How to Run a Stocktake in Shopify POS: Stock Counts and Quick Count

This guide covers how to run a stocktake in Shopify POS, from a full count to a quick spot check. It is for a single store with one buyer, selling in person on Shopify POS and online. It matters because regular counts surface shrink and tracking errors before your business oversells online.

Shopify supports two routes: Quick count on POS, and stock counts, an inventory adjustment workflow with review. Create the count under Products > Inventory > Stock counts, count in POS, tap Request review, then compare Expected against Counted and click Approve.

Counting in POS needs a location on POS Pro and POS version 11.16 or later. Stocky, the old stocktake app, ended August 31, 2026. This Shopify POS stocktake guide shows how to run stock takes in the Shopify POS system.

What changed in 2026

In-POS counts arrived in September

Shopify shipped in-POS counting on September 28, 2026, allowing businesses to count on the shop floor on POS devices. The changelog says staff can run “cycle and full stock counts directly in POS.” Review stays in the admin.

It also says “Submitting a stock count from POS doesn’t immediately update inventory quantities.” Nothing changes in the system until approval.

Count Monday, review the stocktake Tuesday, before stock levels move.

Is the Stocky Shopify app being discontinued?

Yes. Shopify’s Stocky stocktake page states: “The Stocky app will no longer be available after August 31st, 2026.” It left the Shopify App Store on February 2, 2026. You keep read-only access to export data “for at least 90 days” after the cutoff.

Stocky also ran purchase order management and purchase orders for many retailers. That process now sits in Shopify inventory management.

Export old stock takes and purchases data first; it doesn’t move into your Shopify store.

Two inventory management tools for real time counts

Tool	Where it lives	Best for	What updates stock
Stock counts	Created in admin, counted in POS or admin	Full stock takes and cycle counts, with review	Approval in the admin
Quick count	Shopify POS only	Spot checks of a shelf or a delivery	Tapping Submit in POS

Quick count writes straight to inventory with no review. Use a reviewed count for a complete audit trail of your inventory management.

Free plan or POS Pro

Shopify lists basic inventory management, “Changing inventory quantities,” on every plan. Counting in POS is “available only to locations with a Shopify POS Pro subscription.” On the free plan, the in-person features in every paid plan, you count in the Shopify admin.

That is the real limit of the free plan for growing businesses, even on the Basic plan. Staff count at a desk, not on devices on the shop floor.

Before stock takes: prepare the shop floor

In our accounts, most stock errors start before the count. Preparation helps reduce errors.

Fix duplicate barcodes

Products sharing a barcode cause a scan error. Export products, sort by barcode, and resolve duplicates. Reliable barcode scanning needs one code per variant.

Count product variants separately

Bundles can’t be counted. Each size and colour is one of your product variants. Count product variants separately, never as a style total.

Confirm location and inventory tracking

Before counting, confirm the count is set to the correct location and that inventory tracking is on, so Shopify can track every product. Each count covers one location, so multiple locations, such as a back stockroom, need one count each.

Set permissions

Staff with inventory management permission can count in the admin. To count in POS, staff need a POS role with the Perform inventory counts permission. Specific staff can’t be assigned to a count.

Freeze movement during the count

Freeze movement while you count: Shopify suggests counting when the store is closed and no online sales event runs. Pick and pack pending orders and receive open purchase orders first. Staff count On hand inventory, which includes committed units sold online.

How to do a stock take on Shopify

Step 1: Create the count in the admin

From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Inventory, then click Stock counts.
Click Create count.
Click Select location to count and choose the store.
Optional: add a Name and Planned date.
In Search products to add, search by name or scan a barcode. Select products and click Add to count.
Click Save. The count starts in Draft status.

For a complete inventory count, add every product; for partial stock takes, one vendor.

Step 2: Count in Shopify POS

In Shopify POS, tap the Product icon.
Tap Stock counts, then open the count assigned to your location.
Tap Start count (or Join count), then tap a product.
Enter the quantity by hand, with Scan (the camera), or with a barcode scanner.
Tap Save as you go.
When done, tap Request review to send it to the admin.

