A brick-and-mortar store owner seeks a simple scanning app that allows retail employees to check inventory levels for shelf restocking without accessing sensitive data like costs or sales totals. The goal is to enable staff to scan low-stock items on the sales floor and see total inventory counts to determine if backstock retrieval is needed.
Suggested Solutions:
EasyScan: SKU and Barcode – Recommended as the best fit; allows barcode scanning to view stock levels without exposing pricing or revenue data
Stocky (Shopify POS Pro) – Built-in option for scan-to-check backstock, but requires POS Pro plan and may be too complex for less tech-savvy employees
Manual tagging workflow – Use product tags like “Needs Restocking” combined with automated collections, though this requires staff diligence
Separate locations setup – Configure “sales floor” and “back storage” as distinct Shopify locations, potentially using Flow automation to tag low-stock items
Status: Discussion remains open with multiple app recommendations provided but no final decision indicated.
Summarized with AI on October 23.
AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
I own a brick-and-mortar store along with ecomm both use shopify. I’m trying to find an app that would help my employees know what pegs needs to be restock in store (by showing we have backstock) either by scanning what is on the shelves or some type of automatic sales sheet comparing total inventory left. Keep in mind I’m looking for something simple that anyone regardless of age or experience can use. I also don’t want them to have access to any sensitive information like cost or sales totals.
Yes, I know shopify has reports that show this but teaching them how to use it would be difficult since some employees only have POS access and also would show them what the store is making so would like to avoid that.
I know there has to be a scan and go type app that shows the total inventory amount without letting them change any counts or mess up anything.
I understood your requirement of back in stock notification. Whenever products gets out of stock, you want the employees to get the message or email or web push. I would like to inform you that AiTrillion can help you with the use case.
With AiTrillion and Shopify flow this can be done easily. Like whenever the products get out of stocks, the employees will get Email or SMS or Web push or Whatsapp message for re-stock.
Feel free to let me know if you would like to know more.
No. Looking for an easy & fast way to scan products that are low in store on the shelves and see the total inventory so employee would know if they needed to go into the back and get more for the peg. An added bonus if it would let them save the variants so they know what they need to get from the backstock, kind of like a check list. An updated top selling products list would help point them in the direction of where to start.
These are retail store employees who don’t have access to ordering or even need to know anything about ordering. Their job is to keep my in-store pegs full, so products are always out for the customer to see and purchase. I know I’m not the only one who struggles trusting employees to stay on top of this.
Yeah, I know that you said would like to avoid using Shopify reports but how about this:
Use product tags and an automated collection. First, create a tag called “Needs Restocking.” Instruct your staff to use the Shopify POS to add this tag to any item they see running low on the sales floor. Then, create an automated collection that gathers all products with this tag. This collection acts as a live “restocking list” that your team can view directly on the POS. When an item is restocked, they simply remove the tag.
interesting idea. it would work if you have savvy folks on your sales floor who will see the low stock and mark it. I wonder if there’s a way to set up stock bins for your inventory (stocky does this i think) and then use the flow app to automatically tag the items with your “needs restocking” tag based on the inventory in the “sales floor” location being lower than X…
I guess you can have separate locations for “sales floor” and “back storage”, and then yes, Flow can track those separately.
However, each visit to the “back storage” would need to be tracked as “inventory transfer” which probably would not help simplifying things unless there is somebody more involved at the back to do proper tracking.
For your needs, it’s a good idea to explore inventory management apps that integrate with Shopify and offer scan-to-replenish functionality.
One Shopify-supported option is Stocky, which comes with Shopify POS. It lets your team scan shelf items to check backstock, making restocking and inventory checks faster. You can also create purchase orders and sync incoming inventory so that stock levels stay accurate across both Shopify Admin and Shopify POS.
This gives you a real-time, unified view of your inventory across all your sales channels.
Just a heads-up: Stocky is only available on the Shopify POS Pro plan.
Great question — this is a really common need for retail stores running both POS + online under Shopify. You’re basically looking for a simple “scan and restock” tool that:
Shows how many units are left in total stock,
Helps staff see what needs to be refilled, and
Doesn’t expose sensitive info like pricing or total sales.
Here are a few options that fit exactly what you’re describing
1. EasyScan: SKU and Barcode
Perfect for “scan-to-check-stock” and “scan-to-fulfill.”
Your staff can scan shelf items with a barcode scanner or mobile camera to instantly see stock levels from the linked Shopify inventory.
You can lock down access — they only see quantities, not cost or revenue. Simple interface POS-friendly Great for backroom restocking
App link: EasyScan - SKU and Barcode
2. Stocky (free with POS Pro)
If you already use Shopify POS Pro, Stocky can help with restocking suggestions and backstock visibility.
But it’s more complex — not ideal if you want something truly simple or for less techy employees.
3. SKUSavvy
Mobile-based visual warehouse & shelf restock tool. Lets you map where items go, scan, and restock efficiently.
It’s a bit more feature-heavy, but you can restrict views (no cost data shown).
4. Custom lightweight solution
If you really want “one tap → scan → see stock → done,” you can build a tiny internal app with Shopify’s Inventory API — we’ve done this for stores needing a simple employee stock view without exposing sensitive data.
For your case, EasyScan will be the best starting point — quick to set up, staff-friendly, and no sensitive info leaks.
You can check out our Shopify Partner profile — we’ve built and shared several free Shopify app solutions to help store owners. Feel free to explore our profile and see how our apps can make your Shopify experience better!
1. EasyScan: SKU and Barcode
Simple interface
App link: EasyScan - SKU and Barcode
2. Stocky (free with POS Pro)
3. SKUSavvy
4. Custom lightweight solution
You can check out our Shopify Partner profile — we’ve built and shared several free Shopify app solutions to help store owners. Feel free to explore our profile and see how our apps can make your Shopify experience better!