Managing inventory effectively is crucial for any online business. Whether you're receiving new stock, conducting an inventory audit, or preparing for an upcoming product launch, the Shopify admin provides robust tools to help you manage your inventory efficiently across all your locations.

Estimated Read Time: 4 minutes

Managing Inventory

From the Inventory page in your Shopify admin, you can set up tracking, view current stock levels, and make necessary adjustments. The interface allows you to search, sort, or change your view to suit your preferences. Effective inventory tracking is essential for preventing overselling and gaining valuable insights into when you need to restock items.

Inventory States

Understanding the different inventory states is critical in managing your stock. Here are the key categories:

Unavailable: Units reserved for draft orders, set aside by apps, or held for other reasons.
Committed: Units included in orders that have been placed but not yet fulfilled.
Available: Units ready for sale, not committed to any order or held as unavailable.
On Hand: The total number of units at a location, including committed, unavailable, and available inventory.
Incoming: Units on their way from transfers, purchase orders, or apps. These aren’t available for sale until received and updated to available.

Adjusting Inventory

Inventory quantities can be adjusted easily on the Inventory page for each product or variant. Common adjustments include:

Changing the amount of available inventory.
Moving inventory between available and unavailable statuses.
Modifying the total inventory on hand.

Each time you make an adjustment, the reason for the change is recorded, and this information is added to an audit log. You can review the history of inventory adjustments whenever needed.

Bulk Editing Inventory

If you need to update the inventory for multiple products and their variants simultaneously, the bulk editing tool is a valuable feature.

Select the variants you want to edit from the Inventory page.
Choose “Bulk Edit” from the top menu.
The Inventory Bulk Editor page will display the selected product variants in a table format.
Customize which variant properties you wish to display in the table.
Click and type into the fields you wish to edit. After making all necessary updates, save your changes to apply them.

Using a CSV File to Update Inventory

Another effective method to update your inventory is through a CSV file. You can easily export or import an inventory CSV file in the Shopify admin:

Export your current inventory to a CSV file.
Make the necessary changes to the file.
Upload the updated CSV file back into your Shopify admin.

Transferring Inventory Between Locations

If you manage multiple stores or warehouses, you can seamlessly transfer inventory between locations through the Shopify admin. Follow these steps to create a transfer:

Specify the origin location from which the inventory is being sent.
Choose the destination location receiving the inventory.
Select the products and quantities you wish to transfer.
Add any shipment and additional details for reference.

The stages of an inventory transfer include:

Draft: Captures the initial details of the transfer.
Pending: Indicates that the units are ready to be received.
Received: Confirms that the units have arrived and been processed.

Creating B2B Catalogs

To enhance the buying experience for businesses, including wholesale customers, you can create B2B catalogs in the Shopify admin. Creating a catalog allows you to:

Select which products to offer wholesale to B2B customers.
Set quantity rules to manage inventory and sales efficiently.
Offer volume pricing to encourage larger orders.
Customize pricing for different companies, aligning with your pricing strategy.

You can create a catalog that includes all your products or only specific ones. When you’re ready to share it with B2B customers, you simply assign the catalog to a company. You can manage products and pricing for each catalog, including making overall percentage price adjustments, setting quantity rules, and offering additional price breaks based on order volume.

Now It’s Your Turn!

Put your knowledge into practice! From a test store, adjust inventory by moving products in and out of availability and transferring them to different locations. Create a catalog and apply a wholesale discount to it. Master these skills to enhance your inventory management proficiency in Shopify!

Go further

Managing inventory effectively is crucial for any online business. Whether you're receiving new stock, conducting an inventory audit, or preparing for an upcoming product launch, the Shopify admin provides robust tools to help you manage your inventory efficiently across all your locations.

Estimated Read Time: 4 minutes

Managing Inventory

From the Inventory page in your Shopify admin, you can set up tracking, view current stock levels, and make necessary adjustments. The interface allows you to search, sort, or change your view to suit your preferences. Effective inventory tracking is essential for preventing overselling and gaining valuable insights into when you need to restock items.

