inventory feature to allocate stock per channel, a workflow uniquely BC-native that Shopify only emulates with third-party apps. | | | | ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | Per-SKU `inventoryLevel` allocated to each `channel_id` (via Channel Inventory API) and each `inventory_location` (when MLI is active). Two views: aggregate (all SKUs total stock per channel) and per-SKU (top SKUs by velocity, per-channel allocation). | | **API endpoint** | `GET /v3/channels/{channel_id}/listings` for channel-level inventory, `GET /v3/inventory/locations/{location_id}/items` for MLI, plus `GET /v3/catalog/products` for the SKU baseline. The OpenSearch `inventory` index materialises per-SKU-per-channel-per-location stock. | | **VAT / tax treatment** | n/a, inventory metric. | | **Shipping** | n/a. | | **Discounts** | n/a. | | **Refunds** | n/a. | | **Cancelled orders** | n/a. | | **Currency** | n/a. | | **Channel coverage** | All channels using Channel Inventory, BC's per-channel allocation feature. Channels not using Channel Inventory share the global pool and show full inventory available. **Mix of allocated and unallocated channels is the most common BC pattern**: web pulls from global, Amazon pulls from a reserved allocation, B2B pulls from another reserved allocation. | | **B2B Edition behaviour** | B2B portal can have its own customer-group inventory reservation; the card surfaces this allocation. Useful for "do I have enough wholesale-reserved stock to fill upcoming PO commitments?" | | **MLI integration** | When MLI is enabled, the channel-allocation per-location split shows. A SKU with stock allocated 100% to Amazon at warehouse A but 100% to web at warehouse B is a complex state that this card surfaces clearly. | | **Concentration risk** | The card flags SKUs where >70% of total stock is allocated to a single channel; this is usually fine for marketplace-exclusive SKUs but is a misallocation for cross-platform SKUs. Configure threshold under Settings → Inventory → Concentration alert. | | **Time window** | `RT` (real-time, refreshed each Channel Manager sync, typically every 15-30 minutes). | | **Alert trigger** | None (pattern card, but pairs with concentration alerts). | | **Roles** | owner, operations | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your BigCommerce data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example A US homewares brand on BigCommerce Enterprise with Channel Inventory active, MLI across two warehouses, B2B Edition, and Channel Manager for Amazon and eBay. Snapshot at 09:00 UTC on 18 Apr 26. Top SKU by velocity: "Linen 4-piece bedding set, King" (\$340/day pre-OOS). | Channel | Warehouse A | Warehouse B | Total | % of total | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ----------- | ------ | ---------- | | `1` (DTC web) | 22 | 14 | 36 | 38% | | `1019847` (Amazon) | 38 | 0 | 38 | 40% | | `1019850` (eBay) | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4% | | `12000004` (B2B portal reserve) | 12 | 6 | 18 | 19% | | **Total stock** | **76** | **20** | **96** | | What's interesting: 1. **Amazon hoards 40% of total stock.** This is at the edge of healthy, exceeding the merchant's typical 35% Amazon allocation guideline. The reason: Channel Manager auto-replenishes Amazon-reserved stock based on 30-day Amazon velocity, and Amazon's velocity grew 20% recently. The allocation is keeping up with demand, but is bumping the concentration ceiling. **Watch for Amazon velocity to plateau; if not, raise the global stock level.** 2. **eBay shows just 4 units, 4% of total**, despite eBay representing 6-8% of the merchant's revenue mix on this SKU family. The cause: eBay's auto-replenishment trigger threshold was set higher than Amazon's; eBay refills at 5 units, Amazon at 15 units. **Asymmetric replenishment thresholds can starve a healthy channel.** Recommend equalising thresholds. 3. **B2B portal reserve at 18 units protects upcoming POs.** This merchant has 3 wholesale orders in the quote pipeline totalling \~14 units; the 18-unit reserve provides 4-unit safety margin. **The B2B reserve workflow is uniquely BC**, Shopify's equivalent (Stocky / third-party) is less integrated. 4. **Warehouse B has 20 units, all allocated to web and B2B.** Marketplace orders (Amazon, eBay) ship exclusively from Warehouse A in this configuration. If Warehouse A goes offline, marketplace fulfilment stops; web and B2B continue from B. **MLI cross-warehouse fail-over needs explicit configuration**, not automatic. 5. **The global pool not allocated to any channel is zero.** This is the strict-allocation pattern: every unit is reserved. Stricter than necessary for most stores; recommend a 5-10 unit unallocated buffer to absorb sudden demand on any channel. Action priority order: 1. **Audit replenishment thresholds per channel.