Design and Evolution of Locked Inventory in an E‑commerce System

As the business continuously expands, the "Strict Selection" inventory management gradually adopts a multi‑channel shared‑inventory model. It balances supply, fulfillment, and marketing needs, evolving the locked‑inventory function from a basic capability to a strategic one that supports complex business scenarios.

1. Preface

The Strict Selection e‑commerce platform features multi‑channel sales, online‑offline integration, and multi‑warehouse distribution. Inventory management must balance shared and dedicated stock to satisfy various requirements, such as:

Ensuring sufficient inventory for specific live streams or promotional events.

Meeting channel‑specific minimum inventory thresholds.

Accommodating large, important customers with dedicated purchase batches.

Guaranteeing enough stock in a particular warehouse for designated shipments.

2. Inventory System and Locked‑Inventory Design

The inventory system is organized into three layers:

Warehouse‑layer inventory : Real‑time data from WMS or store‑management systems reflecting physical quantities in warehouses and stores.

Physical‑layer inventory (also called “dispatch inventory”): Aggregates data from all warehouses, serving as the basis for sales inventory and supporting order‑fulfillment decisions.

Sales‑layer inventory : Visible to end‑users and determines whether a purchase can be completed.

Locked inventory is introduced to allocate dedicated stock for special scenarios. Two main dimensions are defined:

Sales‑layer lock : Used mainly for marketing activities; the locked stock can be consumed by sales orders, released (manually or automatically), or migrated.

Physical‑layer lock (also called “real‑warehouse lock”): Applies when a specific warehouse must be used. It is further divided into pure physical‑layer lock and a lock that maps to the sales layer. Physical‑layer locked stock can be consumed by order fulfillment or released.

2.2 Implementation Logic

Locked inventory supports both good‑quality ("良品") and minor‑defect ("微瑕品") items. Each lock record is identified by a unique lockkey and includes fields such as SKU ID, lock key, warehouse (optional for sales‑layer locks), lock quantity, lock channel, and lock type. The lock request originates from business scenarios, is approved by product or planning personnel, and the system automatically moves the appropriate amount from the shared pool to a dedicated lock pool.

3. Development Process of Locked Inventory

The evolution consists of three stages:

Basic capability building : Early systems lagged behind business growth. Core lock sources (business lock, main‑site lock, channel lock, internal system lock) and the two‑layer lock types were established.

Lock capability standardization : Established unified standards for lock usage, monitoring, and evaluation, focusing on order‑replenishment demand sources and fulfillment lock scenarios.

Strategic capability building : Built on the basic data and capability layers, introducing automated strategies such as intelligent lock allocation, automatic expiration release, and lock migration to handle complex marketing and supply‑chain tasks.

Each stage is illustrated with diagrams (omitted here) that show the architectural progression.

4. Conclusion

With ongoing e‑commerce growth, the locked‑inventory design has transitioned from a simple tool to a sophisticated, strategy‑driven capability. It enables precise, scenario‑specific stock allocation while maintaining the overarching principle of shared inventory. Proper use of locked inventory enhances flexibility and efficiency, whereas misuse (e.g., excessive or prolonged locks) can lead to deadstock and slower inventory turnover.