Understanding Warehouses and Warehouse Groups
Warehouse: Represents any location where you track inventory. This can include:
Your own warehouse
A co-packer
A 3PL (third-party logistics provider)
FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon)
Warehouse Group: A collection of warehouses. These are useful for combining inventory from multiple warehouses and pushing accurate inventory counts to sales channels like Shopify.
Example Use Case:
If you have separate picking and storage warehouses but want the combined inventory to appear on your Shopify store, you can create a warehouse group that aggregates the inventory from both locations.
Step 1: Navigate to Locations
From the Manage menu on the left-hand side, select Locations.
Here, you can view all your existing warehouses and warehouse groups.
Step 2: Create a New Warehouse
On the Locations page, click Create Warehouse in the top-left corner.
Fill out the required fields:
Warehouse Name: Enter the name (e.g., "Test Warehouse").
Address: Input the warehouse address to ensure it appears correctly on POs.
Default Shipping and Receiving Location: If you’re not tracking inventory by bin, enter a general location.
Click Submit to save your new warehouse.
Step 3: Manage Existing Warehouses
Click the Manage button to view your list of warehouses.
Select a warehouse to:
Edit: Update warehouse details.
Delete: Remove a warehouse.
You can also create additional warehouses from this page.
Step 4: Create a Warehouse Group
From the Locations page, click Warehouse Groups.
Click Create Warehouse Group.
Fill out the following fields:
Group Name: Enter a name (e.g., "Test Warehouse Group").
Description (Optional): Add details about the group’s purpose.
Add Warehouses: Select the warehouses to include in the group.
Define the Default Picking Warehouse:
This is where Luminous will look to deduct inventory for auto-depletion.
Step 5: Configure Pick and Pack Settings
Automatic vs. Manual:
Automatic: Inventory is deducted automatically when an order is marked as shipped in an external system (e.g., ShipStation).
Manual: Requires you to manually mark the order as shipped in Luminous.
For most cases, use Automatic.
Externally Managed Warehouses:
Set up warehouses that are managed outside of Luminous (e.g., 3PL or FBA).
Click Submit to save the warehouse group.
Final Notes
Your warehouse and warehouse group are now ready to use. You can repeat these steps to create additional warehouses or groups as your business grows. This setup ensures accurate inventory tracking and seamless integration with your sales channels.