This article outlines the creation and behaviour of the Virtual Outbound Staging Location, Virtual Receiving Buffer in Location Inventory (SKU-Bin Map) and Stock Ledger, and filters to view the Virtual Outbound Staging Location, Virtual Receiving Buffer, locations with products and locations without products.
Virtual Outbound Staging Location
In the current system, inventory is deducted immediately when an order status is completed or the packing_completed status. However, this does not accurately reflect the physical flow of goods within a warehouse. In practice, once orders are packed, they are moved to a shipping or staging area where they await carrier pickup—often for several hours or even days.
To bridge this operational gap, the Virtual Outbound Staging Location has been introduced. This enhancement aims to better represent the real-world movement of inventory by introducing a transitional inventory state between packing completion and final dispatch. This update impacts how inventory is tracked in SKU-BIN Management and recorded in the Stock Ledger, providing improved visibility, accuracy, and control over outbound logistics.
When an order transitions to the packing_completed or completed status, the system automatically generates a Virtual Outbound Staging Location within the SKU-BIN Management page. This virtual location acts as a staging area for the inventory associated with the packed order, reflecting the physical reality where packed goods are staged before being picked up by the carrier. To view the Virtual Outbound Staging Location, kindly follow the steps below
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System Locations Filter
Go to Hopstack Dashboard > Inventory> Location Inventory
Click on the Add Filter option
Click on “System locations” and enable the “Include System Locations” check box.
Please note that by default, the “Include System Locations” checkbox is disabled on the SKU-BIN Management page. When disabled, the view is limited to line items that are manually created by users, excluding any system-generated (virtual) locations. To view the VIRTUAL_OUTBOUND_STAGING_LOCATION, you must enable this checkbox. Once enabled, system-generated locations—including the Virtual Outbound Staging Location—will be visible for the orders that are completed and have a packing_completed status.
Once the “Include System Locations” checkbox is enabled, VIRTUAL_OUTBOUND_STAGING_LOCATION will become visible on the Location Inventory page.
Once the order is marked as shipped via the Order Management page, the allocated quantity in the VIRTUAL_OUTBOUND_STAGING_LOCATION will be debited, reflecting the final dispatch of inventory from the warehouse.
The “Outbound Staging” quantity can also be viewed on the Stock Ledger page, providing transparency into inventory held in the virtual staging location.
Go to Hopstack Dashboard > Inventory > Stock Ledger
Virtual Receiving Buffer
To improve inventory traceability, all inventory awaiting putaway is now stored in a system-managed virtual location called VIRTUAL_RECEIVING_BUFFER. This ensures inventory can be tracked from receiving until it is moved to its final storage location.
To view the Virtual Receiving Buffer, kindly follow the steps below
Go to Hopstack Dashboard > Inventory> Location Inventory
Click on the Add Filter option
Click on “System locations” and enable the “Include System Locations” check box.
This will include all system locations. Now you can specifically search for Virtual Receiving Buffer to filter the table and display only inventory in the Receiving Buffer.
Stock Status Filter
Go to Hopstack Dashboard > Inventory> Location Inventory
Click on the Add Filter option
Select the Stock status Filter and user may select either “Has Products” or “Empty Locations”.
Once the "Has Products" checkbox is enabled via Stock Status, all line items with allocated or unallocated quantities greater than 0 will be displayed on the Location Inventory page.
By clicking "Empty Locations", all locations with zero allocated and zero unallocated quantities will be displayed on the screen.
To enable this feature, please contact your respective Account Manager.