You've completed steps 1 to 6 of "Get Started with Sales" and are now looking for more information on Inventory Allocations (IA) and Offers.
Simply put, think of Inventory Allocation as the setting where you determine the quantities you want to sell and establish your allocation levels.
Offers, on the other hand, involve setting discount pricing (if applicable) and availability based on your Inventory Allocation settings.
For most users, utilizing one Inventory Allocation and one Offer lineage is likely the standard approach. For instance, having 1 Inventory Allocation and 1 Offer.
However, for larger organizations and companies, the flexibility of IA and Offers allows for enhanced efficiency and full customization in sales strategies. For example, having 1 Inventory Allocation and 4 Offers (1 for Field Reps, 1 for Sales Reps, 1 for VMI Reps, 1 for Clients/Buyers).
Alternatively, another scenario could involve 1 Inventory Allocation and 2 Offers (1 for Field Reps, 1 for Clients/Buyers).
As illustrated in the examples above, Bamboo enables customization in the utilization of Inventory Allocations and Offers based on your company's Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
In the screenshots provided below, you'll see an example of Inventory Allocation. When the IA is unlocked/unused, you can simply input the quantity you wish to sell in the Qty By Unit column. The "Allocated" column next to Qty By Unit indicates the quantity allocated to the offers.
For instance, if you have 1000 Qty By Unit and 1000 is allocated, it signifies that 1000 of those products are already allocated in Offers.
If an Offer has not been set up yet, the Allocated number will be 0.
If an Offer utilizes any of the allocated quantities from the Qty By Unit, the number displayed in the Allocated column will indicate the total units used by all Offers combined or the specific Offer utilizing it. In the screenshot provided below, 100,000g has already been allocated to one or multiple Offers.
Please be aware that the Order Limit denotes the maximum quantity that can be ordered per order. It is optional and not mandatory to fill in this field; you can leave it blank if needed.
After you have set up your IAs, it is time to go to the Offers module.
You can choose the sections you've created in your IA. If you're establishing a direct lineage between IA and Offer, simply select all sections. Once sections are added, proceed to assign Units to the Campaign Limits column. This sets the maximum limit per Offer. Each Offer will have its Campaign (email and non-email).
Hide In Stock Value in Offer Menu = Hides the quantity amount on the Sales Menu.
Hide Limit value in Offer Menu = Hides the limits on the Sales Menu.
Timer: This feature is optional, but we recommend setting it for 60 or 90 minutes. When a client, buyer, or sales rep initiates a cart, after the selected time elapses with no activity, the items added to the cart will be returned to inventory. The timer begins when the cart remains inactive for the chosen period.
Order Minimum: This sets the minimum amount required for an order.
Preview and Styling: You can preview and add a banner to your Sales Menu.
Clear All Limits: This function removes all limits, effectively resetting them.
Clear All Prices: This function removes all discounted pricing from this offer.
Example: You have 5000 units available for the Dabwoods Green Velvet in this Offer. This indicates that your Inventory Allocation was 5000, allowing you to input a maximum of 5000 units for this Offer.
In the Offer, you can also establish the discounted price. For a comprehensive understanding of how pricing layers operate in Bamboo Sales, please refer to our knowledge-based article on Pricing Layers.
As depicted in the example below, the original price of one of the products is $20 per unit, but for this Offer, we've discounted it to $7.
The "Allocated" column in the Offer indicates the quantity that has been sold or added to the cart by a client, buyer, sales rep, etc.
Here's a helpful tip: If you wish to promptly remove a product from your Sales Menu, simply place your Offer on hold and then deselect the box next to the product in the Visibility column, and then re-activate the Offer!
Once you've completed your Offer, you're now prepared for Step 9 in Getting Started with Sales!