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Track stock and allow preorders

Turn on stock tracking for a product, set a low stock alert and keep selling at zero with preorder

Tracking tells the Shop how many of an item you have. It stops online customers buying more than you hold, shows the item on the Inventory page and lets you spot low stock early. Preorder lets you keep selling after stock runs out.

Before you start

  • You need the Shop Manager role.
  • Decide for each product whether you want to count its stock. Items you don't track sell without any limit and don't appear on the Inventory page.

Turn on tracking for a product

  1. Open Catalogue › Products and open the product, or start a new one.
  2. In the Inventory section, switch on Track inventory.
  3. For a standard product, enter Stock on hand. This is required.
  4. Optionally enter Low stock alert at. When available stock drops to this number or below (but isn't zero), the item shows Low stock on the Inventory page.
  5. Save or publish the product.

For a multi-variant product, switch on Track inventory and Preorder in the Inventory section. These apply to every variant. Enter the stock count for each variant in the variants table. If tracking was off, a message tells you how many variants now need a count.

Important: You enter the starting count on the product page only once. After the product is published, Stock on hand is locked. Use Adjust stock levels from then on.

What tracking does

  • Online customers can't buy more of a tracked item than is available, unless the item allows preorders.
  • Staff using FlexiPOS can still sell the last item when the system's count is out of step with the shelf. This can push the number below zero and flag the item Reconcile. See FlexiPOS stock warnings, overselling and preorders.
  • On hand goes down when an order is handed over, not when it's paid. Paid but unfulfilled items show under Committed.
  • A bundle has no stock of its own. Each item inside it uses its own stock.

Allow preorders

Use preorder for items you can still supply later, such as a made-to-order jumper.

  1. In the Inventory section, make sure Track inventory is on. Preorder only appears then.
  2. Switch on Preorder.
  3. Optionally type an Availability message, for example "Stock expected Term 3, approx. 6-8 weeks." Customers see it at checkout and in their order confirmation.
  4. Save the product.

While preorder is on:

  • Customers can order the item online even when stock is zero.
  • If an order takes the item below zero, that item goes to Waiting on the Orders page, labelled Preorder. The rest of the order can still be packed.
  • Items that still have stock when they're ordered go straight to the pack queue.
  • The item shows Preorder · N on the Inventory page, never Low stock or Out of stock.
  • FlexiPOS can always sell it, with or without stock.

When stock arrives, adjust stock with the reason Stock received. Then release the waiting items from Orders. See Manage orders waiting on stock or on hold.

Good to know

  • Preorder applies to the whole product, including all of its variants.
  • Switch off Track inventory to stop counting stock. The item then sells with no limit.

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