A merchant stored his goods in several places: with logistics providers and also at Amazon. The wish was understandable: all inventory automatically in Shopify, one switch, done. It's not that simple. Before an automatic sync runs, it has to be clear which stock is where and which item ships from where. Otherwise the store sells goods that aren't there.
The case
The same item can sit in several places, in different quantities. Some items are only in one warehouse. And Amazon reports inventory differently than a logistics provider. Throw all of that into one pot and you get a number that means nothing.
How we built the inventory logic
- Every warehouse is its own location in Shopify. Shopify can track inventory per location. That's the foundation for everything else.
- Clarify per item where it comes from. Which items are at Amazon, which with the provider, which in both places?
- Match the SKUs. Every SKU has to mean the same product in every system. Duplicate or missing mappings get cleaned up beforehand.
- Only automate what's stable. Where a connection runs reliably, inventory is synced automatically. Other warehouses were temporarily maintained by hand.
- Start small. First individual items, then check, then expand.
What happens if you get it wrong
A misconfigured sync can count inventory twice or set it to zero. In the first case, you sell goods that aren't there. In the second, you don't sell at all, even though the warehouse is full. Both often only get noticed when customers complain.
What you can take away
- “Sync everything” is rarely the right first setting. Understand first, then automate.
- Use locations in Shopify. One location per warehouse makes visible what's where.
- SKUs are the key. Without unique SKUs, no sync works.
- Manual isn't failure. Cleanly maintained inventory by hand beats wrong automatic inventory.
Are your goods stored in several places? We build the inventory logic so your store knows what's really available.