When store, warehouse and online inventory disagree
An item can be in stock but unavailable to sell. Separate physical, reserved and incoming stock before connecting the systems.
The workflow illustrates a possible design and is not a client case study.
- Map SKUs
- Sync changes
- Resolve differences
A mismatch may mean more than slow sync
The online store says an item is available, but the warehouse cannot ship it. Slow updates are only one possible cause: product codes may differ, incoming goods may count as stock, or unchecked returns may have been added back. Overwriting both systems’ totals can make the original mistake harder to find.
Will native Shopify inventory be enough?
Shopify supports inventory across locations. Try its standard settings and existing warehouse connectors first. If the warehouse uses different reservation or return rules, check which records the connector updates, in which direction, and how a failed update is recovered.
Start with one warehouse and map its SKUs
Use one warehouse and a small set of products to map the SKUs and decide which system controls each quantity. Staff need to see the last successful update and why a sync failed. Record manual corrections and decide how the next sync should treat them.
Can you trace each stock adjustment?
Try simultaneous sales, partial shipments, cancellations, exchanges, negative stock and repeated notifications. Check each SKU at each location. Staff should be able to trace a stock change to an order or adjustment, and recover an update that was missed.
Bring an example of mismatched stock
Bring the SKU mapping, warehouse API details, return procedures and a day’s examples of mismatched stock. Set the update frequency to suit daily operations and the API limits.