Stock: Difference between replacement item and alternative item code

Question: What is the difference between replacement item and alternative item code?

Version: 1.8 / 1.9 / 2.0

Answer:

Replacement Item:

If you have set a replacement (example: Item A) for the item B, the system will prompt you an option to replace item B with item A if the item B is in back order or negative quantity. Replacement item is usually with equal quality but different brands.

Alternative Item Code:

For alternative item code, it is considered as an additional code for an item. It is possible that a stock item may have several item codes (labelled by manufacturer, supplier, reseller...). Each of the item codes will point to the same item, thus it makes item-searching easier.