Inventory

Inventory tracks how many of each item you have to sell. Keeping it accurate prevents overselling and powers low-stock alerts. This guide covers viewing stock, adjusting it, and setting alerts.

Where stock lives

Stock is tracked per variant (or per product, if the product has no variants). A product’s available quantity is the sum of its sellable variants.

When a shopper checks out and pays, Orchard decrements the stock for the purchased items. Refunding or canceling can return stock, depending on your store’s settings.

View stock levels

1. Go to Inventory in the left nav (or open a product and view its variants).
2. The list shows each SKU’s on-hand quantity and a low-stock indicator when it drops below the threshold.
3. Filter to “low stock” or “out of stock” to see what needs attention.

You can also check stock programmatically with POST /inventory/status (pass many ids at once) — see the API Reference.

Adjust stock manually

Use a manual adjustment when you receive a shipment, count inventory, or correct an error.

1. Open the item in Inventory (or the variant on its product).
2. Click Adjust and enter the change:
   • A new on-hand count, or
   • A delta (for example, +50 received, -2 damaged).
3. Add a short reason so the adjustment is auditable.
4. Save. The new quantity takes effect immediately.

Low-stock alerts

1. Set a low-stock threshold per item (or a store-wide default in Settings).
2. When on-hand falls to or below the threshold, the item is flagged in the Inventory list and (if configured) you receive a notification.
3. Use the flag as a reorder signal.

Out-of-stock behavior

When a variant hits zero:

• It can no longer be added to a cart (the storefront shows it as sold out), or
• If your store allows backorders, it stays purchasable and the order is flagged for later fulfillment.

Confirm which behavior your store uses before a launch or a big promotion.

Common questions

• Stock looks wrong after a refund. Check your store’s refund-restock setting. Some stores auto-return stock on refund; others require a manual adjustment.
• Two channels are overselling. Orchard is the source of truth for stock it manages. If you also sell the same units elsewhere, you need to reconcile counts between systems — Orchard only decrements on its own paid orders.
• A SKU shows available but won’t sell. Confirm the parent product is published and priced; stock alone doesn’t make an item purchasable. See Products.

Next: watch those units convert in Orders & fulfillment, or set store-wide thresholds in Settings.