5 min read

How to sync inventory between two Shopify stores (the easy way)

Published on

6 June 2024

Source: Unsplash

If you're looking for the easiest way to sync inventory between Shopify stores, you've come to the right place.

In this guide, we'll demonstrate the most effortless process for synchronizing inventory between two (or more) Shopify stores.

With this method, you'll be able to keep stock levels updated in real-time between both Shopify stores, allowing you to eliminate the risk of overselling, save hours on manual work, and make your operations smoother than ever. Let's get started!

Step 1: Install Syncio on both Shopify stores

Open Syncio on the Shopify App Store and click the "Install App" button to get started. You'll need to install Syncio on both the Shopify stores you want to connect.

For each store, you'll be asked to select a "Store Type" during setup. Choose the right store type for each store based on the following characteristics:

  • ‍Source Store: Typically the supplier store that holds the master inventory. Select this store type for the store that holds the source of truth for inventory and products.‍
  • Destination Store: Typically the retailer/marketplace store that is syncing inventory from the Source Store. Select this store type for the store that needs to copy products and inventory from the Source Store.

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If you want to sync with a partner or suppliers' store

Syncio makes it easy to sync your inventory with any Shopify or WooCommerce store, even if you don't own the other store yourself. You can do this by sending a connection request email to the owner of the other Shopify store via Syncio:

First, select 'Stores' on the left hand side menu of your Syncio Dashboard and click on "Connect new store".

Then, select "Invite via Email" to send a connection request to the other store.

The connection request email will include instructions for the other store to Install Syncio. Once they've installed Syncio, you can connect with their store and start syncing your products and inventory in minutes.

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Step 2: Connect the Shopify stores

To connect the two Shopify stores, open the Syncio dashboard on your Source Store (the store that holds the master inventory) and copy the "Unique store key".

Then, open the Syncio dashboard on your Destination Store, select "Stores" from the left-hand side menu and click "Connect new store".

Select "Connect via store key" when this popup appears:

Then paste the Unique store key you copied from your Source Store and click "Connect"

And voila! The two Shopify stores are now connected and ready to be synced.

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Step 3: Select products and sync inventory

Now that the two stores are connected, you can start syncing their products and inventory.

Start by opening the Syncio Dashboard for your Destination Store and selecting "Products" from the left-hand side menu.

Then, click on the "Select a Source store" dropdown and select your newly connected Source Store to view its products.

You can then choose to sync inventory for a specific product by selecting the checkbox next to it and clicking on the "Sync" button.

Alternatively, you can bulk select and sync multiple products, or use the filter to bulk sync products based on attributes like name, ID, tag, and more.

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If you want to sync products that already exist on both Shopify stores

‍Syncio can map these existing products and ensure that inventory for each product in your Source Store matches with its counterpart in the Destination Store. With Product Mapping, SKUs will be in sync for matching products between the Source and Destination stores.

You can choose to map products manually or automatically based on SKUs. You can also map products in bulk using the "Bulk Mapper" feature, which automatically compares and matches products across both stores.

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If you want to import and sync new products

To sync inventory for new products (ie. products that don't yet exist on the Destination Store, simply use the aforementioned "Sync" tab. Syncing a product will automatically import it to the Destination Store, along with product attributes like product titles, descriptions, images, variants, price, and more.

Once the products are copied across, you can customise/change any product attribute you'd like, except for the SKU (which Syncio will keep in real-time sync across both stores).

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Step 4: Sit back and enjoy automatic inventory updates

You're all done! Once you've completed these steps, you'll enjoy real-time inventory sync across all your connected products and Shopify stores.

With Syncio, inventory for connected products will automatically update on both stores when the following events take place:

  • When a fully paid order is received by the Source Store
  • When the Source Store makes a manual adjustment to the SKU level
  • When a fully paid order is pushed by the Destination Store to the Source Store

Note that manual adjustments on the Destination Store will not update to the Source Store.

In addition to Shopify, Syncio also offers inventory sync for WooCommerce stores. So if you have multi-store requirements on different platforms, you can easily sync inventory across them using Syncio.  

Now that you've successfully synced inventory between your Shopify stores, you can focus on growing your business and leave the admin to Syncio. Happy selling!

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Best practices for seamless inventory sync

To maintain accurate inventory sync at all times, make sure you follow these best practices when using Syncio:

  • Make sure that any products you need to sync have 'Track Quantity' enabled in your Shopify Admin.
  • At least one image must be uploaded to a product for it to be visible on Syncio.
  • Each product/variant must have a unique SKU assigned. Syncio can auto generate unique SKUs when importing to a Destination Store, provided they don't exist on any products.
  • After syncing, do not change the SKU on the Destination Store - this will not sync across to the other store and it will break the connection.
  • Make sure to add your best contact email to your Syncio Notification Settings. If there are any issues with your inventory sync or connected stores, Syncio will alert you immediately via email.

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Start syncing for free

Syncio has plans starting from $0 as well as a 14-day free trial, so you can get started for free.

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Syncio: The app trusted by 10,000+ Shopify merchants

We promise you're in good hands with Syncio! Hear from some of our happy customers who've successfully synced inventory with Syncio:

  • "We have a sister brand that we used to duplicate and sync inventory to our main store. I thought we need to spend hours replicating the listings to our main store, but Syncio got it done with just one click! Highly recommended this app!" - Hamptons Home
  • "Great! Is quite rare to find an app which solves a problem this efficiently straight out of the box. Instrumental in helping us sync our multiple International stores - was quick to implement, and even easier to use." - Alice McCall
  • "Syncio has helped KOOKAÏ maximise sales by managing product and inventory across multiple regions...Syncio has saved our team hours of work per week" - KOOKAI
  • "Syncio helped us to sync all our stock from one Shopify Source Store to all our Shopify Destination Stores. The team is awesome and helps you with any question you might have." - Aimn
  • "As a multi-vendor marketplace, it streamlines everything. The support team is fabulous and has hopped on 1 on 1 calls to help us get everything set up and running smoothly." - Modatrova

Learn more about Syncio's Shopify inventory sync capabilities.