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Re: Delay in variant.next_incoming_date

Why is there a delay in updating variant.next_incoming_date on my product page?

HTS
Tourist
8 0 5

I indicate on our product page if an item is incoming and when it's expected to arrive using:

current_variant.incoming
current_variant.next_incoming_date

 

It worked well previously without hiccups, and I haven't touched the code. Still, these days, when I receive a transfer inventory, it does not update the variant.incoming to false automatically, so when the product arrives and is in stock and not incoming anymore, it's still showing on the product page that it is incoming. It gives many customers confusion, and we suddenly got a lot of inquiries about it if it's a mistake.

 

Also, when I change the estimated arrival date on Shopify Transfers, it does not immediately reflect the new arrival date on the product page.

Say the product's transfer ETA was in January initially, but I changed it to February, but what's reflected on the product page remains January.

I only noticed this now when the UI of Shopify Transfers changed (it now has an Edit button than directly being able to add products on the transfer, and the next/previous transfer buttons disappeared), and I don't know how long it will take to reflect the changes on the front, or if it will ever reflect. Is this property name deprecated?

Replies 22 (22)

clydetey
Visitor
2 0 4

My store is facing the same issue, looking for a solution too. My next_incoming_date object returns null for all transfers I created after the shopify update.

George_C
Trailblazer
162 2 150

Same issue here. I noticed this because I happened to notice the recent Changelog mentioning the inventory transfer changes, after noticing the Drafts feature when creating a new transfer. 

 

I use conditional code for this, in order to only display the expected restock date if variant.incoming = true, and my code is displaying the rest of the content I have specified (just not the incoming date variable).

 

In other words, for out-of-stock items with a pending transfer, it correctly displays "Product will be restocked on", but where the dynamic date string should be, it's just blank. 

 

Some code must have been broken when they implemented the Transfers updates. 

 

next.incoming.date is still in the dev reference, so doesn't seem to be deprecated. 

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ali303
Excursionist
11 0 4

I'm very glad that I stumbled across this thread as I'm experiencing the same issue with both our existing theme (not a 2.0 theme) and also a popular 2.0 theme that we are currently preparing and setting up for future use.

 

I found the new Transfer UI quite frustrating (losing the ability to scroll through transfer search results using the arrows that were in the top right of the page is very annoying) and I assumed that perhaps our existing theme was no longer able to display the 'variant.next_incoming_date' due to this term having been updated.

 

However, as has been pointed out, 'variant.next_incoming_date' is still shown in the dev reference.

 

Even when updating one of our theme Sections, Shopify's own auto-complete feature still offers the 'variant.next_incoming_date' as a suggestion, and I can't see an option for anything similar using slightly different terminology. 

 

I have also checked the very popular 2.0 theme that we are currently working on and this also makes reference to 'variant.next_incoming_date' on both the product and cart pages. All usage of 'variant.next_incoming_date' appears not to be working and is returning not returning any information, so I can only assume that Shopify have perhaps updated this terminology (maybe to something along the lines of "Estimated arrival" as shown on the transfer UI) and haven't made the information publicly available, which isn't particularly helpful!

dhmtbj
Tourist
6 0 3

I reached out to support today for similar issues regarding a restock date display we have on each of our product pages that is driven by liquid object property "next_incoming_date". Historically if a product/variant is on an incoming transfer, the page has displayed the word "restock" and the date of that next incoming transfer. Since the update, this has not been functioning properly and causing inaccurate information to be displayed on our site. This is playing out as follows for us:

 

Example/Scenario 1: Variants on a newly created pending transfer display the word "restock" which is driven by an if statement for "variant.incoming" but do not display the next incoming date.

 

Example/Scenario 2: Variants on previous transfer, from before the Shopify Inventory Transfer update, are also still showing "restock" but not displaying the date. In this case neither should be displayed as the transfer is fully received. Despite being fully received, the transfer still shows an expected date on the list of transfers as if it is still pending. 

 

Example/Scenario 3: If I edit a pending transfer by adding another item, neither the word “restock” or the date are displayed on that item's product page as it should. 

 

Example/Scenario 4: Variants that were previously on an older transfer used to inform customers of a future restock date, are now “stuck” displaying an old date despite the variant being deleted from that transfer, the date of that transfer being changed, and that transfer being fully received. This transfer also shows an expected date on the list of transfers as if it is still pending. 

