Part 1: Getting Started with Stock Take

Illustration of a stockroom shelf full of boxes with a barcode label being scanned, a phone showing a barcode scanner with counted quantities and a Commit button, and a clipboard showing 248 counted with Match, +2 and −3 statuses

Updated September 2026

This is part 1 of our series on counting inventory in Shopify. Part 2 covers running a stock take, and part 3 covers exporting your inventory data.

A stock take (or stocktake) is a physical count of what's actually on your shelves, compared with what Shopify thinks you have. The two drift apart over time: a mis-scanned return, a broken item nobody recorded, a box received but never entered. Each one is small. Together they mean selling things you don't have, or not selling things you do.

Counting fixes it. This part explains what a stock take involves on Shopify, which tools Shopify gives you for free, and how to get set up with our app, Stock Control, if you want more.

What a stock take does in Shopify

You count each product at one location, then set Shopify's quantity to the number you counted. The difference between the old number and the new one is your shrinkage or surplus. Shopify records every change, so you can see afterwards what moved and why.

Two habits make counts reliable:

  • Barcodes on everything. Scanning is faster than searching by name and far less error-prone. If your products don't have barcodes yet, add them in each variant's Barcode field before your first count.
  • Count in sections. A full count of a large store is a big job. Counting one vendor, category or shelf at a time, on a regular schedule, keeps numbers accurate without closing for a day.

Shopify's built-in counting tools

Since Stocky was retired on August 31, 2026, Shopify's own inventory tools live in the admin under Products → Inventory. For counting, you have three options before you install anything:

Tool What it does Needs
Shopify mobile app, Scan inventory Scan a barcode to add one to stock, or set the quantity for that product Shopify app on iOS, iPadOS or Android
POS Quick Count Scan or search products and enter on-hand quantities, up to 1,000 variants per session Shopify POS
Inventory counts Create a count in the admin for a location, and staff complete it in POS, with an audit trail POS Pro

For a small store with one location, the mobile app scanner is often enough. If you run a shop with POS Pro, Shopify's inventory counts cover a lot. We wrote more about what changed when Shopify replaced Stocky.

When to use Stock Control instead

We build Stock Control (it was called Stock Take when we started this series). It adds barcode counts that compare every product against its expected quantity as you scan, and it sits alongside receiving, purchase orders, supplier records, transfers between locations and reorder forecasts based on your sales. It works in the Shopify admin and in Shopify POS.

It's worth a look if you want structured counts without POS Pro, if several people count at once, or if you want counting, reordering and receiving in one place.

How to install Stock Control

  1. Open Stock Control on the Shopify App Store and click Install. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial.
  2. Review the permissions Shopify shows you and approve them, so the app can read and update your inventory.
  3. Open it from Apps in your admin. It starts pulling in your Shopify data straight away, so there's nothing to configure before your first count.
  4. Optionally, go to Settings → Forecasting to choose how reorder points are calculated. You can leave this for later.

Your first count

Start small, with one shelf or one vendor, so you learn the flow before a full count:

  1. Click New Stock Scan, choose Count, and pick the location.
  2. Count everything, or filter to a vendor or product tag for a partial count.
  3. Scan each item. The first scan adds the product with a count of 1, and each scan after that adds one more. For a full case, tap the quantity and type the number.
  4. Check the statuses as you go, then decide what to do with anything you didn't scan.
  5. Click Commit to update Shopify.
Mockup of a count in progress in Stock Control: each product shows its status as Match, a green plus number for extra units, a red minus number for missing units, or Not counted, with a Mark all uncounted as zero button and a Commit button Count · Main warehouse Scan a barcode… PRODUCT STATUS Linen apron Counted 12 · expected 12 Match Stoneware mug Counted 26 · expected 24 +2 Walnut board Counted 5 · expected 8 −3 Beeswax candle Expected 6 Not counted Commit sets counted items to exactly what you counted. Uncounted items stay as they are, unless you mark them as zero. Mark all uncounted as zero Commit
A count in progress, simplified. Statuses compare what you scanned with what Shopify expected.
Worth knowingCommitting sets counted items to exactly what you counted and leaves uncounted items unchanged. Mark all uncounted as zero only makes sense when you've counted the whole location, or the whole vendor or tag you filtered to. Use it on a partial count and you'll zero out stock that's sitting on another shelf.

If a number looks badly off, recount that product before committing. A big gap is usually a missed box or a scan in the wrong location, not theft.

Next steps

In part 2, we go through a full stock take step by step. If you sell from more than one store or location, running one inventory across multiple Shopify stores is worth reading too. The Stock Control help centre covers every screen in detail.