Inventory tracking helps you monitor stock levels, avoid overselling, and know when to reorder. CartOS tracks inventory at the variant level, so if you sell a shirt in multiple sizes, each size has its own quantity.
Enabling inventory tracking
Inventory tracking is set per product. When editing a product, find the Inventory section and enable Track quantity. Once enabled, you can enter the available quantity. For products with variants, you'll set quantities for each variant individually.
If you don't need to track inventory for a product—digital goods or made-to-order items, for example—leave tracking disabled. The product will always show as available.
Viewing inventory
Go to Products › Inventory for a dedicated view of all your inventory. This page shows every product and variant with their current quantities, making it easy to scan stock levels at a glance.
Use the search and filters to narrow down what you're looking for. Filter by inventory level to quickly find items that are low, out of stock, or overstocked.
Adjusting quantities
There are several ways to update inventory quantities:
From the product page
Open a product and scroll to the Inventory section. For simple products, update the quantity directly. For products with variants, click into each variant to adjust its quantity.
From the inventory page
The inventory page lets you quickly update multiple quantities without opening individual products. Click on any quantity field to edit it, then press Enter or click away to save. Changes are saved automatically.
Adjustment reasons
When adjusting inventory, you can select a reason such as Restock, Return, Damage, Theft, or Correction. This creates an audit trail in the inventory history so you can see why quantities changed over time.
Inventory history
Every inventory change is logged. Open a product and click View Inventory History to see a timeline of all adjustments—quantity changes, reasons, who made the change, and when. This history includes automatic adjustments from orders as well as manual changes.
Stock status and behavior
In stock
Products with available quantity show as in stock and can be purchased normally.
Out of stock
When quantity reaches zero, the product automatically shows as sold out on your store. The add to cart button is disabled, and depending on your theme, an out of stock badge may appear.
Continue selling when out of stock
For some products, you might want to allow purchases even when inventory hits zero—backorders, preorders, or made-to-order items. Enable Continue selling when out of stock in the product's inventory settings. The product will remain purchasable regardless of quantity, and inventory can go negative.
Low stock alerts
Set up low stock alerts to get notified when inventory drops below a threshold. Go to Settings › Notifications and configure your low stock alert threshold. When any product's quantity falls to or below this number, you'll receive an email notification.
For more advanced alerting, use the Automation Bolt to create custom workflows—for example, sending a Slack message when specific products go low or triggering a reorder email to your supplier.
Reserving inventory
When a customer adds an item to their cart and begins checkout, CartOS temporarily reserves that inventory. This prevents overselling when multiple customers try to buy the last item simultaneously. Reserved inventory is released if the customer abandons checkout or their session expires.
Inventory and orders
Inventory is decremented automatically when an order is placed. If you cancel an order, you'll be prompted to restock the items. When processing refunds, you can choose whether to return items to inventory based on whether you're receiving the physical product back.
Multiple locations
If you have inventory in multiple locations—a warehouse and a retail store, for example—CartOS can track quantities per location. Go to Settings › Locations to add your locations, then manage inventory for each location separately.
When fulfilling orders, you can choose which location to fulfill from. Inventory is decremented from the selected location. This also helps with accurate shipping calculations and local pickup options.
Importing and exporting inventory
For bulk updates, export your inventory to a CSV file, make changes in a spreadsheet, and import it back. Go to Products › Inventory and click Export to download the current inventory data. After editing the CSV, use Import to upload your changes.
The CSV includes columns for product title, variant title, SKU, and quantity. Match products using SKU for the most reliable imports.
Inventory reports
Track inventory value and movement over time in Analytics › Reports. The inventory reports show total inventory value (based on cost per item), sell-through rates, and inventory aging. Use these insights to identify slow-moving stock and make smarter purchasing decisions.
Syncing with POS
If you use CartOS POS for in-person sales, inventory syncs automatically. A sale on the POS decrements online inventory, and vice versa. This unified inventory prevents overselling across channels and gives you a single source of truth for stock levels.