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📦 Inventory Variant Status Algorithm

A comprehensive two-layer algorithm for determining product availability status based on variant inventory states. Perfect for ecommerce platforms, particularly those with variant-based products (sizes, colors, etc.).

Overview

Problem Statement

Ecommerce products often have multiple variants (sizes, colors, styles) with different inventory statuses:

  • Some variants may be in stock
  • Some may be running low
  • Some may be completely out of stock

The challenge is determining a single, meaningful availability label for the product that accurately reflects its overall inventory situation.

Solution

This algorithm uses a two-layer decision system:

  1. Layer 1: Evaluate each variant individually to get its status (IS, LS, or OS)
  2. Layer 2: Combine variant statuses using a decision matrix to get the final product status (IS, LS, OS, or PS)

Algorithm Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│               INPUT PARAMETERS (4 inputs)               │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ • Tracking Enabled (boolean)                            │
│ • Binary Status (IS/OS) [if tracking disabled]          │
│ • Quantity (number) [if tracking enabled]               │
│ • Threshold (number) [if tracking enabled]              │
└────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────┘
             │
             ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│    LAYER 1: VARIANT STATUS DETERMINATION                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ For each variant:                                       │
│  IF tracking disabled:                                  │
│    status = binary input (IS or OS)                     │
│  ELSE IF tracking enabled:                              │
│    IF qty = 0 → status = OS                             │
│    ELSE IF qty ≤ threshold → status = LS                │
│    ELSE IF qty > threshold → status = IS                │
└────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────┘
             │
             ▼
    ┌───────────────────┐
    │ Variant Statuses: │
    │ IS, LS, OS        │
    │ (one per variant) │
    └─────────┬─────────┘
              │
              ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│    LAYER 2: COMBINATION MATRIX                          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Combine variant statuses using decision matrix:         │
│  IS + IS → IS     (all good)                            │
│  IS + LS → LS     (prioritize warning)                  │
│  IS + OS → PS     (partially stocked)                   │
│  LS + LS → LS     (both low)                            │
│  LS + OS → LS     (prioritize low warning)              │
│  OS + OS → OS     (nothing available)                   │
│  OS + LS → LS     (prioritize low warning)              │
│  OS + IS → PS     (partially stocked)                   │
└────────────┬────────────────────────────────────────────┘
             │
             ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│               FINAL OUTPUT                              │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Product Status: IS, LS, OS, or PS                       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Status Definitions

Individual Variant Statuses (Layer 1)

Status Meaning Applies When
IS In Stock Quantity > Threshold (or manually marked In Stock)
LS Low Stock Quantity ≤ Threshold (but > 0)
OS Out of Stock Quantity = 0 (or manually marked Out of Stock)

Product Statuses (Layer 2)

Status Meaning When to Use
IS In Stock All variants are in stock with healthy quantities
LS Low Stock At least one variant is below threshold or out of stock
OS Out of Stock All variants are out of stock
PS Partially Stocked Some variants available, others completely unavailable

Matrix Rules

Decision Matrix (Layer 2)

The following matrix is used to combine two variant statuses:

        IS      LS      OS
    ┌─────────────────────────┐
IS  │ IS  │  LS  │  PS  │
    ├─────────────────────────┤
LS  │ LS  │  LS  │  LS  │
    ├─────────────────────────┤
OS  │ PS  │  LS  │  OS  │
    └─────────────────────────┘

Rule Philosophy

  1. Warnings are prioritized: If any variant is low or out of stock, that warning should propagate to the product level
  2. Partial stocking: When some variants are available and others are not, mark as "Partially Stocked" (PS)
  3. Low stock supersedes partial: If any variant is low, show low stock warning even if some are fully available
  4. Total depletion: Only show "Out of Stock" when all variants are out

Testing

Run Examples

# Node.js
node inventory_algorithm.js

# Or with npm (if package.json is configured)
npm run test:inventory

Expected Output

=== Example 1: Tracking Disabled ===
{
  "productId": "PRODUCT-001",
  "finalStatus": "PS",
  "statusDescription": "◐ Partially Stocked - Some variants unavailable",
  "variantCount": 2,
  "variantStatuses": [
    { "status": "IS", "reason": "Tracking disabled. Using binary status: IS" },
    { "status": "OS", "reason": "Tracking disabled. Using binary status: OS" }
  ],
  "reasoning": "Combined variants: IS + OS → PS"
}

Performance Considerations

  • Time Complexity: O(n) where n is the number of variants
  • Space Complexity: O(n) for storing variant evaluations
  • Execution: Each evaluation typically completes in < 1ms
  • Scalability: Suitable for products with up to thousands of variants