** Equalise where possible to avoid starving healthy channels. 2. **For top SKUs, configure unallocated buffer** (5-10% of total stock) so any sudden channel demand can pull from the global pool. 3. **For MLI, configure cross-warehouse fail-over** in Channel Manager, single-warehouse channel allocation is a single point of failure. 4. **For B2B reserve, monitor against quote pipeline.** A reserve falling below pipeline-commitment is the leading indicator of B2B fulfilment risk. 5. **Pair with [BC Stock vs Sales](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/stock-vs-sales-velocity)** to verify allocation matches velocity. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair it with Inventory Split by Channel | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [BC Inventory Distribution](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/inventory-distribution) | Store-wide inventory baseline; this card is the per-channel decomposition. | | [BC Channel OOS per Channel](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/oos-listings-per-channel) | Surfaces channels where allocation has run out. | | [BC Stock vs Sales](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/stock-vs-sales-velocity) | Velocity-vs-allocation comparison; identifies misallocation. | | [BC Top SKUs](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/top-skus) | Identifies which SKUs need careful per-channel allocation. | | [BC Top SKUs Revenue](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/top-skus-by-revenue) | Revenue-weighted view; high-revenue SKUs deserve audit-level allocation attention. | | [BC Alert OOS Spike](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/oos-spike-alert) | Concentration risk often manifests as OOS spike on one channel. | | [BC Channel Fulfilment Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/fulfilment-rate-by-channel) | Channel-allocated stock at the wrong warehouse causes fulfilment delays. | | [BC Channel Top Products](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/top-products-by-channel) | Cross-references which SKUs sell well per channel; allocation should match. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in BigCommerce Control Panel:** [Channel Manager](https://login.bigcommerce.com/deep-links/manage/channel-manager) → individual channel → "Inventory" tab shows the channel's allocated stock. [Settings → Inventory → Channel Inventory](https://login.bigcommerce.com/deep-links/manage/settings/inventory) shows the global allocation rules. For MLI: [Settings → Inventory → Locations](https://login.bigcommerce.com/deep-links/manage/settings/inventory) shows per-location stock per SKU. For B2B: [Channel Manager → B2B Edition → Customer groups](https://login.bigcommerce.com/deep-links/manage/channel-manager) shows reservation rules. **Why our split may differ from BC's Channel Manager view:** | Reason | Direction | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | | **Sync timing**. Channel Manager updates stock allocation every 15-30 minutes; we mirror that cadence but at slightly different sync clock. | Sub-15min lag in either direction | | **Pending orders impact**. We show committed-but-unshipped stock as "allocated"; BC's Channel Manager view varies. | Either direction | | **B2B customer-group reserve**. We surface reserve as its own row; BC's Channel Manager rolls it into the per-customer-group view. | Different presentation | | **MLI cross-platform + cross-location**. We compute the matrix; BC presents only one axis at a time. | Different granularity | | **Unallocated buffer**. We surface unallocated stock as "Global pool"; BC's Channel Manager doesn't. | Vortex IQ surfaces; BC doesn't | **Cross-connector reconciliation (when 3PL and marketplace integrations are connected):** | Card | Expected relationship | What causes legitimate divergence | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`amazon_sp.amazon_inventory_per_listing`](/nerve-centre/amazon_sp/amazon_inventory_per_listing) | Amazon's inventory should match the Amazon channel slice within 1-2 units | Amazon FBA shows units across multiple fulfilment centres; our card shows BC-tracked allocation. FBA-side units in transit don't appear here. | | [`shipbob.sb_per_channel_stock`](/nerve-centre/shipbob/sb_per_channel_stock) | ShipBob's per-channel stock should match within 1-2 units | ShipBob's reporting includes some staged-but-not-receipted units; our card mirrors BC's authoritative count. | | [`walmart_marketplace.wm_inventory`](/nerve-centre/walmart_marketplace/wm_inventory) | Walmart's inventory should match Walmart channel slice | Walmart's marketplace API has its own caching; sync lag of 30-90 minutes is normal. | **The per-channel inventory split view is BC-aligned; Shopify's per-location inventory model is similar but lacks BC's Channel Inventory feature; Adobe Commerce's MSI (Multi-Source Inventory) is closer to BC's MLI.** ***