Inventory States

Understanding the different inventory states is critical in managing your stock. Here are the key categories:

Unavailable: Units reserved for draft orders, set aside by apps, or held for other reasons.
Committed: Units included in orders that have been placed but not yet fulfilled.
Available: Units ready for sale, not committed to any order or held as unavailable.
On Hand: The total number of units at a location, including committed, unavailable, and available inventory.
Incoming: Units on their way from transfers, purchase orders, or apps. These aren’t available for sale until received and updated to available.

Adjusting Inventory

Inventory quantities can be adjusted easily on the Inventory page for each product or variant. Common adjustments include:

Changing the amount of available inventory.
Moving inventory between available and unavailable statuses.
Modifying the total inventory on hand.

Each time you make an adjustment, the reason for the change is recorded, and this information is added to an audit log. You can review the history of inventory adjustments whenever needed.

Bulk Editing Inventory

If you need to update the inventory for multiple products and their variants simultaneously, the bulk editing tool is a valuable feature.

Select the variants you want to edit from the Inventory page.
Choose “Bulk Edit” from the top menu.
The Inventory Bulk Editor page will display the selected product variants in a table format.
Customize which variant properties you wish to display in the table.
Click and type into the fields you wish to edit. After making all necessary updates, save your changes to apply them.

Using a CSV File to Update Inventory

Another effective method to update your inventory is through a CSV file. You can easily export or import an inventory CSV file in the Shopify admin:

Export your current inventory to a CSV file.
Make the necessary changes to the file.
Upload the updated CSV file back into your Shopify admin.

Transferring Inventory Between Locations

If you manage multiple stores or warehouses, you can seamlessly transfer inventory between locations through the Shopify admin. Follow these steps to create a transfer:

Specify the origin location from which the inventory is being sent.
Choose the destination location receiving the inventory.
Select the products and quantities you wish to transfer.
Add any shipment and additional details for reference.

The stages of an inventory transfer include:

Draft: Captures the initial details of the transfer.
Pending: Indicates that the units are ready to be received.
Received: Confirms that the units have arrived and been processed.

Creating B2B Catalogs

To enhance the buying experience for businesses, including wholesale customers, you can create B2B catalogs in the Shopify admin. Creating a catalog allows you to:

Select which products to offer wholesale to B2B customers.
Set quantity rules to manage inventory and sales efficiently.
Offer volume pricing to encourage larger orders.
Customize pricing for different companies, aligning with your pricing strategy.

You can create a catalog that includes all your products or only specific ones. When you’re ready to share it with B2B customers, you simply assign the catalog to a company. You can manage products and pricing for each catalog, including making overall percentage price adjustments, setting quantity rules, and offering additional price breaks based on order volume.

Now It’s Your Turn!

Put your knowledge into practice! From a test store, adjust inventory by moving products in and out of availability and transferring them to different locations. Create a catalog and apply a wholesale discount to it. Master these skills to enhance your inventory management proficiency in Shopify!

Managing Inventory in the Shopify Admin: A Comprehensive Guide

Managing Inventory in the Shopify Admin: A Comprehensive Guide

Managing Inventory in the Shopify Admin: A Comprehensive Guide

On This Page

Managing Inventory

Inventory States

Adjusting Inventory

Bulk Editing Inventory

Using a CSV File to Update Inventory

Transferring Inventory Between Locations

Creating B2B Catalogs

Now It’s Your Turn!

Go further

On This Page

Managing Inventory

Inventory States

Adjusting Inventory

Bulk Editing Inventory

Using a CSV File to Update Inventory

Transferring Inventory Between Locations

Creating B2B Catalogs

Now It’s Your Turn!

Go further

Subscribe to the newsletter and get a personalized e-book!

Subscribe to the newsletter and get a personalized e-book!

Subscribe to the newsletter and get a personalized e-book!