Glossary · ADAPT — adapted term

Virtual Inventory

Provenance class: ADAPT — adapted term
Introduced in version: 1.0

Status: Normative
Version: 1.0
Canonical source: Canonical Specification v1.1 §6.1, §10.2
License: CC BY 4.0; Report a correction

Normative definition

An assortment presented without requiring advance purchase and physical stocking by the platform of all displayed goods.

— Canonical Specification v1.1, §10.2

From the canonical source

Virtual Inventory is the assortment presented by the platform without a requirement that all displayed goods have already been purchased and placed in the platform's own physical stock. Availability may be derived from external inventory sources and is subject to confirmation, sourcing controls, and the implementation's customer terms.
— Canonical Specification v1.1, §6.1

Virtual Inventory does not mean that goods do not exist, that availability is guaranteed, or that inventory risk is absent. It describes the relationship between the displayed assortment and advance ownership of physical stock.
— Canonical Specification v1.1, §6.1

Related terms

Cite

Permanent URL: https://prismcommerce.org/en/glossary/virtual-inventory/

Cite

“Virtual Inventory.” PRISM Commerce Glossary, Version 1.0. https://prismcommerce.org/en/glossary/virtual-inventory/. Source: PRISM Commerce — Canonical Specification, Version 1.1, SPEC §6.1, §10.2, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22978762.

JSON

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  "id": "term-virtual-inventory",
  "slug": "virtual-inventory",
  "url": "https://prismcommerce.org/en/glossary/virtual-inventory/",
  "label": "Virtual Inventory",
  "abbreviation": null,
  "language": "en",
  "russian_normative_equivalent": null,
  "russian_equivalent_status": "unavailable",
  "definition": "An assortment presented without requiring advance purchase and physical stocking by the platform of all displayed goods.",
  "definition_kind": "normative",
  "definition_source": "SPEC §10.2",
  "provenance_class": "ADAPT",
  "terminology_layer": null,
  "scope_boundaries": [],
  "related_terms": [
    "term-on-demand-sourcing",
    "term-prism-commerce"
  ],
  "frozen": false,
  "decision_reference": [],
  "status": "normative",
  "version": "1.0",
  "source_doi": "10.5281/zenodo.22978762",
  "source_section": "SPEC §6.1, §10.2",
  "last_verified": "2026-09-22"
}