Same-metric documentation cross-reference (for agencies running multiple platforms) * [`shopify.inventory_per_location`](/nerve-centre/shopify/inventory_per_location) (planned) * [`adobe_commerce.inventory_per_source`](/nerve-centre/adobe_commerce/inventory_per_source) (planned)
## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **My channel allocations don't add up to total stock. Where's the missing inventory?** Probably in the global unallocated pool, the buffer that any channel can pull from when its allocation hits zero. Some merchants run zero-buffer (every unit allocated); others run a 5-15% buffer for resilience. Configure under Settings → Channel Inventory → Buffer. **Why is Amazon hoarding 40% of my stock?** Channel Manager auto-replenishes Amazon-allocated stock based on Amazon's 30-day velocity. If Amazon has been a high-velocity channel, the auto-replenishment skews more stock toward it. **Audit the auto-replenishment rules**: target-days-of-cover (typically 14-21 days for Amazon FBA; 7-10 for FBM) drives the allocation. Reduce target to free stock for other channels. **My eBay channel has 4 units but eBay has been my second-best marketplace. What's wrong?** Probably a stale auto-replenishment threshold. eBay velocity may have grown but the Channel Manager rule didn't update. Manually rebalance allocation under [Channel Manager → eBay → Inventory](https://login.bigcommerce.com/deep-links/manage/channel-manager) or set new threshold in the auto-replenishment rule. **My multi-storefront BC instance shares catalogue but per-storefront pricing. Does this card respect storefronts?** The card respects channels, not storefronts. If your storefronts are configured as separate channels, each appears as its own row. Most merchants configure storefronts as separate channels for inventory-isolation reasons. Verify your channel configuration matches your operational expectations. **My B2B portal has a 50-unit reserve but my pipeline is only 12 units. Is the reserve too high?** Possibly, but B2B reserves should also account for new-PO-onboarding capacity (the prospect quote that closes next week). A typical safety margin is 2-3x active pipeline; 50 units reserved against 12-unit pipeline is conservative but not crazy if you have B2B sales prospects in progress. **Audit reserve quarterly** rather than weekly, B2B cycles are slower than DTC. **MLI: my SKU shows stock at warehouse A allocated to Amazon, none at warehouse B. What if warehouse A goes offline?** Configure cross-warehouse fail-over in Channel Manager → Inventory rules → "On location offline, fall over to". Without explicit fail-over, Amazon orders won't ship if warehouse A is down. **Single-warehouse channel allocation is a single point of failure**; always configure fail-over. **My headline OOS count says 12 SKUs but this card shows healthy allocation everywhere. What gives?** The 12 OOS SKUs are likely SKUs not under Channel Inventory management; they share the global pool which is at zero. This card is most useful for SKUs in active Channel Inventory; for global-pool SKUs use [BC Inventory Distribution](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/bigcommerce/inventory-distribution). **Should I allocate my top-velocity SKU to a channel reserve?** Generally no. Top-velocity SKUs benefit from global-pool flexibility (any channel that gets a sudden order can pull). Reserve allocation makes sense for marketplace-exclusive SKUs (Amazon-only bundle), B2B-reserved SKUs (PO commitments), or POS-only SKUs (in-store-exclusive). **Why does Channel Manager auto-replenishment keep over-allocating to Amazon?** The default rule prioritises Amazon FBA replenishment because Amazon penalises out-of-stock harder than other channels. **For BC stores not using Amazon FBA, change the rule to "even allocation across channels by velocity"** rather than "Amazon-priority". Configure under Settings → Channel Inventory → Replenishment policy. **Can I see the historical allocation trend, not just the current snapshot?** Yes, switch the view from "Real-time" to "30-day trend" at the top of the card. Trend view shows allocation changes over time; useful for diagnosing when an over-allocation happened or whether a manual rebalance stuck. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Inventory Split by Channel* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across BigCommerce and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.