wiki/knowledge/amazon-strategy/doudlah-sellerize-inventory-process.md Layer 2 article 876 words Updated: 2026-04-05
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Doudlah Sellerize-Based Inventory Process

Overview

Doudlah's existing inventory tracking relied on a macro-driven spreadsheet maintained by Gilbert that pulls from Amazon reports. This process was found to produce unreliable numbers — conflicting with both Seller Central and Sellerize — creating a false sense of security and real stockout risk for top-selling SKUs.

This article documents the diagnosed root causes and the agreed-upon replacement process using Sellerize as the primary source of truth, supplemented by manual AWD tracking and a shipment log.

Root Cause Analysis

Three distinct gaps were identified that cause the inventory picture to be incomplete or misleading:

1. AWD Blind Spot

Sellerize tracks only inventory stored in or being shipped to Amazon FBA fulfillment centers. Inventory held at Amazon Warehousing & Distribution (AWD) is not visible in Sellerize. During the holiday season, FBA capacity limits forced some shipments to AWD instead of FBA, leaving significant stock (e.g., 972 units of 5lb Yellow Cornmeal) invisible to the primary tracking tool.

2. In-Transit Lag

Amazon does not mark FBA shipments as "inbound" until they are physically close to or arrived at the fulfillment center. When shipping via LTL (less-than-truckload), pallets may sit at a carrier's regional hub for two to three weeks before reaching Amazon. During this window, the inventory is:
- Not available for sale
- Not counted as inbound by Amazon or Sellerize
- Effectively invisible unless manually tracked

This creates a scenario where the team may believe they are nearly out of stock when multiple pallets are actually en route.

3. Dual SKU Confusion

Two active SKUs existed for 5lb Yellow Cornmeal — one being phased out. Because the legacy SKU was excluded from the tracking spreadsheet, inventory fulfilling from it was not visible, causing the available count to appear lower than reality. Both SKUs share the same ASIN, so orders fulfill from either, but only one was being monitored.

Proposed Process

The goal is a single, reliable source of truth that accounts for all inventory regardless of where it sits in the supply chain.

Primary Source: Sellerize Export

Use the Sellerize inventory export as the base data layer. It provides:
- Available stock and total stock per SKU
- Average daily units sold (30-day and 90-day)
- Days of supply remaining
- Stranded inventory flags
- Storage fee data

Sellerize is preferred over Gilbert's macro-driven spreadsheet because it is directly connected to Amazon's API and requires no intermediate import/export steps that can introduce errors.

Supplement 1: Manual AWD Column

Add a column to the inventory sheet for AWD stock on hand, populated manually by checking the Amazon Distribution Center shipments view in Seller Central (Inventory → Auto Replenishment). This must be updated whenever a new AWD shipment is received or replenished to FBA.

Note: AWD shipment contents are not visible in the standard Contents tab — this is a known Amazon limitation. Stock levels must be verified via the AWD shipment reports.

Supplement 2: In-Transit Column

Add a column for stock shipped but not yet recognized as inbound by Amazon. This is populated from the shipment log (see below) and cleared once the shipment appears in Sellerize as inbound.

Shipment Log Tab

Maintain a dedicated tab in the inventory spreadsheet to log every outbound shipment. Minimum fields:

Field Notes
Shipment Date Date picked up by carrier
Shipment # Amazon shipment ID
Destination FBA or AWD
ASINs / SKUs All items in the shipment
Units per SKU Quantity shipped
Status In Transit / Inbound / Received

This log enables reconciliation when inventory numbers look wrong — the team can check whether a missing quantity is simply in transit and not yet recognized.

Monitoring Cadence

Immediate Actions (as of meeting)

Sources

  1. Index