Guide
Shopify inventory management: the complete guide for 2026
What Shopify handles on its own, where it stops, and how to set up a simple system that keeps best-sellers in stock without tying up cash.
In this guide: What Shopify does natively · The planning gap · A simple system · The reorder formula · Common mistakes
What Shopify does natively
Shopify's admin covers the record-keeping side of inventory well:
- Stock tracking per variant and per location, updated as orders come in.
- Transfers between locations.
- Purchase orders and receiving, now built into admin after Stocky's retirement.
- Inventory reports showing what you have and what sold.
If you sell a handful of products and reorder by eye, that may be all you need.
The planning gap
Record-keeping tells you what you have. Planning tells you what to do: which products to reorder, how many, and by what date. That's the part Stocky's forecasts used to cover, and the part Shopify admin still leaves to you.
The gap matters most when:
- Suppliers take weeks to deliver, so "low stock" alerts arrive too late.
- Sales vary by season, so last month's pace is wrong for next month.
- You carry dozens or hundreds of SKUs and can't eyeball them all.
A simple inventory management system for Shopify
- Clean up your catalog. Make sure every product you buy has inventory tracking on, a SKU, and a cost per item.
- Record each supplier's lead time. The days from placing an order to stock on your shelf, including shipping. This one number drives everything else.
- Calculate a reorder point per SKU. See the formula below, or use our free reorder point calculator.
- Review weekly. Anything at or under its reorder point gets ordered. Group by supplier to hit minimums and save on shipping.
- Receive POs promptly so on-hand counts stay accurate.
The reorder point formula
Example: you sell 6 bags of coffee a day and your roaster takes 21 days. 6 × 21 = 126. Add a week of safety stock (42), and you reorder whenever you're down to 168 bags.
How much to order: enough to cover the lead time plus however many days you want each order to last. More detail in our inventory forecasting guide.
Common mistakes
- Using all-time averages. Use recent sales (the last 4 weeks is a good default) so the forecast follows your current pace.
- Counting stockout days as zero sales. If a product was out of stock for a week, those zeros make it look like a slow seller. Exclude them.
- Ignoring incoming stock. Count units already on order, or you'll double-order.
- One lead time for everyone. A local supplier and an overseas one need very different reorder points.
FAQ
Does Shopify have built-in inventory management?
Yes. Shopify admin tracks stock per location, supports transfers, purchase orders and receiving, and can show low-stock items. What it doesn't do is forecast demand or tell you when to reorder based on each supplier's lead time.
What is the best inventory management system for a small Shopify store?
For most small stores: Shopify's built-in tracking plus a reorder-planning app. Full inventory platforms (multi-channel, warehouses, manufacturing) usually cost far more and are built for larger operations.
How often should I reorder inventory?
Not on a fixed schedule. Reorder when your stock on hand falls to your reorder point: daily sales × supplier lead time, plus safety stock.
What replaced Stocky?
Shopify retired Stocky on August 31, 2026. Basic purchase orders and receiving moved into Shopify admin. Forecasting and reorder suggestions now require a third-party app.
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