Hybrid stock: more flexible and more realistic inventory management
Hybrid stock is a new core feature of the Rental platform. It addresses a common need: allowing points of sale to combine multiple stock sources, without being limited to a single model.
Until now, a point of sale had to choose between two exclusive modes of operation:
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managing its own local stock, or
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relying solely on warehouse stock.
With hybrid stock, this choice is no longer binary: a single point of sale can now mix local stock and warehouse stock, depending on its operational needs.
This evolution brings a great deal of flexibility, but it also involves changes and impacts across many parts of the tool. This article aims to give you a global overview of how hybrid stock works and its practical implications.
1. General principle of hybrid stock
Hybrid stock allows a point of sale to:
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have its own stock, physically present in store,
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while also having access, as a complement, to the centralised warehouse stock.
In practice, when checking availability or creating a rental, the system is able to:
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take into account the point of sale's local stock,
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supplement with warehouse stock if necessary,
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while respecting the priority and visibility rules defined in the settings.
This makes it possible to:
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fulfil a rental even if the in-store stock is insufficient,
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optimise the use of overall stock,
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more accurately reflect the logistical reality of your network.
2. Impacts on points of sale
The configuration of points of sale is directly affected.
Points of sale are no longer limited to a single stock management mode. They can now:
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retain autonomy over part of their stock,
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while relying on the warehouse for the rest.
This has a direct impact on:
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how stock is calculated,
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how availability is displayed,
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how rentals are created and assigned.
👉 See: Points of sale
3. Advanced settings: rules and priorities
Advanced settings allow you to fine-tune the behaviour of hybrid stock.
They define in particular:
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which stock sources are consulted first,
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the various lead times to be respected depending on the type of stock reserved.
These settings are essential for adapting hybrid stock to your organisation.
👉 See: Advanced settings
4. Categories and stock assignment
Hybrid stock also impacts the configuration of categories.
Depending on the chosen configuration, a category can:
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rely solely on local stock,
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rely solely on warehouse stock,
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or combine both.
This directly influences:
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product visibility,
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their availability for rental,
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and reservation rules.
👉 See: Create a category
5. Stock information and consultation
When adding stock to a product, it is now possible to distinguish between:
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stock assigned to a point of sale,
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stock assigned to the warehouse.
Similarly, the screens related to stock information and stock consultation are evolving to reflect hybrid mode. They make it possible in particular to visualise the origin of stock (local vs. warehouse) and to avoid misunderstandings related to aggregated stock figures.
👉 See:
6. Creating a rental
Hybrid stock has a major impact when creating a rental.
When reserving a product, the system can:
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use the point of sale's local stock as a priority,
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then supplement with warehouse stock if the configuration allows it.
This improves availability rates while respecting the rules defined upstream.
👉 See: Create a rental
7. Rental detail page
Finally, the rental detail page takes hybrid stock into account to display consistent information about the origin of the stock.
👉 See: Rental detail page
8. Key takeaways
Hybrid stock is a major evolution that:
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removes the boundaries between local stock and warehouse stock,
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brings greater flexibility to points of sale,
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impacts the entire workflow, from configuration to rental tracking.
It requires a global overview and consistent configuration to make the most of it. This article provides a general overview; each linked section is worth consulting in detail according to your use cases.