Running a barcode stocktake for a Shopify POS store (and reviewing before you apply)

Shopify's admin lets you edit quantities one at a time, and Shopify POS can adjust a product from the register, but neither gives you a count session: scan everything on a shelf, compare against what Shopify thinks is there, look at the differences, then apply. Stocky did, and it is the feature merchants mention most after purchase orders.

Equipment

• Any keyboard-wedge scanner. USB models cost about the price of a pizza; Bluetooth ones pair with an iPad. They type the barcode followed by Enter, which is all a web app needs.
• Barcodes on the products. If a variant has no barcode, add one in Shopify (or print your own labels) before the count; typing SKUs works but is slower.

Procedure

• Pick a scope. Cycle-count one shelf, one vendor or one collection a day rather than closing for a full count; small scopes are easier to review.
• Start a stocktake for the location and scope. Restock Ops snapshots Shopify's current on-hand for each item as the expected quantity.
• Scan. Each scan adds one to the counted quantity; scan the same barcode again for multiples or type a quantity for cases. Items that are not in the scope show up as unexpected so you can decide what to do with them.
• Review. The stocktake shows expected against counted with a difference per line and match, over and short badges. Sort by the largest difference and re-check those shelves before applying.
• Apply. The whole count is written to Shopify as one logged adjustment using compare-and-set, so if a sale happened between snapshot and apply the item is flagged instead of silently overwritten.
• Undo if needed. The write log shows the adjustment and lets you reverse it as a unit.

What to do with the differences

Shrinkage that repeats on the same products points at theft or a receiving error; a pattern of over-counts usually means a delivery was never received in the system. Both are cheaper to find with a weekly ten-minute cycle count than with a yearly full stocktake.