 

At first I got pushback that this was specific to my theme but after pushing harder on the oddities related to the transfer tool in the admin since the update, they escalated to senior support and acknowledged Shopify are currently aware of these issue but have not yet deployed a fix. The biggest thing I noticed after further looking was that there is no longer a way to mark a transfer as "completed" which is still in the instructions for transfers. In any case they opened a support case for our site and are working on fixing things.

George_C
Trailblazer
162 2 150

Glad to hear this is on the development team’s radar. I saw other reports here on the forums about edited transfers not updating status for variants, just as you have mentioned. It’s definitely not just your theme. 

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derync
Tourist
3 0 0

I'm having the same issue with my store. Luckily i can override my new back-in-stock code and use my old method of tagging products with the back-in-stock month while we wait for this to be fixed. I hope it's fixed soon!

Deryn Cox
BrisbaneFurniture.com.au
HTS
Tourist
8 0 5

I've also overridden it with an "Incoming" tag on products instead, although it's a hassle since we're dealing with hundreds of products. I hope we receive an update soon.

clydetey
Visitor
2 0 4

I found a temporary way to make the display right. 

1. Add the transfer as usual, mark it as pending, and date it (for example Jan 16, 2023).

2. Duplicate it, and mark the duplicated transfer as pending.

3. Delete the duplicated transfer.

4. Then you will see Variant.next_incoming_date working! 

 

The timezone of my store is GMT+8, if my first transfer date is Jan 16, 2023, it will actually show Jan 15, 2023, on the storefront. I guess it's being switched back to other slower time zone.

 

For example, my transfer date for this product (https://www.storminggravity.com/products/trayvax-link-lanyard is Jan 16, 2023, but it shows Jan 15, 2023 in my storefront, at my location (GMT+8).

Smithy666
Tourist
3 0 6

Nice one, worked for me too. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully Shopify will fix their code so we don’t have to do this going forward 

ali303
Excursionist
11 0 4

I chased up the progress related to this situation with Shopify Plus Support yesterday, stressing the importance of 'current_variant.next_incoming_date' and how many sellers (such as ourselves) rely on it to advise and inform customers and, most importantly, make sales! The response is unfortunately disappointing and quite underwhelming.

 

"Our Developers have acknowledged and been made aware of this issue. (Name removed) has logged the important details of your store onto the Development Team's project board for further investigation and tracking. While we'll do our absolute best to resolve this as soon as possible, there's a chance a fix will come through a long-term project due to resource prioritisation.

While we're not able to provide specific time frame at this stage, we'll continue to keep an eye on the logged issue for any important updates. If any new information is provided, we'll ensure it's communicated to you via this email thread."

 

I've tried the temporary fix described by Clydetey above, but unfortunately it doesn't appear to be working for us, so I'm not quite sure why that would be. We'll keep trying regardless, as we absolutely need this information to be displayed on our listings!

dhmtbj
Tourist
6 0 3

The equivalent response I had received to my open case on this was

 

"As per Investigating this with our Dev the development team is aware of this issue thank you for reporting this, and the cause is due to be addressed by upcoming updates while I cannot provide an exact timeline of when a complete fix will be implemented, have peace of mind that this issue is being investigated and a resolution is being worked on."

 

This feels more optimistic than your reply but hard to nail down. Both could be saying the same thing.

George_C
Trailblazer
162 2 150

@clydetey wrote:

I found a temporary way to make the display right. 

1. Add the transfer as usual, mark it as pending, and date it (for example Jan 16, 2023).

2. Duplicate it, and mark the duplicated transfer as pending.

3. Delete the duplicated transfer.

4. Then you will see Variant.next_incoming_date working! 

 

The timezone of my store is GMT+8, if my first transfer date is Jan 16, 2023, it will actually show Jan 15, 2023, on the storefront. I guess it's being switched back to other slower time zone.

 

For example, my transfer date for this product (https://www.storminggravity.com/products/trayvax-link-lanyard is Jan 16, 2023, but it shows Jan 15, 2023 in my storefront, at my location (GMT+8).


This worked on my shop, thanks! 

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George_C
Trailblazer
162 2 150
I'm curious what your tagging method is to display back-in-stock dates on products pages, could you describe how you did that?
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ali303
Excursionist
11 0 4

Hi everyone, update from Shopify late last night:

 

"Good news! The problem you were experiencing has been resolved by our developers, so you should see those incoming dates appearing on your storefront again."

