Alfred Purchase Orders
How-To Guide

Receive Inventory & Update Shopify

When stock arrives, use Inventory Receiving to count it in and push the adjustment straight to Shopify. Receive against an open purchase order, or run an ad-hoc receive for a shipment with no PO behind it. Counting stock you already have is a different job — see the stocktake guides.

Option 1: Receive against a Purchase Order

Recommended
1

Go to Inventory Receiving from the left navigation.

2

Click 'Receive PO' and select the purchase order you're receiving against.

3

Select the warehouse location where items are arriving.

4

The session pre-populates with all items from the PO and their expected quantities.

5

Count items: scan barcodes with a USB/Bluetooth scanner, or enter quantities manually in the 'Manual' column.

6

The 'Total' column shows your running count vs. the expected quantity.

7

Log any per-line issues (damaged, short shipped, wrong item, defective) as you go — you can turn them into a Credit Memo later without redoing the math.

8

When counting is complete, move to the 'Review & Submit' step.

9

Review Prior On-Hand, Counted, Net Units and Post-Receive On-Hand for each line.

10

Click 'Submit to Shopify'. Changes appear in Shopify admin immediately.

Option 2: Ad-hoc receive (no purchase order)

1

Go to Inventory Receiving and click 'Ad-hoc Receive'.

2

Select the location the stock is arriving at.

3

Add products by scanning barcodes, searching the catalog, or uploading a CSV of SKUs.

4

Enter the quantities received. These are ADDED to what Shopify already holds.

5

Review and submit. Use this for samples, replenishment outside the planner, and one-off restocks.

Pro Tips

  • 💡Set up barcodes in Product Configurations before your first receiving session — it dramatically speeds up counting.
  • 💡Use carton barcodes for case-pack receiving: one scan adds the full carton quantity (e.g., 12 units) instead of scanning each item individually.
  • 💡Always review Post-Receive On-Hand before submitting — it shows what Shopify will reflect afterwards.
  • 💡Receiving ADDS to on-hand. If you mean 'this is what is on the shelf right now', you want a stocktake instead.