A stocktake is a counting session: pick a location, count what is actually on the shelf - solo or with a whole team - review the differences, and apply corrections to Shopify in one step. Stocktakes are free, and no POS Pro subscription is required.
Start a stocktake
Go to Inventory → Stocktakes and click New stocktake:
Location - each stocktake counts one location.
What to count - all products at the location, or one vendor for a smaller cycle count.
Blind count - hides expected quantities from every counter, so people record what they see instead of confirming what the system says.
Name (optional) - "Year-end count", "Floor 1", anything that helps you find it later.
Stockroom snapshots current stock levels and builds the count list. Products that are not tracked, or not stocked at that location, are left out automatically.
Stocktakes count on hand - what is physically on the shelf - not available. Open, unfulfilled orders never throw a count off.
Count items
Scan to count - scan a barcode (or type a SKU) and press Enter; each scan adds 1. Scanning something that is not on the list tells you why - no match, not tracked, or not stocked at this location.
Type a count - enter a quantity directly on any line, for shelf counts done on paper.
Confirm - on a non-blind count, one click accepts the expected quantity for a line.
Exclude - drop a line from this count entirely; it will not be corrected.
Every count is saved the instant it lands - close the tab, switch devices, lose signal for a moment; nothing is lost. The progress bar tracks items counted, units, and the value counted at cost and at retail.
Count as a team
Any number of people can count the same stocktake at once, and every count is attributed - the session asks Who's counting? so exports show who counted what. There are three ways to count:
In the app - open the stocktake on any device with Shopify admin access.
On POS - add the Stockroom - Count stock tile to your POS smart grid. It lists open counts at the register's location; staff scan with the scanner or the camera.
Counting links - for warehouse staff without Shopify logins. Click Counting links → New counting link, enter the worker's name, and share the link (it is shown once - copy it then). The link opens a simple counting page that works with a hardware scanner, typed codes, or camera scanning, and can set an exact count for a shelf. Revoke a link anytime; all links stop working the moment counting ends. The name on the link is the name on its counts.
POS and counting links never show expected quantities, so counts from the floor are always blind.
Review and apply
Click Finish counting to move to review. You will see every difference between counted and expected. From here you can exclude lines, or Reopen counting if a number looks wrong.
Uncounted items are left unchanged by default. For a true full count (like a year-end reset) you can instead set all uncounted items to zero on hand - this is behind its own confirmation, because it changes real inventory.
Click Apply stocktake and Stockroom writes the corrections to Shopify, attributed to the stocktake in each product's inventory history. If an item's stock moved in Shopify mid-count (a sale, a delivery), that line is never blindly overwritten - it comes back marked Recount so you can verify it, while everything else applies.
Exports
Three CSV exports are available at any stage, each stamped with the stocktake and date: the full scan log (every count, with who and when), the differences, and items not counted.
Good to know
Cancelling a stocktake never writes anything to Shopify, at any stage.
Applied stocktakes are permanent history - they cannot be deleted.
Blind counts are enforced by the server, not just hidden on screen - expected quantities never reach a counter's device.
Products added to Shopify mid-session join the count list automatically.