How to Track and Manage Inventory as a Shopify Merchant

Tracking and managing your inventory effectively is critical to the success of your business. If you’re dealing with stockouts, overselling, or manual inventory updates, you already know how costly inventory management mistakes can be. The bigger your store grows, the more complex inventory becomes—especially if you’re selling across multiple channels or handling multiple locations.

Below we’ll explore:

• Tips for managing stock levels efficiently.
• How integrating Shopify with an OMS can save you time, money, and headaches.
• How to set up inventory tracking on Shopify with SkuNexus.

Why Inventory Management Is a Challenge for Shopify Merchants

Inventory management is one of the most challenging aspects of running an e-commerce business, especially for growing Shopify merchants. Do any of these sound familiar?

• Stockouts: Running out of stock on popular items, resulting in lost sales.
• Overselling: Selling items that are no longer available in inventory, leading to customer dissatisfaction.
• Manual tracking errors: Keeping track of inventory manually increases the risk of human error, which can disrupt operations.
• Multi-channel complexity: Managing inventory across multiple channels (like Amazon, eBay, and Shopify) is often confusing and time-consuming.

Without the right tools, these challenges can quickly become overwhelming. Shopify’s built-in inventory management features offer a good starting point, but as your business scales, you’ll need more robust solutions to maintain accuracy and efficiency. This is where an IMS like SkuNexus can be a game-changer, but more on that later.

Setting Up Inventory Tracking on Shopify

Before diving into an IMS, it’s important to ensure that your Shopify store’s inventory tracking is set up properly.

Enable Inventory Tracking in Shopify: Shopify allows you to track product inventory directly in the platform. To get started:

1. Go to the Shopify admin panel.
2. Navigate to "Products" and select a product.
3. Under the "Inventory" section, check the box next to “Track quantity.”
4. Input the number of units you have for the product.

By enabling Shopify’s inventory tracking, you’ll have a basic system in place to monitor stock levels for your products. However, for more complex inventory needs—such as multi-location management or real-time updates across channels—an advanced inventory management system is required.

Integrating an IMS with Shopify for Advanced Inventory Management

A customizable Inventory Management System provides the tools you need to take Shopify’s basic inventory tracking to the next level. Through seamless integration, an IMS connects your Shopify store to a robust inventory management system designed to automate and simplify your processes.

Benefits of Integrating an IMS with Shopify:

Real-Time Inventory Tracking: An IMS can sync inventory across your Shopify store and any additional sales channels you use (e.g., Amazon, eBay). This ensures that your stock levels are updated in real-time, preventing overselling and stock discrepancies.

• Automated Workflows: Create automated workflows for key inventory tasks, such as restocking, order fulfillment, and inventory transfers with a Shopify-friendly IMS. This eliminates the need for manual input and reduces the risk of human error.
• Centralized Control of Multiple Locations: If you operate from multiple warehouses or retail locations, you’ll want an IMS that provides centralized control of your inventory. You can view stock levels at each location in real-time and automate inventory transfers when necessary.
• Customizable Alerts and Reports: With an IMS, you can set custom alerts for low stock, overstock situations, or slow-moving products. You’ll also have access to detailed reports that provide insights into your inventory performance, allowing you to make data-driven decisions.

Managing Stock Levels Effectively

Once your system of choice is integrated with your Shopify store, managing your stock levels becomes a more streamlined and efficient process. Here are some tips to help you stay on top of your inventory:

• Automate Reordering:

Running out of stock is every Shopify merchant’s worst nightmare. SkuNexus offers automated reordering workflows that trigger purchase orders when stock falls below a specified threshold. This ensures that your inventory is always replenished without manual intervention.

Pro Tip: Set different reorder points for each location based on the sales velocity at that location. This ensures you always have the right amount of stock in the right places.

• Track Inventory Across Multiple Sales Channels:

If you sell on multiple platforms—such as Amazon, eBay, or a brick-and-mortar store—keeping track of inventory can be overwhelming. SkuNexus syncs inventory data across all of your channels in real-time, ensuring that your stock levels are always accurate.

Pro Tip: Use SkuNexus’s order routing feature to automatically fulfill orders from the location closest to the customer. This reduces shipping times and costs while ensuring that you’re maximizing the efficiency of your inventory.

• Set Up Stock Alerts:

SkuNexus allows you to set up custom low stock alerts, ensuring that you never run out of inventory unexpectedly. By receiving real-time notifications when stock levels dip below your set threshold, you can reorder stock before it’s too late.

Pro Tip: Use historical sales data to determine the optimal reorder points for your products. SkuNexus’s reporting tools make it easy to analyze sales trends and adjust your inventory strategy accordingly.

• Monitor Stock Turnover:

Knowing how quickly your products sell can help you manage inventory more effectively. SkuNexus offers detailed reporting tools that allow you to track the turnover rate for each product. This data helps you identify fast-moving items that require frequent reordering, as well as slow-moving products that may need to be discounted or discontinued.

Pro Tip: Regularly review your product performance reports to identify trends and adjust your inventory levels based on demand. This helps you avoid overstocking and understocking.

Solving Common Inventory Pain Points with SkuNexus

For many Shopify merchants, manual inventory management is a major pain point. Here are a few common inventory challenges Shopify merchants face—and how SkuNexus can solve them:

• Stockouts

Nothing frustrates customers more than finding out an item is out of stock after they’ve already placed an order. Stockouts result in lost sales and can damage your reputation. SkuNexus’s real-time inventory tracking ensures that stock levels are updated across all sales channels, preventing overselling and keeping customers happy.

• Overselling

Overselling is a nightmare for any Shopify merchant, especially during peak sales periods. Failing to update inventory across platforms can lead to overselling, backorders, and unhappy customers. SkuNexus automatically syncs inventory across all of your sales channels, ensuring that your stock levels are accurate at all times. This eliminates the risk of overselling and keeps your operations running smoothly.

• Manual Inventory Updates

Updating inventory manually is time-consuming and prone to errors, especially as your business scales. SkuNexus automates inventory updates and integrates directly with Shopify, reducing the risk of human error and freeing up your time for more important tasks.

As a Shopify merchant, your inventory is one of your most valuable assets. Efficient inventory management is crucial to maintaining smooth operations and delivering a positive customer experience. By integrating an IMS with your Shopify store, you can streamline your inventory processes, reduce the risk of stockouts and overselling, and free up time to focus on growing your business.

With real-time inventory tracking, automated workflows, and centralized control of multiple locations, SkuNexus may be the IMS solution you need. It can provide the tools you need to take your inventory management to the next level whether you’re a small merchant just getting started or a seasoned business managing thousands of SKUs. Let us know if we can help you take the next step and explore the features SkuNexus has to help you succeed.