A crucial tool in VTEX’s Logistics module is Inventory Reservation. This feature is triggered during the order creation process, updating a product’s availability so that purchased items are set aside from the total stock for order fulfillment and cannot be sold twice.
However, it’s common to encounter some confusion around how reservations work, especially in scenarios where a reservation is “stuck” — that is, a product is listed as reserved in inventory even when it shouldn’t be. With that in mind, this topic covers some key information about Reservations and what to do in cases like these.
Reservation Status Types
First of all, it’s important to keep in mind that reservations can have 3 different statuses, and they must go through all 3 throughout the order flow, in the following order:
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When an order is created, the reservation is created with the status Authorized.
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After payment is approved, the reservation changes to the status Confirmed.
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After the order status changes to “Preparing Delivery”, the reservation changes to the status Acknowledged.
These different statuses can be viewed within Inventory by searching for the product and clicking on the number of reservations:
And it will take into account the following steps of the Order Flow:
The approach to handling an improper reservation will depend on this status, with different actions available for each one:
Authorized Reservation
If a product has reservations with the status “Authorized”, it means the orders causing this reservation have not had their payment approved. This is common in Incomplete Order scenarios, where orders were created without some information required to complete them. Incomplete orders are common, and we have a tutorial in our Help Center on the subject. Our reservation system accounts for such orders in its operation: when a reservation is made by an incomplete order, that reservation will be automatically canceled after 11 calendar days.
However, if you want to clear this reservation before that period, it can be done manually via API using the Cancel Reservation request.
In a previous topic, linked below, you can find a full tutorial on how to use this API:
Confirmed Reservation
As mentioned earlier, a reservation will remain in “Confirmed” status from payment approval until order handling begins. This means a reservation staying in this status is extremely rare, as it’s a transitional step, and it generally occurs due to some error in order flow management — particularly if an order was delivered and invoiced without being updated to “Preparing Delivery” status, as shown in the example below:
In this case, we recommend triggering order handling via API using the Start Handling Order request so that the reservation moves to “Acknowledged” status. If that’s not possible, the manual cancellation described earlier can also be used.
Acknowledged Reservation
The “Acknowledged” status is the final status for reservations and indicates a reservation whose delivery process has already begun. The main source of confusion with this type of reservation is that even after the delivery is completed and the order is updated to “Invoiced”, the reservation will remain active until the inventory deduction is done manually. This happens because VTEX does not automatically deduct inventory for any product, as it assumes that inventory management should be handled directly by the customer or via ERP.
To clear reservations with “Acknowledged” status, simply update the inventory through the admin panel or via API using the Update inventory by SKU and warehouse request. Keep in mind that this update will remove all reservations in “Acknowledged” status for the product in question, so we recommend being careful and only doing this after the order has been Invoiced.
If you’d like to understand each step of the reservation flow in more detail, our Help Center has the topic How Reservation Works.
On the other hand, if you want to learn more about the order flow, we have the tutorial Order Flow and Status.
Eduardo Luciano
Field Software Engineer | VTEX