Why does ecommerce feel so much harder to manage now than it used to?

Ecommerce feels harder to manage because many growing businesses are no longer operating in one clean lane. Companies often sell across websites, marketplaces, wholesale channels, vendor networks, third-party logistics providers, and multiple warehouses. This added complexity makes inventory harder to track accurately with manual tools like spreadsheets.

How do I know when spreadsheets are holding my business back?

Spreadsheets may be holding your business back when your current process starts limiting growth opportunities. Common signs include avoiding new sales channels, delaying vendor relationships, relying on too much manual labor, or experiencing stockouts and listing problems because inventory updates are difficult to keep current.

Is the real problem just inventory accuracy, or is there a bigger business impact?

The bigger impact includes lost revenue, lower profitability, and reduced customer trust. Manual inventory and fulfillment processes can lead to lost sales, out-of-stock listings, marketplace penalties, lower customer satisfaction, high labor costs, and fragile accounting or enterprise resource planning processes.

What kind of technology do I need to move beyond spreadsheets?

The right technology depends on your current priorities, fulfillment model, and growth plans. Look for systems that can centralize inventory visibility, support smarter allocation, automate order routing, sync supplier data, and leave room for more complex fulfillment operations as the business grows.

Home 5 Inventory Management 5 Dynamic Storage vs. Static Storage | Finale Inventory

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Originally published on March 5, 2021 Last updated on March 6, 2026

Dynamic Storage vs. Static Storage | Finale Inventory

Q: What is the first thing I should fix if I want to scale operations?

The first thing to fix is inventory visibility. A unified view of inventory helps you understand what is available, where it is located, and what it costs to fulfill from each source, including warehouses, third-party logistics providers, marketplace fulfillment programs, and supplier locations.

warehouse worker wearing a mask holding large package

When you manage one or more warehouses, you need to know what products you have in storage and where those products are in the warehouse itself. How you choose to organize your warehouse largely depends on what you do with your inventory. If you regularly ship goods from the facility, you’ll want a storage system that makes it easy for pickers to access the products that sell the most. If you are using the warehouse for longer-term storage, you likely don’t need to rearrange products as frequently.

Two main types of warehouse storage systems exist — static storage and dynamic storage. Learn more about the meaning and pros and cons of each one to see which might work best for your warehouse.

What Is Dynamic Storage?

The definition of dynamic storage is a storage system that doesn’t assign a fixed location to inventory. Using dynamic storage means that, instead of dedicating Row 1, Section 1 to Product A, the product goes in any available location or a location based on the product’s demand. If Product A is selling quickly and there are a lot of orders for it in a given week, it can make sense to store at least some of the units near the packing area. As Product A’s popularity declines, it can move to a less easily accessible area of the warehouse.

What Is Static Storage?

While product locations can change under a dynamic storage system, with a static system, they remain the same. The definition of static storage is a system that assigns a fixed location to each product. Row 1, Sections 1, 2 and 3 might be dedicated to Product A. Using static storage means that, if there isn’t enough Product A on hand to fill in all three sections, some of those sections will sit empty.

Dynamic Storage vs. Static Storage: Pros and Cons

While one type of storage system isn’t inherently better than the other, it could be that one type of storage system is the better option for a particular warehouse than the other. When deciding on a system and layout for a warehouse, compare the pros and cons of each to see which would better suit your company’s needs.

Pros of Static Storage

A static storage system has its benefits in the right situation. It can be ideal for warehouses that are primarily meant for storage, rather than warehouses where employees pick items and prepare them for shipment. Another benefit of a static storage system is that it makes it easy to see when a product is running low. Since a static storage system groups all units of a product together, it’s also easier to arrange them so the “first in” can be the “first out.”

With a static storage system, the products’ location is fixed. Storing items in the same location can simplify the process in some ways. If a person is going to the warehouse to retrieve a batch of Product A or if they are dropping off a new shipment of Product A, they know where to go and don’t have to wander the aisles searching for the product. A static storage system can make it less likely for products to get lost in the warehouse, and a fixed location of products can also reduce the time it takes to train new employees. They only need to memorize a few locations rather than keep up with ever-shifting locations.

Cons of Static Storage

One of the most significant disadvantages of a static storage system is that it can result in wasted space. If you’ve dedicated a certain portion of your warehouse to Product A and Product A’s inventory level is low, whether due to supply chain issues or high demand, you can end up with a lot of empty shelving as you wait for the stock to rebound. Since the system is static and inflexible, you don’t have the option of storing other types of products on those shelves.

Another potential drawback of a static storage system is the density of the storage. Often, products are packed tightly on shelves or double-stacked in the system, which can make it difficult to access them or challenging for warehouse employees to maneuver around.

