Tracking and adjusting inventory

Set up inventory tracking

Before you can view or adjust inventory levels for a product, you need to set up inventory tracking for the product. After tracking is set up, an inventory history is available for 90 days.

Steps:

Desktop

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > All products.

2. Click the name of the product that you want to track.

3. If the product has variants, then click the variant that you want to track.

4. In the Inventory section, check Track quantity.

5. If you want to allow customers to purchase the item when it's out of stock, then check Continue selling when out of stock.

6. In the Quantity section, enter the quantity information for each location.

7. Click Save.

iPhone

1. From the Shopify app, go to Products > All products.

2. Tap the product that you want to track.

3. If the product has variants, then tap the variant that you want to edit. You'll have to set inventory tracking for each variant individually.

4. Tap Inventory.

5. On the inventory screen, enable Track quantity.

6. If you want to allow customers to purchase the item when it's out of stock, then enable Allow purchase when out of stock.

7. Tap Quantity, and then enter the number of units that you have for the product or variant.

8. Tap Done.

9. Tap Save.

10. Tap the name of the product to return to its details screen.

Android

1. From the Shopify app, go to Products > All products.

2. Tap the product that you want to track.

3. If the product has variants, then tap the variant that you want to edit. You'll have to set inventory tracking for each variant individually.

4. Tap Inventory.

5. On the Inventory screen, enable Track quantity.

6. If you want to allow customers to purchase the item when it's out of stock, then enable Allow purchase when out of stock.

7. In Quantity, enter the number of units that you have for the product or variant, then tap ✓.

8. Tap ✓.

9. Tap the back arrow to return to the product details screen.

Caution

If you're using Shopify POS, you can continue selling products when inventory reaches zero and below. This is because the Shopify POS app assumes you have the inventory on hand if you are selling in person.

If you're adding or editing a variant for the online store and you select Continue selling when out of stock, then you can continue selling products when your inventory reaches zero and below. However, if you deselect this option because you don't want to sell a product that has sold out, then customers can't buy the product.

Selling when out of stock

When you sell out of a quantity of an item, by default Shopify won't allow customers to purchase that item until there is more stock added. You can allow customers to purchase items when they are out of stock by enabling this feature under your product's Inventory section.

You might want to enable this feature for any of the following reasons:

• You have products available for pre-order.
• You have stock coming soon and you want to continue selling before it arrives.
• You want to sell first and then order supplies later.
• You have a very high quantity of an item and you don't need to track the quantity.

Viewing your product inventory

You can view product inventory on the Products page, which displays a combined inventory count for all of the variants of each product.

You can view the inventory counts for your product variants on the Inventory page. On the Inventory page, you can search variants or filter by Availability, Product type, Product vendor, Inventory quantity, or Tagged with. You can also add tags to your products to help with inventory management.

Adjusting inventory quantities

You can change the available inventory quantity of products in the following ways:

• on the Inventory page
• for product with variants, on the product details page
• using the bulk editor
• using the inventory CSV file

If you manage inventory across multiple locations, then you can change inventory quantities by location.

Adjust inventory quantities

Desktop

Steps:

1. In the Shopify admin, go to Products > Inventory.

2. If you have multiple locations, then select a location from the drop down menu.

3. Optional: Filter or search the list of products.

4. You can adjust the available quantity of a single variant or multiple variants by the same amount.

   • To adjust a single variant, enter the quantity in the Edit quantity available column.
   • To adjust multiple variants by the same amount, select the variants you want to edit and click More actions > Update quantity.

5. Change the inventory quantity.

   • To adjust the quantity by a specific amount, click Add and then enter a number. You can use a negative number to subtract from existing inventory quantity.
   • To set a new total inventory count, click Set and then enter a number.

6. Click Save. The new total is in the Available column.

If a product is not listed for that location, then you're either not tracking inventory for that product, or the product isn’t stocked at the location.

iPhone

1. From the Shopify app, tap Products > Inventory.
2. To select a location other than the default, tap the location name, and then select a different location. Only the products that are at that location are displayed.
3. Optional: Filter or search the list of products.
4. Optional: To scan a barcode, tap the inventory scanner icon on the upper-right corner.
5. Tap the appropriate variant.
6. Do either of the following:
7. If you have one location, then in the Quantity section, tap Available.
8. If you have multiple locations, then in the Quantity section, tap the appropriate location.
9. Change the inventory quantity by doing either of the following:
   • To adjust the quantity by a specific amount, make sure that Adjust quantity is selected, and then enter a number in Adjust by. You can use a negative number to subtract from existing inventory quantity.
   • To set a new total inventory count, tap Set quantity and then enter a number in New quantity.
10. Tap Done.
11. Tap Save.

