Inventory Reserved, Allocated, Delivered.
KIBO's Allocations & Reservations capabilities hold inventory from the first click to the loading dock: guaranteeing checkout, protecting B2B commitments, and rebalancing automatically when supply moves, so no channel ever sells the same unit twice.
When Inventory Allocation Fails, Everyone Pays.
If you have ever watched a slipped purchase order turn into a series of apology emails, you already know the problem.
The Cost of Getting it Wrong.
Yet most organizations still run availability and commitment on separate tracks.
The checkout race
Availability is checked once at add-to-cart. Two shoppers can both "buy" the last unit, and the loser finds out from a cancellation email after their card was already charged.
Invisible commitments
ERP holds, spreadsheets, and phone promises claim units that no channel can see. The available count still includes them. What looks free to promise often isn't.
Static protection
Safety stock and channel buffers are set once and reviewed rarely. Too much held back becomes overstock and markdowns, too little becomes oversells, and there are no rules for who deserves the final units.
Supply shocks, handled by hand
When a purchase order slips or gets cut, the shortfall surfaces at pick time. Recovery is a firefighting exercise of manual re-pegging, apology emails, and expedited freight.
KIBO: Allocations & Reservations Built Into the Platform.
The checkout race, the hidden holds, the stale buffers, the scramble after a slipped PO: all four exist for the same reason. Your selling channels and your inventory network are keeping two separate sets of books. KIBO's Allocations & Reservations capabilities put them on one ledger, one lifecycle that holds, commits, protects, and rebalances every unit. Here is the proof.
A sneaker drop or ticket on-sale: two shoppers race for the last pair. The one who reaches checkout first holds it, and the other sees an honest out-of-stock message in the moment, not a cancellation email tomorrow.
Checkout Inventory Reservations That Hold
Items in the cart are held through checkout, and holds update as the cart changes.
- Reserve inventory in the shopper's cart for a configurable window (15 minutes by default)
- Holds update as the cart changes: quantities, fulfillment methods, and pickup locations reallocate automatically
- BOPIS items fall back to transfer locations when the pickup store is short
- Future inventory covers shortfalls when current stock can't
- Works with or without KIBO eCommerce; Order Management-only implementations drive the same holds through Reservation APIs from any external checkout
Order Allocations With an Editable Window
Orders hard-allocate against the same record the storefront reads, with an optional editable window.
- When an order is placed, inventory hard-allocates to its shipments against the same UPC-and-location record the storefront reads
- On-hand decrements at shipment
- Commit allocation immediately, or hold orders in an editable pending state for anywhere from one minute to five days
- Cancellations and line edits deallocate and reallocate instantly
- Per-line allocation APIs cover overrides, and a location-level setting handles stock that is physically present but not yet recorded
A gifting retailer gives shoppers a 30-minute change-of-mind window. Orders sit editable, stock stays held the whole time, and a cancelled order returns its units to availability the moment it happens, not on the next overnight sync.
A distributor runs short on a key component. Its platinum accounts are ranked first and fill completely, standard tiers see what remains, and each buyer's portal shows a real fill rate and a delivery date backed by reserved stock.
B2B Call-Off Reservations With Priority Rules
Ranked rules decide which B2B buyers get scarce stock first.
- Call-Off Orders reserve inventory softly through ranked Reservation Rules in the B2B Wholesale OMS pipeline
- Rules use product, customer, and order criteria evaluated in strict rank order
- Lines progress from Hold to Partially Reserved to Fully Reserved across scheduled runs, accumulating across multiple warehouse locations
- A fill rate and an inventory-backed estimated delivery date are calculated per line
- Active reservations net out of Available to Promise, so B2B commitments and B2C demand never sell the same unit
Blanket Order Allocation With Guaranteed Supply
A contract's committed quantity is ring-fenced the moment it is signed.
- A Blanket Order in network-level mode ring-fences the committed quantity from network availability before a single Call-Off Order is placed
- A live ledger holds the invariant Contracted = Called + Uncalled at all times
A distributor signs a blanket agreement for 5,000 fittings. KIBO ring-fences the full committed quantity from network availability before the first call-off is placed, and the ledger holds Contracted = Called + Uncalled from signing to the final release.
A key inbound PO slips two weeks overnight. Instead of 40 orders failing at pick time, the highest-priority shipments re-peg to alternate inbound, the rest move to backorder in ranked order, and every affected customer's delivery date updates before anyone opens a spreadsheet.
Allocation Rebalancer for Future & Backorder Shipments
When a PO slips or is cut, affected future and backorder shipments re-secure inventory automatically.
- The Allocation Rebalancer detects a purchase order that is delayed, short-shipped, or cancelled
- Future Shipment Rules rank who keeps stock
- Order Routing hunts alternate inbound supply inside a configurable time fence
- Shipments that can't be re-secured move to defined after-actions (backorder, customer care, or cancel)
- The full backorder queue re-ranks on every run
Reservation Rebalancer for Promised Commitments
When supply is disrupted, promised B2B reservations recover in a set order, and urgent commitments are protected.
- Deallocate the stale portion, then refill from free supply across the network
- Under Steal-For and Steal-From rules, move units from later-shipping, lower-priority call-offs
- A hard, engine-enforced ship date buffer guarantees a more urgent commitment can never have its supply taken by a less urgent one
- Both parties' delivery dates recalculate immediately, and blanket ledgers stay exact
A PO cut in half threatens 21 promised call-offs. Seven refill from free supply, eight recover from later-shipping orders, and the rest re-enter the regular reservation run, each with an updated promise date and a full audit record of who gave and who received.
A distributor holds a segment for its subscription refill program. When a supply cut forces rebalancing, the subscription pool refills from its own segment first, and ad-hoc orders compete for what remains, not the other way around.
Segment-Aware Allocation
Segments restrict reservations to designated pools of stock, and the rebalancers honor them.
- Inventory segments apply to the allocation layer, not just the availability number
- Call-Off Orders can carry segment tags that restrict their reservations to a designated pool of stock
- Both rebalancers honor segments when re-securing supply
- Stock ring-fenced for a channel, an account tier, or a fulfillment type is never quietly drained by general demand
Allocation & Reservation Visibility
Every hold and allocation can be inspected, with an audit trail for rebalancer runs.
- The Supply & Demand view surfaces reservations per product and location, with an account filter and a live net position
- The Blanket Network Reservations view shows network on-hand, ring-fenced quantity, combined allocations, and what is genuinely free to promise
- A negative number is an honest over-commitment signal, not an error
- The Rebalancer Run Audit traces every supply change, prioritization decision, and steal pairing back to its trigger
Monday morning, a supply planner opens one view and sees which accounts hold which units, which PO slips hit which shipments, and what is truly free to promise this week. The scramble for answers is over before it starts.
Combine controls for compound precision.
Ring-fence a contract at signing, rank its call-offs above general demand, and let the rebalancers defend both when supply moves. The rules are defined by your business, not your platform.
Leading Companies Trust KIBO.
FAQs
Prevent Overselling: Sell Every Unit Once. Keep Every Promise You Make.
See how KIBO's Allocations & Reservations capabilities guarantee checkout, protect contracted supply, absorb shocks without manual recovery, and turn reliable allocation into a competitive advantage.