Pros of Dynamic Storage

The location of a product can shift with a dynamic storage system. The location change can be due to multiple factors, ranging from product demand to warehouse capacity. If a product is in demand, it makes sense to store it nearest to the packing area to reduce the time workers spend retrieving it. If there are gaps on the shelves in a warehouse, a dynamic storage system fills them with any product. The flexibility of the system means that it’s possible to store more products in a single warehouse.

A dynamic storage system offers additional benefits in certain circumstances. For one thing, it can increase the amount of warehouse space that gets put to use. If a particular product is running low, it can move to a smaller bin or shelf, and a product with more units can take its place. A dynamic storage system also lets warehouse employees move products around to make the best use of space or to improve the efficiency of picking.

Cons of Dynamic Storage

One notable drawback of a dynamic storage system is that it requires movement and free flow of inventory to function at its best. If demand for a product drops off, the system doesn’t work as well, as the remaining inventory can languish on the shelves. It can also take longer to train employees to pick products since they continually change locations.

How to Choose Between Dynamic Storage and Static Storage

When choosing between dynamic storage and static storage, the primary question to ask is why you are storing inventory. If your warehouse acts as a fulfillment center and employees regularly pick products, a dynamic system is likely your best choice. If your warehouse is mostly for overflow storage, a static system could work best.

It might also be the case that a combination of systems works best for you. You can reserve part of the warehouse for static storage, keeping an overflow of products. You can reserve another area of the warehouse for picking, using dynamic storage to organize the products kept in the picking area.

How Finale Inventory Can Help You

In addition to choosing a storage system, warehouse management involves keeping track of the inventory you have on hand. Finale Inventory is a cloud-based inventory management software with warehouse management features. Whether you own or operate one warehouse or several, you can use the software to keep track of shipments received, the location of products and when products transfer from one location to another.

“The core of maturity, that I see, is starting with a unified view of inventory. I’ve got to be able to accurately represent what do I have, make sure that I know where it’s located so I can get it to my customers quickly.”

— Troy Graham, Descartes

What is the first thing I should fix if I want to scale operations?

Start with a unified view of inventory. The core of maturity starts with being able to accurately represent what you do have and make sure that you know where it’s located to get it to customers quickly. Without a unified view across your warehouses, 3PLs, and vendors, you cannot make the best decisions because you don’t have the best information at hand.

With Inventory Visibility, Businesses Can Make Smarter Allocation Decisions

Once inventory is centralized, businesses can move from reactive updates to intentional allocation. They can decide how much inventory to expose to each channel, when to use buffers, which marketplaces need extra protection, and how seasonality or campaign performance influence availability.

Once I know what inventory I have, how should I decide where to make it available?

Inventory allocation should reflect where orders are coming from, where marketing is working, and which channels carry the most risk. Once you know what you have and where it is located, you can think more strategically using centralized inventory to make prioritization happen automatically. One fertilizer company lost a little over 5,000 orders in one weekend because someone manually uploaded the wrong available inventory to Amazon.

Better Inventory Data Improves Planning, Purchasing, and Growth Bets

Better visibility turns inventory data into a planning tool. With insight into sales velocity, inventory levels, vendors, and channel performance, businesses can make more informed replenishment decisions, avoid overbuying, and test new product lines or vendor-supplied inventory without taking on unnecessary risk.

“You have to have unified inventory to know how to price your products just at that basic level. I can’t price my products if I don’t know the true cost to get it.”

— Mike Bernico, Flxpoint

How does better inventory data help me make smarter buying decisions?

It lets you measure whether your plan is working before you commit more capital. A key question becomes: “Did my plan work? Am I overleveraged in one place or another?” Centralized systems can also help businesses test new product lines or vendor relationships by looking at sales velocity by channel, allowing them to take risks in a calculated and measured way.

Intelligent Order Routing Turns Inventory Complexity Into Automation

Once inventory and supplier data are reliable, businesses can automate fulfillment decisions. Orders can be routed based on cost, speed, margin, location, warehouse priority, vendor fallback, split-shipment rules, or customer expectations. This helps hybrid fulfillment scale because every order does not need a manual review.

How do I decide the best way to fulfill each order?

There is no single answer, which is why order routing needs to account for the context of each order. Intelligent order routing is not just sending an order to someone who has stock; it is taking each and every order and treating it like its own unique use case. Depending on the order, the business may prioritize speed, margin, an internal warehouse, vendor fallback, or preventing split shipments.

Supplier Inventory Sync Extends Inventory Beyond the Four Walls

For hybrid fulfillment to work, supplier inventory needs to become part of the operating model. Supplier sync does not always require advanced technology; it can happen through automated files, FTP, email, APIs, EDI, or ecommerce storefront integrations. The key is replacing manual updates with automated, reliable supplier data.

Can supplier inventory really be treated like part of my own inventory?