Android

1. From the Shopify app, tap Products > Inventory.
2. To select a location other than the default, tap the location name, and then select a different location. Only the products that are at that location are displayed.
3. Optional: Filter or search the list of products.
4. Optional: To scan a barcode, tap the the inventory scanner icon in the upper-right corner.
5. Tap the appropriate variant.
6. Do either of the following:
7. If you have one location, then in the Quantity section, tap Available.
8. If you have multiple locations, then in the Quantity section, tap the appropriate location.
9. Change the inventory quantity by doing either of the following:
   • To adjust the quantity by a specific amount, make sure that Adjust quantity is selected, and then enter a number in Adjust by. You can use a negative number to subtract from existing inventory quantity.
   • To set a new total inventory count, tap Set quantity and then enter a number in New quantity.
10. Tap the ✓ to save your changes.

Adjust inventory quantities for products without variants

Desktop

1. From the Products page, click the product you want to edit.
2. In the Inventory section:
   • To set a new total inventory count, enter quantity in the Available section.
   • To adjust the quantity by a specific amount, click the Available section to make the Adjust quantity by appear. Enter the amount you want to adjust the quantity by. You can use a negative number to subtract from existing inventory quantity.
3. Click Save.

iPhone

1. From the Shopify app, tap Products > All products.
2. Tap the product that you want to edit.
3. Tap Inventory.
4. Do either of the following:
5. If you have one location, then in the Quantity section, tap Available.
6. If you have multiple locations, then in the Quantity section, tap the appropriate location.
7. Change the inventory quantity by doing either of the following:
   • To adjust the quantity by a specific amount, make sure that Adjust quantity is selected, and then enter a number in Adjust by. You can use a negative number to subtract from existing inventory quantity.
   • To set a new total inventory count, tap Set quantity and then enter a number in New quantity.
8. Tap Done.
9. Tap Save.

Android

1. From the Shopify app, tap Products > All products.
2. Tap the product that you want to edit.
3. Tap Inventory.
4. Do either of the following:
5. If you have one location, then in the Quantity section, tap Available.
6. If you have multiple locations, then in the Quantity section, tap the appropriate location.
7. Change the inventory quantity by doing either of the following:
   • To adjust the quantity by a specific amount, make sure that Adjust quantity is selected, and then enter a number in Adjust by. You can use a negative number to subtract from existing inventory quantity.
   • To set a new total inventory count, tap Set quantity, and then enter a number in New quantity.
8. Tap the ✓ to save your changes.

Adjust inventory quantities for products with variants

Desktop

1. From the Products page, click the product you want to edit.
2. In the Variants section:
   • If you want to edit a variant, then enter the amount in the Quantity column.
   • If you want to edit quantities for all of the variants, then click Edit variants > Edit quantities. Enter a quantity for all of the variants, and then click Apply to all.
3. Click Save.

iPhone

1. From the Shopify app, tap Products > All products.
2. Tap the product that you want to edit.
3. In the Variant section, tap the appropriate variant.
4. Tap Inventory.
5. Do either of the following:
6. If you have one location, then in the Quantity section, tap Available.
7. If you have multiple locations, then in the Quantity section, tap the appropriate location.
8. Change the inventory quantity by doing either of the following:
   • To adjust the quantity by a specific amount, make sure that Adjust quantity is selected, and then enter a number in Adjust by. You can use a negative number to subtract from existing inventory quantity.
   • To set a new total inventory count, tap Set quantity and then enter a number in New quantity.
9. Tap Done.
10. Tap Save.

Android

1. From the Shopify app, tap Products > All products.
2. Tap the product that you want to edit.
3. In the Variant section, tap the appropriate variant.
4. Tap Inventory.
5. Do either of the following:
6. If you have one location, then in the Quantity section, tap Available.
7. If you have multiple locations, then in the Quantity section, tap the appropriate location.
8. Change the inventory quantity by doing either of the following:
   • To adjust the quantity by a specific amount, make sure that Adjust quantity is selected, and then enter a number in Adjust by. You can use a negative number to subtract from existing inventory quantity.
   • To set a new total inventory count, tap Set quantity, and then enter a number in New quantity.
9. Tap the ✓ to save your changes.

View a product's inventory history

If you are using Shopify to track a product's inventory, then you can view the history of its inventory adjustments. If the product has variants, then you can view the inventory history for each variant that is being tracked, but you can't view the inventory history for all of the variants at once.

You can view only the last 90 days of inventory history for a product or variant.

When you view the inventory history for a product or variant, you see the following information about inventory adjustments:

• Date - the date of each adjustment
• Event - the event that caused the adjustment, such as a transfer or an order
• Adjusted by - the staff member who made the adjustment
• Adjustment - the quantity of the adjustment change, negative or positive
• Quantity - the inventory quantity after the adjustment

Steps:

Desktop

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > All products.

2. Click the name of the product.

3. If the product has variants, then click Edit beside a variant.

4. In the Inventory section, click View inventory history.

iPhone

1. From the Shopify app, go to Products > All products.

2. Tap a product.

3. If the product has variants, then tap a variant.

4. Tap Inventory.

5. Tap View inventory history.

Android

1. From the Shopify app, go to Products > All products.

2. Tap a product.

3. If the product has variants, then tap a variant.

4. Tap Inventory.

5. Tap VIEW INVENTORY HISTORY.

Note

When a customer places an order, the product's variants are deducted from your product's inventory. If the inventory is location specific, then the inventory is adjusted for the appropriate location.