Inventory not updating

[katiejs]

We are having a lot of trouble with our inventory keeping correctly. I feel as though all of my settings are correct, but every now and then we sell things online that we do not have in stock, and the inventory totals are way off. The "track quantity" box is checked on every single item, but we still find items in our system that are out of stock, even though Shopify says we have 2 or 4 in stock. 

[CB-1]

Same here.  In admin on product it shows inventory and online still sold out.  It's happening randomly but mostly when I update from 0 stock.

[DaisyVo]

Hi @katiejs 

Inventory Not Updating Correctly in Shopify – What You Can Do

I see how frustrating this must be—selling products that aren’t actually in stock can cause major issues with fulfillment and customer trust. Since you’ve already checked that the "Track quantity" box is enabled, let’s go through a few key areas that might be causing the problem.

1. Check for Multiple Locations

• If you have multiple fulfillment locations (even if you only have one physical store), Shopify tracks inventory separately for each.
• Go to Settings > Locations and see if inventory is being split across different places. If an item is showing as “in stock” but isn’t actually there, it could be assigned to another location.

2. Review Third-Party Apps & Integrations

• If you’re using any third-party inventory management, POS system, or fulfillment service (like Amazon, Printful, etc.), they might be overriding Shopify’s stock count.
• Check Apps > Installed Apps and look for anything that manages inventory. Try disabling them temporarily to see if stock updates correctly.

3. Manually Adjust & Reset Inventory Counts

• Sometimes, Shopify’s inventory system can get out of sync, especially if orders are edited or canceled after purchase.
• Try doing a full inventory reset:
1. Export your inventory (Products > Inventory > Export).
2. Compare it with your actual stock.
3. Re-upload the corrected inventory file to Shopify.

4. Check for Draft Orders & Manual Adjustments

• Orders that are created manually (Draft Orders) don’t always deduct inventory right away.
• Also, if staff members are manually adjusting stock, mistakes can happen. Look into Products > Inventory > Adjustment History to see if there are any unexpected changes.

5. Enable "Continue Selling When Out of Stock" Setting

• If this option is accidentally enabled, Shopify will keep selling products even if they hit zero.
• Go to Products > Select a product > Inventory, and make sure this box is unchecked unless you intentionally allow backorders.

Final Thoughts

If none of these solve the issue, I’d recommend reaching out to Shopify Support to check for any system bugs or sync issues specific to your store.

If you need any other assistance, I am willing to help.
Best regards,
Daisy.

[Anonymous]

Hi @katiejs ,

I understand how frustrating it can be when your inventory doesn’t match up, especially when Shopify is showing stock that isn’t actually there. Even with "Track Quantity" enabled, discrepancies can still happen.

To help with this, our inventory management app is designed to ensure accurate stock levels and prevent these kinds of issues: 

StockHero Low Stock Alerts helps you efficiently manage and track inventory in real time to reduce stock discrepancies and avoid selling out-of-stock items : https://apps.shopify.com/obius-inventory-optimization

If you’d like, I can walk you through how it works or offer a demo. Let me know how I can assist you!