 

Everything seems to be working for me, so fingers crossed it's working for everyone else!

dhmtbj
Tourist
6 0 3

Good to hear. Were you seeing oddities with your transfers, such as lingering expected dates showing on the list of transfers? If so, do they appear to have been resolved as well or are they still there? 

ali303
Excursionist
11 0 4

I've just checked one particular product and yes, there does seem to be quite an odd issue with this. We don't have stock of the item, all previous transfers that included the item have been fully received, but yet the product listing shows a new stock arrival date of December. I found the transfer (that has been received entirely) that originally advised that December date and have tried both editing and removing the date entirely, but the December date still shows on the product listing. How strange!

derync
Tourist
3 0 0

It has not been fully resolved at all. It resolved in it doesn't return null anymore. But the date it returns doesn't update when you edit the transfer. It just always returns the initial date the used when creating the transfer. This is so annoying. It used to work perfectly.

Deryn Cox
BrisbaneFurniture.com.au
dhmtbj
Tourist
6 0 3

Ya, around the same time Ali303 got a message on their support case indicating things were fixed, I got a message on my support case saying they were stick working to fix the issues. 

 

"I just want to let you know that our devs are still working on this known issue and will make sure to keep you posted."

Anil918
Shopify Partner
2 0 0

Hi,

Its still not working properly , I created an transfer with the date "26-02-2023"  ,The date is showing properly on the front also date was showing properly after update the date, .incoming was returning true. 

After test I deleted the transfer , But  .incoming still returning  true and  incoming date still returning the date. After deleted the transfer .incoming should be false and date should be blank.

I hope you will resolve it asap.

dhmtbj
Tourist
6 0 3

Agreed. I got a note from support on my case yesterday indicating it was resolved. Only a small piece had been fixed. Updates to my examples are below:

 

Example/Scenario 1: Variants on a newly created pending transfer display the word "restock" which is driven by an if statement for "variant.incoming" but do not display the next incoming date.
The next incoming date now displays so the problem of the date not displaying is fixed. However, when I changed the transfer date, it did not update. I then deleted the transfer. Instead of no longer displaying the next incoming date, instead it is now stuck displaying a restock date, and now the date is the one I had changed the transfer to.

Example/Scenario 2: Variants on previous transfer T0034, from before the Shopify Inventory Transfer update, are also still showing "restock" but not displaying the date. In this case neither should be displayed as the transfer is fully received. Despite being fully received, Transfer T0034 still shows an expected date on the list of transfers as if it is still pending.

When we turned our code back on, the variants on previous transfers displayed again. T0034 is fully received but still shows an expected date on the list of transfers as if it is still pending. In this specific case the date displayed is a legacy date (not the one I had changed this transfer to after we started seeing issues)

 

Example/Scenario 3: If I edit a new pending transfer, adding a new variant, neither the word “restock” or the date are displayed on that new variant’s product page.

No change. Not fixed. Additionally, when I then deleted the transfer, the variany I had added to the transfer started displaying the restock date (and is now stuck that way).

 

Example/Scenario 4: Variants that were previously on transfer T0008 to inform customers of a future restock date, are now “stuck” displaying that old date of 2 January despite being deleted from that transfer, the date of that transfer being changed, and that transfer being fully received. This transfer also shows an expected date on the list of transfers as if it is still pending.

No change. Not fixed.

 

One additional/new Example/Scenario: If I create new transfer and assign a date, then receive that transfer, the restock date is applied semi-permanently to that item. The transfers never reach the Completed status that they used to and therefore the items continue to display the next incoming date of that transfer. The only thing that seems to disrupt the permanence of this is if the item in question is included on a new transfer. In that case, the new transfer date replaces the previous and then that new date becomes permanent.

 

The transfers never reaching a completed status seems to be one key element to these issues.

dhmtbj
Tourist
6 0 3

Just wanted to report that this appears to be resolved. For me, all items that had ever been on a transfers that were open when the December update was made still showed a legacy/ghost date when I turned the code back on. But now I was able to clear by those creating a new transfer for those items. Once that was done, everything is working as expected.
 

George_C
Trailblazer
162 2 150

This issue seems to be back. It's not showing the restock date, but it is showing my conditional text that only shows up if I product has an incoming transfer. 

 

I am working on updating my Dawn theme from 7.0 to 12.0 and it's not displaying properly on either theme. The transfer was definitely edited prior to marking it as ordered, but not after that. 

 

I have no idea when this started happening again as I have not inspected it for some time assuming all was working OK. 

 

Thought this issue cropped back up, but realized my conditional code did not allow for a transfer marked as ordered that did not yet have a pending delivery date. 

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