Stocky is gone: how to do a stocktake in Shopify now

1. Stock counts in the admin

This is what Shopify recommends for full stocktakes and cycle counts. You plan a count, staff record what they find, and a manager can review the result before stock levels change.

1. Go to Products → Inventory and click Stock counts.
2. Click Create count, then Select location to count. One count covers one location.
3. In Search products to add, search for products or scan a barcode, select them, click Add to count, then Save.
4. Open the count and click Start count. Type each quantity in the Count field, or scan. Each scan adds one.
5. When you finish, open the menu and click Request review. A manager compares Expected with Counted, clicks Reject count on any line to leave out, saves, and clicks Approve.

Several people can count at the same time, and each quantity shows who recorded it. Counts are created in a desktop browser. Staff can also count in the Shopify POS app, but only at locations with a POS Pro subscription. POS Pro is a paid add-on for each location (US$89 a month per location in the US at the time of writing; prices vary by country).

2. Quick count in Shopify POS

Quick count is a POS app extension for spot checks of a shelf or a few products, and Shopify says it is included with POS Pro. Turn on the Start quick count app in your Point of Sale settings. Then open a product in POS, tap Start quick count, scan or enter quantities, and tap Submit.

Quick count has no review step: Submit updates the quantities straight away. And it asks for On hand stock, which includes units already sold and waiting for pickup or shipping. If six sold units are bagged in the back room, count them too. One session takes up to 1,000 variants.

3. Export to CSV, count, and import

1. In Products → Inventory, click Export. Pick the location, choose All states, and export all variants.
2. Count the shelves and type each counted number into the On hand (new) column. Leave it empty for anything you didn't count.
3. Back in Products → Inventory, click Import, add the file, click Upload file, check the summary and click Start import.
4. Keep the export, your counted file and the import result together as your record.

Leave the On hand (current) column exactly as it was exported. Shopify compares it with today's quantity and skips any row that changed since the export, then emails you the rows it skipped. That stops a sale from being overwritten, but you have to recount or fix those rows yourself.

4. Editing quantities by hand

For a few items, open the product, click the quantity in the Inventory section, choose Set to, enter what you counted, pick the reason Count, and click Save. For more, select variants on the Inventory page and click Edit variants to open the bulk editor, where each cell takes the new total.

Shopify's own tools cover the basics, and for a small shop they may be enough. Check these gaps before a big count. Each one comes from Shopify's own help pages.

• No undo. Approving a stock count can't be undone. Neither can Complete count, which updates stock straight away and skips the review. If a zone was counted twice, you correct it by hand.
• No export. Stock counts can't be exported or duplicated.
• Adding products. The help pages describe adding products to a count by searching or scanning. They don't mention adding everything from a vendor, tag or collection, which matters if you plan cycle counts by aisle or supplier.
• Sales during the count. Approving applies the difference between the counted and expected quantities. The help pages don't say what happens to an item that sold between being counted and the approval. Check those items before you approve, or count while the store is closed.
• Counting on the shop floor. Counting in the POS app needs POS Pro at that location.
• Small catches. Bundles aren't supported in stock counts, and a barcode shared by two variants returns an error when scanned.

Tallyo is our app for stocktakes and cycle counts in Shopify. It is made by TELCOMA Global, not by Shopify.

• Count with what you have. Any Bluetooth or USB barcode scanner that types like a keyboard, the camera in the Shopify mobile app, or typing. It doesn't need POS Pro.
• Several people at once. Everyone opens the same count on their own device. Each device gets a tag such as "Aisle 3", so you can see where a number came from.
• Blind counts. Tick one box and counters see what they have counted, not what Shopify expects.
• Cycle counts by filter. Count everything at a location, or only products matching a vendor, product type, tag or collection.
• Review before anything changes. Counting changes nothing in Shopify. You see expected and counted side by side, filter to differences or to items nobody counted, then apply. Uncounted items keep their quantity. Nothing is set to zero.
• A check before every update. An item is updated only if Shopify's quantity is still what it was when the count started. If it sold in the meantime, the item is skipped and marked so you can recount it.
• One-click rollback. Every change keeps the value it replaced, so you can put a whole count back.

One count covers one location. Tallyo reads products, locations and stock levels, never orders or customers. There is a free plan for counts of up to 100 items at one location. Paid plans start at $19 a month with a 14-day free trial, and CSV export is on the Plus plan. See the listing for current plans.