Assess the inventory, sites, teams, current systems, service requirements, commercial channels and operating responsibilities—then turn those findings into an approved configuration and implementation baseline.
Assess and Configure is the first execution stage within How It Works. It converts business requirements into a practical operating design before onboarding, migration, receiving, catalogue work or daily operations begin.
The assessment changes according to the client’s starting point, but it should always identify the physical inventory, operating responsibilities, systems, data and future-state requirements before implementation decisions are locked.
Assess current stock, locations, people, spreadsheets or systems, operating pain points and the workflows that already exist.
Design the inventory operation before the first meaningful inbound, catalogue, warehouse or commerce workflow begins.
Assess what changes when the business adds a site, channel, service, marketplace, warehouse or technology layer.
The assessment should cover enough physical, commercial and technical context to prevent later workflow design from being based on assumptions.
Profile what exists, what is expected to arrive and what the business needs that inventory to do.
Map facilities, storage constraints, users, roles, approvals, custody and who currently performs each workflow.
Select client-operated, Vault-managed or hybrid responsibility by workflow and define the required services, modules and channels.
Translate the approved design into configuration decisions, dependencies, phases, acceptance criteria and accountable next actions.
Start with the complete assessment architecture, then move through inventory scope, physical sites, users and roles, responsibility selection, service and channel scope, current systems, workflow design, implementation phasing and the approved configuration baseline.
The assessment should understand what the client owns or expects to manage before defining software fields, warehouse locations or catalogue workflows.
The same quantity of garments, furniture, props or equipment can require very different intake, storage, handling, catalogue, rental and fulfilment processes.
Establish the physical shape of the operation.
Identify physical constraints that affect intake, storage and movement.
Understand what better inventory control is expected to achieve.
Keep physical custody separate from the decision to monetise inventory.
The operating design should reflect the real facilities and people involved. A workflow that works in a central managed warehouse may not fit a client-operated studio store, archive, production site or distributed multi-site network.
Responsibility should be defined by workflow rather than assuming one party owns the complete inventory lifecycle.
Document where inventory is or will be operated.
Identify who needs access and what work each role performs.
Define who can approve sensitive or non-standard actions.
Record who currently owns each part of the lifecycle before deciding what changes.
Operating Models defines the available responsibility structures. Assess and Configure applies that framework to the client’s actual workflows and records the selected model.
The result can be client-operated, Vault-managed or hybrid—and can differ by custody, catalogue, fulfilment, returns, marketplaces and technology rather than forcing one model across the whole operation.
Apply the responsibility framework to each required workflow.
Select only the operational services the client actually needs.
Define the technology and destinations required by the target model.
Define who controls inventory commitments and physical execution.
The assessment should end with an agreed baseline that the onboarding, migration, receiving and implementation teams can execute against.
Known gaps should remain visible. Missing data, unresolved responsibility, unconfirmed sites or unavailable integrations should not be hidden inside a generic “ready” status.
Identify what existing information must be imported, migrated or connected.
Define the intended path before users begin operating it.
Sequence implementation according to operational readiness.
Create the accountable output that moves the project into implementation.
The assessment sequence moves from facts about the current inventory and operation to a configuration baseline that the next How It Works stages can implement.
Understand categories, quantity, uniqueness, condition, handling needs, current location and intended use.
Document facilities, teams, current processes, permissions, approvals and workflow responsibility.
Assign client, Vault or hybrid ownership separately across custody, catalogue, fulfilment, returns and technology.
Choose required services, Commerce OS modules, client website, marketplace participation and commercial routes.
Define stages, exceptions, data dependencies, integrations, pilot scope and rollout sequence.
Record the selected design, open gaps, responsibilities, acceptance criteria and readiness for onboarding or implementation.
Client-operated, Vault-managed and hybrid models describe who can own each workflow. Assess and Configure applies those choices to the client’s actual inventory, sites, users and objectives.
Storage, managed services, marketplaces and Commerce OS modules should be selected according to the actual operating requirement rather than bundled automatically.
The client should own business intent and policy decisions. The assessment process translates those decisions into platform and workflow configuration while Vault operational teams participate only where managed services are selected.
The assessment should capture the factors that materially change the workflow, configuration, staffing, physical storage or commercial design.
The exact assessment depth depends on inventory complexity, current systems, facilities, user groups, required services, channel scope and whether the operation already exists.
No. Operating Models explains client-operated, Vault-managed and hybrid responsibility structures. Assess and Configure applies that framework to the client’s actual inventory, sites, people, systems and required workflows.
Not necessarily. Early assessment can begin with reasonable category and quantity estimates, but the implementation plan should identify where verified counts are required before migration, receiving or go-live.
Yes. Multi-site assessment can document different facilities, local teams, storage structures, responsibilities and rollout phases while retaining a common operating model where appropriate.
No. Storage, catalogue preparation, fulfilment, marketplace participation and Commerce OS capabilities remain separately selectable according to the operating requirement.
Yes. Custody can be client-operated while catalogue or fulfilment is managed, or the reverse, where the approved workflow supports that hybrid structure.
Yes, where relevant. Existing data sources should be assessed for structure, identifiers, quality and whether they require migration, ongoing integration or archival treatment.
It can help define the appropriate module scope based on the target operation. The result should avoid selecting software modules that do not support a real business requirement.
An approved configuration and implementation baseline covering the selected operating model, roles, locations, services, modules, channels, workflows, data dependencies, phases, known gaps and next-stage readiness.
The next How It Works stage is Onboard and Connect, where the approved client profile, access, addresses, categories and selected operating choices are established in the system.
Yes. The configuration baseline should be versioned so approved changes can be made as the business adds inventory, sites, users, channels or operating responsibilities.
Profile the inventory, map sites and teams, choose workflow responsibility, select the required services and technology, identify data dependencies and approve a practical configuration baseline for the next stage.
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