No.56
Available vs On Hand: The Shopify Inventory States That Decide Whether Your Sync Is Right
Shopify splits stock into on hand, available, committed, unavailable and incoming. What each state means, and which one belongs in your sheet.
Blog
Shopify Inventory Sync
All 60 articles, grouped into 4 series. Pick the one closest to what you need right now.
- 60
- articles
- 4
- series
Articles in this series
Sync Basics and Design
How Shopify actually holds inventory, and what one column in your sheet really means. Once the vocabulary is settled, these articles cover the design decisions: full sync or incremental, and which number you write.
View all 17 articles →- Available vs On Hand: The Shopify Inventory States That Decide Whether Your Sync Is RightShopify splits stock into on hand, available, committed, unavailable and incoming. What each state means, and which one belongs in your sheet.Shopify Inventory2026.08.21
- Full Sync or Incremental Sync? Choosing How Shopify Inventory Gets UpdatedRewrite everything, or send only what changed? Incremental wins on speed, full sync is harder to break — and the hybrid most stores land on.Sync Basics2026.08.20
- Syncing Inventory for Bundles and Kits: One Stock, Many SKUsWhen an item sells alone and inside a set, sync gets harder. One physical pile shared by several SKUs — how to sheet it and run it safely.Shopify Inventory2026.07.26
- Designing Inventory Sync When Shopify Isn't Your Only ChannelMarketplace, wholesale, shop floor. When several channels sell from one shelf, pick an owner for the number and allocate stock deliberately.Shopify Inventory2026.07.19
- Three Reasons Google Sheets Is the Best Match for Shopify Inventory ManagementWhere you keep the source of truth for stock shapes everything else. Why Google Sheets so often beats a dedicated tool for Shopify inventory.Google Sheets2026.05.22
- Shopify Inventory Basics: Sorting Out Locations, Quantities and Tracking in One GoA plain-language guide to Shopify inventory terms — locations, available, committed, on hand and tracking — and why they make sheet sync click.Shopify Inventory2026.05.19
Latest
- No.57
Full Sync or Incremental Sync? Choosing How Shopify Inventory Gets Updated
Rewrite everything, or send only what changed? Incremental wins on speed, full sync is harder to break — and the hybrid most stores land on.
- No.58
The Return You Restocked, Erased by the Next Sync: Returns and Shopify Inventory Sync
You restock a return and by morning the number is back. That is two writers fighting over your stock — how to make returns fit a sheet process.
- No.59
Noticing the Same Day Your Inventory Sync Stops: Monitoring and Alerts
A Shopify inventory sync fails quietly. Watch three things — did it run, did it change anything, does it still match — and build alerts for them.
- No.60
Retiring Discontinued SKUs From Your Inventory Sync Without Breaking Anything
Left alone, a sync sheet fills with products you stopped selling. How to retire discontinued SKUs safely, using Shopify archive, not delete.
- No.51
Is Your Inventory Sync Actually Working? Four Numbers That Tell You
Shopify inventory sync rarely stops outright — it drifts. Four numbers that tell you whether it is working, and how to collect them.
- No.52
You Synced the Wrong Numbers — How to Recover Calmly
A playbook for the moment a bad sync pushes wrong quantities into Shopify: stop the damage, find the right numbers, and correct safely.
- No.53
Running Inventory Sync Through a Flash Sale Without Overselling
On flash sale day stock moves by the minute, and the gap between syncs becomes your overselling window. How to sync before, during and after.
- No.54
Syncing Inventory for Bundles and Kits: One Stock, Many SKUs
When an item sells alone and inside a set, sync gets harder. One physical pile shared by several SKUs — how to sheet it and run it safely.
- No.55
Designing Inventory Sync When Shopify Isn't Your Only Channel
Marketplace, wholesale, shop floor. When several channels sell from one shelf, pick an owner for the number and allocate stock deliberately.