With every order, the shop reduces the product quantity. When it reaches 0, the product automatically gets the Out of Stock status and customers can no longer order it. You set all this on the product, and for the whole shop in the inventory configuration.
Quantity and stock status
Catalog › Products › (product)
- Quantity - the number of items in stock.
- Advanced Inventory - detailed stock settings for this product.
- Stock Status - In Stock or Out of Stock.
- Quantity - how many items you have. It goes down when an order is placed and back up when an order is cancelled.
- Stock Status - In Stock or Out of Stock. When the product is back, enter the quantity and set the status to In Stock; the quantity alone is not enough.
Pre-orders: selling products you do not have yet
If you want to accept orders for a product you are still waiting for, allow backorders. The quantity then goes below zero, but the product stays available to order.
Below the Quantity field, click Advanced Inventory.
For Backorders, untick Use Config Settings and choose Allow Qty Below 0 or Allow Qty Below 0 and Notify Customer (the customer sees a notice in the cart that the product will be delivered later).
- Manage Stock - No means the shop does not count stock for this product.
- Minimum Qty Allowed in Shopping Cart - the customer cannot order fewer.
- Backorders - Allow Qty Below 0 enables pre-orders.
Click Done and then Save. Stock Status must stay In Stock.
What else you can set in the Advanced Inventory window
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Manage Stock | No means the shop does not count stock: the product can always be ordered (services, made-to-order products) |
| Minimum Qty Allowed in Shopping Cart | for example 6 for products sold in packs |
| Maximum Qty Allowed in Shopping Cart | a limit per customer, for example 2 during promotions |
| Out-of-Stock Threshold | the product becomes Out of Stock already at this quantity (a safety buffer); with pre-orders, the largest negative quantity allowed |
| Notify for Quantity Below | below this quantity the product appears in the Reports › Products › Low Stock report |
Each field has a Use Config Settings checkbox: when ticked, the shop-wide setting from Stores › Configuration › Catalog › Inventory › Product Stock Options applies. That is where you switch on pre-orders or a minimum quantity for all products at once.
Setting many products to Out of Stock at once
Catalog › Products
Tick the products in the list (narrow the list down first with filters or search).
Above the list, under Actions, choose Update attributes.
Update attributes changes the data of all ticked products at once. On the Update Attributes page, click the Advanced Inventory tab on the left. For Stock Availability, tick Change and choose Out of Stock. In the same way you can set Backorders or Qty for all of them at once.
- Backorders - with the Change checkbox, applies to all selected products.
- Stock Availability - In Stock or Out of Stock for all selected products.
Click Save. Only the fields with Change ticked are changed.
Negative stock
A negative quantity (for example -3) means more items were ordered than were in stock. This happens when backorders are allowed or when stock was entered incorrectly. When the goods arrive, enter the actual quantity you have on the shelf; do not add the negative amount. You have already received the waiting orders, so ship them from the new delivery.
Common problems
I entered a quantity, but the product is still Out of Stock
The stock status does not correct itself. Set Stock Status to In Stock and save.
A customer can order more items than I have
The product allows backorders, or Manage Stock is set to No. Check the Advanced Inventory window and the shop-wide inventory settings.
I manage stock in an external program and the shop does not match
Stock has to be kept in sync by the connection to that program; manual corrections in the admin are overwritten at the next sync. Write to us and tell us which product does not match.