Run a stock count

A stock count checks what’s really on your shelves against what Shopify thinks is there, and corrects Shopify where they differ. You can count everything at a location, or just one vendor’s or supplier’s products, and keep selling while you do.

Start a count

1. Go to Stock counts and press Start count.
2. In Start a stock count, choose:
   • Location — any active location. One location per count.
   • Vendor — optional. Leave it on All vendors, or pick one.
   • Supplier — optional. Leave it on All suppliers, or pick one.
   • Name — optional. Leave it blank to name it after the location and date, such as “Count at Main Street, Oct 20, 2026”.
3. Press Start count.

The count lists every product stocked at that location whose inventory Shopify tracks, narrowed to the vendor or supplier if you chose one. Choose both and only products matching both are listed.

Count

Scan each item with the Scan or enter a barcode or SKU field. Each scan adds one. Codes are matched to a product’s barcode first, then its SKU, in upper or lower case. Each scan shows the product and its count so far, such as “Canvas tote: 6”.

Type a number in a product’s row to set its count outright — handy for a shelf of 48 you don’t want to scan one by one.

On a phone or tablet, the camera button next to the scan field scans with the device’s camera. → Counting on a phone or offline

A few things to know:

• Scanning a product that isn’t in the count adds it, as long as it’s in your catalog. A code Shelfcast doesn’t recognize shows “[code] is not in your catalog”.
• Several people can count at once, on different devices. Their counts all land in the same list.
• You don’t have to count everything. Products you leave uncounted aren’t changed.

Expected, counted and the difference

Each row shows:

• Expected — what Shopify had on hand at that location at the moment you first counted the product. Shelfcast asks Shopify right then. Typing a count asks again; further scans don’t.
• Counted — what you found.
• Difference — counted minus expected.

Because each product is compared with Shopify at the moment you count it, a sale made halfway through the count doesn’t throw the numbers off. As the count screen puts it, sales made during the count are never overwritten.

At the top, the count totals up Products, Counted, Discrepancies (products with a difference) and Net change (all the differences added together). Filter the list to All, Not counted, Counted or Discrepancies, or use Search products.

Complete the count

Press Complete count once you’ve counted at least one product. Shelfcast sums it up before you confirm — for example, “120 of 150 products counted, 9 with a discrepancy. Discrepancies are applied to Shopify as adjustments; products you did not count are left as they are.”

The count then shows Applying, with “Applying the count to Shopify. This page updates when it is done.” For each product with a difference, Shelfcast adds or takes away that difference from what’s available at the location. It changes stock by the difference rather than setting a new total, so sales during the count still stand. A product that wasn’t stocked at the location yet is started there first.

Products are skipped when:

• you didn’t count them;
• they match what Shopify expected;
• Shopify doesn’t track their stock, or they’ve been deleted in Shopify.

When it’s done, the count shows “Completed [time] by [name]”. Each change appears in History with the reason Stock count and a note such as “Counted 46, expected 48 (Count at Main Street, Oct 20, 2026)”. → Read your inventory history

If a count says Needs attention

Needs attention means Shopify refused some of the changes. The count shows “The count was not fully applied:” followed by Shopify’s reason. Press Try again to pick up where it stopped — products already applied aren’t applied twice. If it keeps failing, email support with the message.

Cancel a count

Press Cancel count while a count is In progress or Needs attention. Shelfcast asks “Cancel this count?” — “Nothing it found is applied to Shopify.” Press Keep counting to back out.

If you cancel a count that needs attention, products it had already applied before the problem stay as they are in Shopify.

Count statuses

Status	Meaning
In progress	Open for counting.
Applying	Being applied to Shopify.
Completed	Applied.
Needs attention	Not fully applied; press Try again.
Cancelled	Closed without applying anything further.

Once a count is completed or cancelled you can’t count in it any more — you’ll see “This count is no longer open.” Start a new one instead.