Your team can count at once on different devices running the Shopify POS system. Each enters a PIN, and the system credits each counter.

Staff see expected inventory levels; this is not a blind count.

Counting needs a network connection. Any device with the Shopify POS app works, with no card reader or cash register.

Step 3: Review discrepancies and approve

Go to Products > Inventory, click Stock counts, and open the count. It must be in Review status.
Compare the Expected and Counted columns to find discrepancies, and investigate each one before you post inventory adjustments.
To recount an item later, click Reject count for that product, then click Save. Approve stays unavailable until you save.
Click Approve.

Approval sets inventory levels to the counted numbers, logs each change in the system, and can’t be undone. Recount rejected items in a new inventory count.

To pull a count back, use Withdraw review request.

Statuses and the Complete count button

Statuses run Draft, In progress, Review, then Completed.

Complete count “updates your inventory levels right away, without a review, and can’t be undone.”

What happens when sales happen mid-count

Counts sync in real time, as online sales and in store sales come in. If sales change a product during the count, Shopify marks it “outdated.” Staff count the rest.

That real time tracking uses real time data from every sale, so the business never approves a stale number.

Sync errors are different: if POS stops syncing with the admin, discrepancies appear and the online store can oversell. Shopify’s fix is Refresh under Products and inventory in the POS Connectivity menu.

Quick count for spot checks

Turn on Quick count

From your Shopify admin, go to Sales channels > Point of Sale. In Customize the in-store experience, click Edit Point of Sale. In the Apps section, activate Start quick count, then click Save.

Run a quick count

In POS, tap the Product icon, tap a product, then tap Start quick count. Enter the number, tap Save, and tap Submit to update every counted product.

Shopify caps a session at 1,000 variants. The logged-in app user needs the Manage inventory (excluding transfers) permission.

Barcode scanning tips

Each scan with a barcode scanner adds one, in the app and the admin. A barcode scanner cuts manual entry errors and beats eyeballing stock levels. Pair it in POS settings first.

Counting inventory offline

Shopify gives an offline process for counting inventory. Export on-hand inventory data to CSV, count in a spreadsheet, then import. Keep all three files to track the audit trail.

After the count: track the variance

Reports to open

Approved counts flow into the Inventory adjustment changes report.

Shortages in one vendor usually mean receiving errors on purchases, a process problem. Scattered shortages near the counter usually mean shrink in store.

From October 1, 2026, inventory reports measure the on hand quantity.

Adjustment reasons

For manual adjustments, Shopify gives a fixed reason list, such as Correction, Count, Damaged, and Theft or loss. Pick one every time, so you can track shrink by month.

Year-end value and tax timing

The Month-end inventory value report gives the inventory data your accountant asks for. Book the variance before your GST/HST return in Canada, or before year-end in the US.

Worked example: weekly stock takes for one store

A cycle count schedule keeps inventory accurate without closing the store. A shoe business carries 600 variants in store and sells online. The buyer is also the inventory planner.

Monday, before sales start, the buyer sets up a count for one vendor.
Two staff count the wall in Shopify POS on two devices, then request review.
Tuesday, the owner rejects one overcount and approves the rest.

After eight vendors, every wall is counted once. In our accounts, small regular stock takes beat one annual stocktake, and the data shows it.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause	Fix
Scan returns an error	Two products share a barcode	Fix the duplicate, then rescan
Product greyed out in the app	Sales changed it mid-count	Count it again later
No Stock counts in POS	Location not on POS Pro, or app older than 11.16	Upgrade the location or update POS
Staff can’t open the count	Missing Perform inventory counts	Edit the POS role
Approve is unavailable	A rejected line wasn’t saved	Click Save first

When the native route is wrong

Shopify’s counts can’t be duplicated or exported. Need a blind count, printed sheets or business support? An inventory count app from the Shopify App Store may suit your team better.

For a single store, Shopify inventory management and store management in the POS system now suit the team. Counting, receiving and stock transfers sit in one Shopify POS system, with Shopify support behind it.

Is Shopify still worth it in 2026?

For counting, yes. Reviewed counts replace Stocky, and your data stays in your Shopify store. On approval, what you sell online matches the shelf.