Inventory management in Commerce Server sites usually occurs in two stages in the order processing pipeline (OPP).
The first stage, the Inventory stage, is usually configured to include components that determine whether a sufficient number of items is available to fill the order for a given SKU.
The second stage, the Accept stage, may be configured to modify the product table for a site to reflect the new number of items available for a given SKU. Optionally, you can use the SQLItemADO component in either the Inventory or Accept stages to reduce the local inventory once it has been added to a customer's basket.
This section explains how to use the inventory components included in Commerce Server 3.0, and explains how you can use Commerce Server to address issues that arise in the context of inventory control.