Inventory how-to

How to manage inventory for gift cards and digital products

Gift cards and digital products do not need stock forecasting or reordering because they are not physical goods you run out of.

Short answer: Gift cards and digital products do not need stock forecasting or reordering because they are not physical goods you run out of. Treat them as unlimited-availability items in your store setup and keep your inventory effort focused on the physical SKUs that actually have supply constraints.

Why they are different

Gift cards and digital downloads do not sit in a warehouse. There is no lead time, no supplier, no case pack, and no risk of a stockout in the normal sense. The only thing that matters is that the product stays purchasable and that fulfillment (an email, a code, a download link) works correctly.

What to check instead of stock levels

For gift cards, confirm the amounts and expiry rules match what you intend to sell, and check that the delivery email is set up correctly. For digital products, check the file or license delivery is working and that the product is not accidentally tracking inventory as if it were physical. If a digital product shows as "out of stock" because inventory tracking was left on by mistake, that is a setup issue, not a supply issue.

Keep digital and physical SKUs separate in your thinking

If your store sells both physical and digital products, do not mix them in the same reorder process. Your forecasting and purchase order work should only ever apply to items with real lead times and real suppliers. Digital items and gift cards should be excluded from any reorder point or days-of-stock calculation, since daily sales times lead time means nothing for an item with infinite supply.

Step by step

  1. List all gift card and digital products in your catalog.
  2. Turn off inventory tracking for these items in your store admin, or confirm it was never turned on.
  3. Set them to always allow purchase with no quantity limit.
  4. Test the delivery flow end to end: buy one, confirm the code or file arrives correctly.
  5. Exclude these SKUs from any reorder report, spreadsheet, or forecasting tool you use for physical stock.
  6. Review gift card amounts and digital license terms periodically, separate from your stock review.

Worked example

A store sells physical candles and also a $50 digital gift card. The candles need reorder points based on daily sales and supplier lead time. The gift card needs none of that: it is not tracked as inventory, has no daily sales rate for reorder purposes, and never appears in a purchase order. The owner's only job with the gift card is checking the delivery email template works and the amount is correct.

How SteadyShelf helps

SteadyShelf forecasts and reorders physical inventory only, so gift cards and digital products fall outside what it tracks. There is nothing to set up on our end for them: just make sure they are not mistakenly included as trackable inventory items, since that would pull them into forecasts where they do not belong.

$29/month flat, unlimited products and suppliers, 30-day free trial. Run the numbers now with the free reorder point calculator.

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FAQ

Should gift cards ever be included in inventory forecasting?

No. Gift cards have no supply limit and no lead time, so reorder point and order quantity formulas do not apply. Keep them out of any forecasting or reorder process entirely.

What if a digital product shows as out of stock in the store?

That almost always means inventory tracking was left on for that product by mistake. Check the product setup in your store admin and turn tracking off, since digital items should always be purchasable.

Let SteadyShelf do this math for every SKU

Order-by dates per supplier, seasonal forecasts and draft POs for your Shopify store. $29/month after a 30-day free trial.

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