Availability

Availability controls keep the catalog honest in real time. Merchant staff can mark an item out of stock the moment it runs out — it disappears from customers instantly, which always beats rejecting an order after it’s placed. Availability works at three levels: the item, the outlet, and the outlet’s operating hours.

Item availability — merchant self-service

The most-used control, designed to live in the merchant’s hands. In Partner app → Manage, staff open the item list and flip an item’s availability toggle:

Out of stock — the item immediately stops being orderable in the customer app.
Back in stock — flip again when restocked; the item returns just as instantly.

The item’s photos, prices, variants, and options are untouched — this is a stock switch, not a catalog edit. Permanent changes belong in the Catalog Builder.

Outlet availability — going offline

Sometimes a whole outlet must stop taking orders: equipment failure, staffing collapse, a private event. From the partner app’s Live Orders screen, the outlet can be taken offline:

Manually — offline until switched back on.
For the rest of the day — back automatically next opening.
Until a date — for planned closures like holidays or renovations.

While offline the outlet shows as closed to customers and takes no new orders; in-progress orders are unaffected. On a multi-outlet marketplace this is per-outlet — the rest of your marketplace keeps trading.

Operating hours

Each outlet’s regular hours and schedule are configured in the outlet’s settings in the admin dashboard. Outside those hours the outlet automatically shows as closed — no daily toggling. Operator habits that prevent grief:

Verify hours at merchant onboarding; wrong hours are a top source of early bad reviews.
Public holidays with changed hours are what “offline until a date” is for.
If you support Scheduled Orders, customers can still order ahead for slots when the outlet will be open.

How the levels combine

An item is orderable only when all three levels say yes:

Level	Controlled from	Question it answers
Operating hours	Dashboard outlet settings	Is the outlet open right now?
Outlet status	Partner app, Live Orders	Has staff taken it offline?
Item toggle	Partner app → Manage	Is this item in stock?

Availability as a marketplace quality metric

For an operator, availability isn’t just a feature — it’s a quality signal worth watching across merchants:

Permanently disabled items accumulate quietly and make a catalog look stale; sweep for them in periodic catalog audits (Catalog Builder has a checklist).
Frequent outlet-offline events during peak hours suggest a merchant who’s overwhelmed — a coaching conversation, capacity discussion, or schedule fix.
Order rejections for unavailable items are the failure availability exists to prevent; track them per outlet and intervene with the worst offenders.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Try this
Item still visible to customers after toggling	Confirm the right item at the right outlet was toggled; changes apply in real time
Item missing though the merchant says it’s in stock	Check its toggle in Partner app → Manage — likely disabled earlier and never restored
Outlet shows closed during business hours	Check it wasn’t taken offline from Live Orders, then verify operating hours in the dashboard outlet settings
Merchant staff can’t see the Manage screens	Menu-management access is permission-gated — the outlet owner/manager must grant it; see Users & Roles

Catalog Builder — building and editing the catalog itself
Options & Add-ons — customization and option groups
Live Orders — where outlet status is managed
Outlets — outlet setup and onboarding