Receiving & Stocktakes
Receiving & Stocktakes is where you reconcile physical inventory with what Shopify thinks you have on hand. Receive units against an open purchase order, run a stocktake to correct drift, or record a one-off adjustment for shrinkage or damage. Every session pushes its adjustments directly to Shopify when you submit, and barcode scanning works across all session types for fast counting. Inter-location transfers (moving units between two of your Shopify locations) now live in their own Stock Transfers module — only legacy transfer sessions remain visible here for historical reference.
Key Concepts
Session Types
Four active session types: Receive PO (count items against an open purchase order — Shopify inventory increases by the received quantity), Ad-hoc Receive (receive units without a linked PO — for sample shipments, supplier replenishment outside the planner, or one-off restocks), Stocktake (count actual on-hand inventory at a location — the counted value becomes the new on-hand, with Alfred calculating the delta against Shopify), and Adjustment (record an arbitrary increment or decrement for shrinkage, damage, theft, or correction). Inter-location transfers now use the dedicated Stock Transfers module.
Stocktake vs. Receive
In a Receive session, you're adding new inventory — the counted quantity is added to whatever Shopify already shows. Counting 50 in a Receive session with 58 on hand results in 108 on hand. In a Stocktake, you're reporting the current on-hand count — Alfred calculates the delta and adjusts accordingly. Counting 50 in a Stocktake with 58 on hand results in a -8 adjustment (down to 50). Pick the session type that matches your intent: 'I'm adding new units' is Receive; 'I'm correcting what's on hand right now' is Stocktake.
Stocktakes at New Locations (Untracked Inventory)
If you stocktake a product at a location where Shopify shows it as untracked (the variant isn't activated at that location), Alfred now activates the inventory item at that location and sets the on-hand to the counted value. Previously these counts were silently dropped — now they go through. One caveat: if a product is already stocked at more than 100 locations, Alfred can't verify activation status and will ask you to activate the location manually in Shopify Admin first, then retry.
Barcode Scanning
Use a USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner to add items fast. Each scan increments the count by 1 — or by the carton quantity if the scanned barcode is mapped as a carton barcode (e.g., scanning a case-pack barcode for a 12-unit case adds 12 in one go). Scans are serialized, so rapid scanning won't double-count. Configure your unit barcodes and carton barcodes in Product Configurations before your first session.
Review & Submit
Before submitting, the Review tab shows the full adjustment summary per line: prior on-hand, what was counted, the net change, and the post-adjustment on-hand. For stocktakes, the Net Units column shows the delta (positive for found units, negative for shrinkage). Submissions are atomic — all lines push to Shopify in a single batch. Once submitted, the adjustments are immediately visible in Shopify Admin.
Receive Buffer
Receive PO and Ad-hoc Receive sessions support an optional buffer percentage — useful when you want to withhold a slice of received units for quality inspection before they go live as sellable inventory. The buffer reduces the net adjustment that's pushed to Shopify; the held-back units sit aside until you decide to release or write them off.
Legacy Transfer Sessions
Older two-session transfer records (Transfer Out at the origin paired with Transfer In at the destination) remain visible in the session list for historical reference. New transfers between your Shopify locations should go through the dedicated Stock Transfers module — it handles the full lifecycle, multi-shipment dispatch, tracking numbers, and per-shipment receiving in a single transfer record.
How to Use
1. Start a Session
From the Receiving & Stocktakes dashboard, click the session type you want to create — Receive PO, Ad-hoc Receive, Stocktake, or Adjustment. Pick the location you're counting at, optionally link to a PO (for Receive PO), and start the session. Items can be added by barcode scan, manual product search, or CSV upload.
2. Count Items
On the Work tab, scan barcodes or enter quantities manually. The table shows Prior On-Hand, Scanned, Manual, Uploaded, and Total columns. For Receive sessions, Total is units being added. For Stocktakes, Total is the actual on-hand count you're reporting.
3. Review & Submit
Switch to the Review & Submit tab. Verify the net changes look right. For stocktakes, confirm Net Units shows the delta you expect (positive = gains, negative = shrinkage). Click 'Submit to Shopify' to push the adjustments. Changes appear in Shopify Admin immediately.
4. Investigate Outliers
Large positive or negative deltas in a stocktake usually mean something needs attention — a miscount, a shipment that wasn't received properly, or actual shrinkage. Before submitting, recount any line with a delta that surprises you. The Review tab is your last chance to catch errors before they hit Shopify.
Tips & Best Practices
- ✓Set up barcodes in Product Configurations before your first session. Scanner-driven counting is dramatically faster than typing quantities, and configuring barcodes once pays off forever.
- ✓Use carton barcodes for case-pack receiving. One scan adds the full carton quantity (e.g., 12 units), so a 240-unit shipment becomes 20 scans instead of 240.
- ✓Use the buffer feature when you want to inspect units before they go live — set a buffer percentage at the session level, and that fraction of receipts is withheld from the Shopify adjustment until you decide to release them.
- ✓For cycle counts, run regular stocktake sessions by product type or location rather than counting everything at once. Smaller, more frequent counts catch drift early and are easier to staff.
- ✓If a stocktake shows a product at a location where Shopify says it's untracked, Alfred activates the item at that location and sets the count automatically — you don't need to pre-activate. The exception is products already stocked at more than 100 locations; those need manual activation in Shopify Admin first.
- ✓Always review the post-adjustment on-hand before submitting. Submitted sessions push live to Shopify; reversing requires a new Adjustment session in the opposite direction.
- ✓For inter-location transfers, use the dedicated Stock Transfers module — it handles the full lifecycle (Ready to Ship, In Transit, Received), tracking numbers, and multi-shipment dispatch in a single transfer record.