Configure Warehouses

Why warehouse configuration matters

Multi-warehouse fulfillment reduces shipping costs and delivery times by placing inventory closer to customers. Commerce tracks stock independently per warehouse and uses allocation rules to decide which warehouse fulfills each order. Proper configuration ensures that orders route to the right warehouse, stock stays balanced, and customers receive accurate delivery estimates.

This guide covers creating warehouses, setting up allocation rules, and distributing inventory across locations.

What you will do

1. Create warehouse records in Commerce
2. Associate warehouses with markets
3. Configure allocation rules for order routing
4. Distribute inventory across warehouses

Create warehouses

Each warehouse represents a physical location that can fulfill orders. Define its address, operating hours, and capabilities.

In the Commerce UI:

1. Navigate to Commerce > Administration > Warehouses
2. Click Add Warehouse
3. Enter the warehouse name, code, and address
4. Set the warehouse as active
5. Enable fulfillment and pickup options as needed

Create a warehouse programmatically

C# (.NET)

csharp Copy

using Mediachase.Commerce.Catalog;
using Mediachase.Commerce.Catalog.Dto;

public class WarehouseService
{
    private readonly IWarehouseRepository
        _warehouseRepo;

    public WarehouseService(
        IWarehouseRepository warehouseRepo)
    {
        _warehouseRepo = warehouseRepo;
    }

    public IWarehouse CreateWarehouse(
        string name, string code,
        string city, string state,
        string countryCode)
    {
        var warehouse = new Warehouse
        {
            Name = name,
            Code = code,
            IsActive = true,
            IsFulfillmentCenter = true,
            IsPickupLocation = false,
            ContactInformation = new WarehouseContact
            {
                City = city,
                State = state,
                CountryCode = countryCode
            }
        };

        _warehouseRepo.Save(warehouse);
        return warehouse;
    }
}

Associate warehouses with markets

Each market can use a subset of your warehouses. This controls which warehouses are eligible to fulfill orders for customers in that market.

Link warehouses to markets

C# (.NET)

csharp Copy

using Mediachase.Commerce;
using Mediachase.Commerce.Markets;

public void AssociateWarehouseWithMarket(
    IMarketService marketService,
    string marketId,
    string warehouseCode)
{
    var market = marketService
        .GetMarket(new MarketId(marketId))
        as MarketImpl;

    if (market != null)
    {
        var fulfillmentWarehouses =
            market.WarehouseCodesForFulfillment
                .ToList();

        if (!fulfillmentWarehouses
            .Contains(warehouseCode))
        {
            fulfillmentWarehouses.Add(warehouseCode);
            market.WarehouseCodesForFulfillment =
                fulfillmentWarehouses;
            marketService.UpdateMarket(market);
        }
    }
}

Configure allocation rules

Allocation rules determine which warehouse fulfills a given order. Common strategies include geographic proximity, inventory availability, and priority-based routing.

Warehouse allocation logic

C# (.NET)

csharp Copy

public class WarehouseAllocator
{
    private readonly IWarehouseRepository _warehouseRepo;
    private readonly IInventoryService _inventoryService;

    public WarehouseAllocator(
        IWarehouseRepository warehouseRepo,
        IInventoryService inventoryService)
    {
        _warehouseRepo = warehouseRepo;
        _inventoryService = inventoryService;
    }

    public string SelectWarehouse(
        IEnumerable<string> eligibleCodes,
        IEnumerable<ILineItem> items)
    {
        foreach (var code in eligibleCodes)
        {
            var canFulfill = items.All(item =>
            {
                var records = _inventoryService
                    .QueryByEntry(
                        new[] { item.Code });
                var record = records.FirstOrDefault(
                    r => r.WarehouseCode == code);
                return record != null
                    && record.PurchaseAvailableQuantity
                        >= item.Quantity;
            });

            if (canFulfill) return code;
        }

        return null; // No single warehouse can fulfill
    }
}

Allocation strategies:

Strategy	Best for	Trade-off
Nearest warehouse	Minimizing shipping time	Requires geocoding and distance calculation
Highest stock	Preventing stockouts at busy locations	May increase shipping distance
Priority list	Simple setups with a primary and backup warehouse	Does not optimize for cost or speed
Split fulfillment	Large orders with distributed inventory	Increases packaging and shipping costs

Distribute inventory

When you add new stock, distribute it across warehouses based on demand patterns and geographic coverage.

Distribution approach	Description
Even split	Divide stock equally across all active warehouses
Demand weighted	Allocate more stock to warehouses with higher sales volume
Regional	Stock products only in warehouses that serve the relevant market

Common issues

Issue	Cause	Fix
Orders not routing to the nearest warehouse	Allocation rules using priority list instead of proximity	Implement geographic-based allocation with address distance calculation
Warehouse shows zero stock after import	Inventory records imported with wrong warehouse code	Verify warehouse codes match between import file and Commerce configuration
Market shows no fulfillment options	Warehouse not associated with the market	Link the warehouse to the market in Commerce admin
Split shipments creating extra shipping charges	Allocation allowing multi-warehouse fulfillment	Add a single-warehouse preference before falling back to split fulfillment

Related content

Continue your journey with these related pages.

📖Understand the concepts

• Optimizely Commerce

🔧Follow a guide

• Manage Inventory
• Configure Shipping Providers