What happens to allocated inventory when an order ships, changes, or is canceled?

Allocated units stay reserved for their fulfillment order until it is fully shipped, reverted, or canceled.

When shipments cover every item on a fulfillment order, it becomes Fulfilled and Endless removes the allocated units from Physical and Allocated together, so Unallocated does not change. A partial shipment changes nothing, and the fulfillment order’s activity says “Allocated inventory remains reserved until shipments cover the entire fulfillment.” If a shipment is later removed from a Fulfilled fulfillment order, Endless adds the units back to Physical.

Editing a sales order’s items does not change its fulfillment orders or their allocations. If you reduce a quantity below what fulfillment orders hold, the order shows “Fulfillment quantities exceed the sales order by … units.” Raising a quantity on an Allocated fulfillment order releases its allocation and returns it to Draft. To lower a quantity, select “Revert to Draft” first, change the quantity, and allocate again.

Selecting “Revert to Draft” on an Allocated fulfillment order, or “Cancel Fulfillment,” releases its allocation, and the units return to Unallocated. Canceling a sales order cancels its open fulfillment orders and releases their stock.

Units stay in Allocated while a fulfillment order is still open in Endless, for example when the order shipped from another system and no shipment was recorded. Record the shipment or cancel the fulfillment order. A daily recalculation removes holds left on canceled or fulfilled orders.

A fulfillment order cannot be allocated from a building where the SKU has no stock. If it ships without an allocation, Endless does not reduce inventory and logs “Inventory was not reduced because this fulfillment had no active allocation.” Adjust the count by hand.

When a Shopify order’s quantity drops, Endless updates fulfillment orders that are still Draft and untouched to match. It leaves any that are allocated, sent to a fulfillment service, packed, shipped, or edited in Endless, and logs messages such as “Inventory is allocated to an Endless fulfillment order. Review it before applying the source changes.” Revert it to Draft or edit its items.