How inventory sync works
Explains the direction, triggers, and logic behind HC's inventory synchronisation, and how to troubleshoot discrepancies.
The short answer
HC syncs inventory in one direction: from your WMS or ERP into Shopify. It does not read Shopify stock levels and push them back to your warehouse systems, and it does not calculate stock itself. It takes the level your WMS or ERP reports and forwards it.
How it works
What triggers an update
HC listens for specific events from your source system and converts each into a Shopify inventory adjustment:
Pick or despatch: when an order ships, available stock decreases
Stock adjustment: manual or system adjustments made in your WMS or ERP
Return restocked: when a return is processed and units go back into available stock
Goods receipt: when new stock arrives and is booked into your WMS
Not every warehouse system emits all of these events. Your triggers depend on your integration configuration.
How the value is set
HC forwards the stock level your source system reports. If your WMS says 42 units are available, HC sends 42 to Shopify.
Multiple locations
If you have several Shopify locations, for example separate fulfilment centres, HC maps each warehouse location to the corresponding Shopify location and updates each independently.
What this means for you
A difference between your warehouse system and Shopify is a difference in the source data, not something HC has computed. Start any investigation at the source.
If a stock movement in your WMS does not appear as an event in the Control Panel, the WMS notification is not reaching HC; that needs the HC team.
If the event appears but Shopify does not change, the event itself carries the error. Open it.
After adding or changing a warehouse, trace one stock movement end to end before relying on the flow. See Adding a warehouse or location.
Related
Data is showing incorrectly in a system, for the steps to trace a stock discrepancy
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