Stock errors are expensive in two directions, and both show up in customer emails. If your store says an item is in stock and it is not, you cancel orders and annoy customers. If you hold too much, cash sits on a shelf. Most small stores start with a spreadsheet and a good memory, and then something grows: a second location, a pop-up, a new supplier. The memory stops working, and so does the habit of looking at one shelf to know what you have.
This guide explains what Shopify's help pages say about inventory, what they leave out and how to set up a simple reorder rule that you can run every week. I read the pages on 11 November 2026. They show no dates, so check the menu names in your own admin.
The basics Shopify describes
Shopify's inventory and locations page says you need at least one location to track inventory. You set up locations in your admin settings, and decide how each one fulfils orders. Once tracking is on, you can review inventory states and choose what happens when a product runs out. You can change quantities, run stock counts to compare your records with physical stock, and create transfers to move stock between locations. Every adjustment is recorded, so you can see when and why a quantity changed. The page does not list the reason categories.
For restocking, the page says you create purchase orders for suppliers, and each one links to an inventory transfer that tracks the shipment and lets you receive the items.
The page does not define the inventory states, such as available, committed or incoming, so I will not define them here. Look them up in your admin before you rely on them in reports.
What the pages do not cover: reorder points
The same page says nothing about low-stock alerts, reorder points or forecasting, and only links to other pages. So I cannot tell you that Shopify has a built-in reorder rule. You have three practical options: a notification rule with Shopify Flow, a spreadsheet or report that you check on a schedule, or an inventory app that covers forecasting. Ask the app vendor what it reads from Shopify and where the result appears.
How to set a reorder point
A reorder point is the stock level at which you place a new order. A common rule of thumb is this:
Reorder point = average daily sales x supplier lead time in days + safety stock.
Here is an invented example. A product sells about 6 units a day. The supplier takes 14 days to deliver. You want a cushion of 3 days of sales, which is 18 units. The reorder point is 6 x 14 + 18 = 102 units. When stock of that item falls to 102, you order. If the supplier is slow or sales spike, the cushion absorbs it. Use your own sales figures, and recalculate for seasonal items. Safety stock should grow with the unreliability of the supplier and the cost of running out, so keep a bigger cushion for the product that you cannot easily buy elsewhere.
Set the rule per product, but start with your top 20 sellers. For the long tail, a simple level, such as two weeks of stock, is enough.
A low stock alert with Flow
Shopify's Flow examples page includes a low inventory notification. It uses the trigger Inventory quantity changed. The condition checks that the new quantity is below your threshold and that the previous quantity was not, so you get one message when an item crosses the line, not a message for every sale below it. Use your reorder point as the threshold, and send the message to the person who orders stock. Our guide to Shopify Flow covers what else it can do. I did not build this workflow, so test it on one product first.
Several locations
Shopify's features overview says you can set up multiple physical locations to store inventory and fulfil orders, which can reduce shipping costs and delivery times. It describes automatic rules that decide which location fulfils each order, based on inventory, shipping cost, customer proximity or your own logic, and fulfillable inventory settings that limit sales to areas you can actually serve.
The transfers page says you can move stock between your locations, or between a location and an outside one such as a supplier. Shopify creates the shipments. You can mark a transfer as in transit, ready to ship or transferred, add tracking, send items in separate batches and receive all or part of it at the destination. Transfers can be fulfilled and received in Shopify POS, and a custom report of the inventory adjustment type shows changes from transfers across locations. If you sell in a shop, our POS setup checklist says which inventory features need POS Pro. For models where someone else holds the stock, see fulfilment models.
Stock counts that hold up
- Count a small group of products often, such as the top 20 sellers weekly, rather than everything once a year.
- Count at a quiet time, and freeze movements while you count, or note what moved.
- Compare the count with Shopify's figure and adjust with a reason, so the record shows why.
- Look for patterns. The same item always short points to a process problem, such as damage, mis-picks or theft.
- Keep one person responsible for adjustments, and review the adjustment report monthly.
Common mistakes
- One shared stock number for two channels. If the shop and the website draw on the same pile, decide which location holds it and who can sell from it.
- Setting a reorder point once. Sales and lead times change. Recalculate at least quarterly.
- Adjusting without a reason. Shopify records when and why a quantity changed, but only if you give a reason.
- Letting several people edit quantities. Limit who can adjust stock, and review changes.
- Ignoring slow movers. Stock that does not sell is cash you cannot use. Review it every month.
Questions for an inventory app vendor
- Which Shopify data does the app read, and how often does it refresh?
- Does it work across all my locations, and with POS?
- How does it calculate the reorder suggestion, and can I change the rule?
- Where do alerts appear, and who receives them?
- What happens to my data if I stop using it?
A weekly and monthly routine
Routines beat heroics. A store that spends thirty minutes a week on the same short list will see problems early, while one that waits for a stock-out learns about it from a customer.
- Weekly. Check items at or below their reorder point. Place orders. Receive deliveries against the purchase order. Count your top sellers.
- Monthly. Review the adjustment report. Recalculate reorder points for seasonal products. Look at slow movers and decide what to discount or stop buying.
- Quarterly. Check supplier lead times against what they promised, and update the numbers.
If your inventory still lives in several spreadsheets, our guide on moving from spreadsheets to one system may help, and so may connecting Shopify to an ERP or accounting tool.
ESTASOFT's workflow automation page describes the automation work we do. To set up inventory rules and alerts for your store, send a short brief on the contact page.
Sources
- Inventory and locations (Shopify Help Center): locations, tracking, adjustments, stock counts, transfers and purchase orders; page does not cover low stock alerts or reorder points; page shows no date (checked 11 November 2026)
- Inventory transfers and shipments (Shopify Help Center): moving stock between locations or to and from suppliers, shipments, receiving, POS, inventory adjustment report; page shows no date (checked 11 November 2026)
- Overview of order fulfillment and shipping features (Shopify Help Center): multiple locations, order routing rules, fulfillable inventory settings; page shows no date (checked 11 November 2026)
- Shopify Flow examples (Shopify Help Center): low inventory notification example: trigger Inventory quantity changed; page shows no date (checked 11 November 2026)
- Shopify POS subscription overview (Shopify Help Center): basic inventory adjustments in every plan, tracking and transfers with POS Pro; page shows no date (checked 11 November 2026)