Yes, but the goal is not necessarily to force every supplier into a complex integration. Real-time supplier sync can be defined as any way to get an automated update from a supplier, such as Google Sheets, email, FTP, API, EDI, or ecommerce storefront connections. The key is that accurate supplier stock is foundational. If you don’t have an accurate view of what is in stock with your suppliers, you cannot tell your sales channel accurately what’s available.

Exception-Based Workflows Keep Humans Focused Where They Matter

Automation does not remove people from the process. Mature operations let technology handle the routine majority while humans focus on exceptions, such as high-value orders, fraud risk, compliance requirements, restricted products, export rules, or unusual fulfillment scenarios.

If my business has special cases, can automation still work?

Yes. The point is not to automate every possible decision; it is to automate the routine work and surface the exceptions. Businesses should not have to look at every single order. Instead, technology can highlight high-value orders, risky locations, or compliance requirements. The goal is to take care of the 80% of workflows that are obvious while still allowing human review when specific exceptions arise.

The Right Inventory Technology Should Fit the Business, Not Overwhelm It

Software decisions should be based on business fit, not popularity, feature volume, or broad “all-in-one” promises. Growing ecommerce businesses should identify their highest-impact bottleneck, prioritize what matters now, and choose technology that is right-sized but flexible enough to support future phases of growth.

How should I choose software without overbuying or picking the wrong system?

Start with your priorities, not the biggest feature list. Avoid an all-in-one system that claims to “do everything under the sun” and look for a “best of breed approach” with systems that can scale as you add channels or vendors. The practical advice is to stack rank what matters now, make sure the system can support future phases, and choose technology that fits your business rather than overwhelming it.

How to Scale Ecommerce Operations Beyond Spreadsheets

For many growing ecommerce businesses, Finale and Flxpoint work together as a practical answer to these challenges. Finale helps centralize and manage internal inventory, purchasing, warehouse operations, and stock visibility, while Flxpoint helps connect vendor inventory, automate supplier sync, and route orders across hybrid fulfillment networks. Together, they give businesses a best-of-breed way to improve inventory accuracy, reduce spreadsheet work, and scale fulfillment without forcing every process into a one-size-fits-all system.

Ecommerce Fulfillment Operations FAQ

What Is Ecommerce Fulfillment Operations?

Ecommerce fulfillment operations are the processes that move an online order from purchase to delivery. This includes managing inventory, syncing product availability across channels, routing orders to the right warehouse, 3PL, supplier, or vendor, and making sure the customer receives the right product on time. As discussed in the webinar, fulfillment is no longer limited to “what’s in my warehouse these days”; growing businesses may rely on internal warehouses, 3PLs, marketplace fulfillment services, and supplier inventory at the same time.

What Are Ecommerce Fulfillment Operation Examples?

Examples of ecommerce fulfillment operations include updating inventory across Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, and other sales channels; allocating inventory to specific marketplaces; sending orders to an internal warehouse, 3PL, or vendor; syncing supplier inventory through files, APIs, EDI, email, or FTP; replenishing warehouse stock based on sales velocity; and flagging exceptions such as high-value orders, compliance requirements, or restricted products. In the webinar, the speakers also discussed hybrid fulfillment examples where a business may fulfill some products from its own warehouse and use vendors as a fallback or extension of available inventory.

How Can I Track My Inventory at an Ecommerce Fulfillment Center?

The best way to track inventory at an ecommerce fulfillment center is to create a unified inventory view that shows what is available, where it is located, and how that inventory connects to each sales channel. That means tracking inventory across internal warehouses, fulfillment centers, 3PLs, marketplace fulfillment programs, and supplier locations instead of relying on disconnected spreadsheets. The webinar emphasized that businesses need to “accurately represent” what they have and know where it is located so they can get products to customers quickly.

How Can I Connect My Inventory to My Supplier?

You can connect supplier inventory through several methods, depending on what the supplier supports. The webinar discussed low-tech and advanced options, including automated Excel or CSV files, Google Sheets, email updates, FTP servers, APIs, EDI, and direct connections to ecommerce storefronts such as Shopify, BigCommerce, or Magento. The key is to ask suppliers how they share inventory today, then use a system that can automate that data flow instead of manually copying supplier inventory into spreadsheets.

What Is Ecommerce Order Routing?

Ecommerce order routing is the process of deciding where an order is fulfilled from after a customer buys. In a simple operation, every order may go to one warehouse. In a more complex or hybrid fulfillment model, the best fulfillment source may depend on inventory availability, shipping speed, cost, margin, customer location, warehouse priority, vendor fallback rules, or whether the order should be split. The webinar described intelligent order routing as treating each order like its own use case, so businesses can automate the best fulfillment decision without manually reviewing every order.

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