Turn On Stock in 2 Minutes
Warehouse stock lets QrX keep track of what you have on the shelf. Once stock is on, every new order reserves its items the moment it arrives, and shipping the order takes the units out of stock. This article shows how to switch stock on, choose a level and load your current stock from a file. Warehouse stock is part of QrX WMS.
Who It Is For
Merchants who ship from their own warehouse or stock room and want to see what is really available to sell.
Fulfilment teams that want orders to reserve stock automatically, from every sales channel.
Team leads who set up stock, warehouses and roles for the team.
Before You Start
Pilot rollout. Warehouse stock is rolled out to pilot merchants first. If you see "Stock is not available yet", it is not switched on for your account. Contact QrX support if you want to use it.
WMS plan. Warehouse stock is part of the Warehouse (WMS) module of your QrX plan. Under Settings > Billing > Plans, the Modules section shows it as "Included" or with its price, plus the number of orders this month. If you see "Your account has no WMS plan yet. Contact QrX support to activate warehouse stock.", ask QrX support to activate it.
Permission. Switching stock on needs the permission Manage stock settings.
Where to Find It
Settings > Warehouse > Stock: the stock level, the setup wizard, modules, import and Needs mapping. The level and modules are on the Level and modules tab; import and Needs mapping are on the Warehouses and tools tab.
After stock is on: Warehouse > Stock in the sidebar shows the stock list.
Choose a Level
Off: no stock is tracked. Orders never wait for stock. You can still use the pack station.
Simple stock: one stock count per product in one warehouse. Orders reserve stock and ship from it. You never see location codes, lots or warehouse selectors.
Full WMS: warehouses, locations (bins) and the modules you switch on: Bins and locations, Multiple warehouses, Inbound receipts, Transfers, Stock counts, Lots and expiry dates and Order hold and snooze. A module that your plan does not include shows "Not in your plan".
Start with Simple stock if you are not sure. You can move to Full WMS at any time. Products can still be set to unlimited stock: they never reserve or wait for stock.
Set Up Stock Step by Step
While stock is off, Settings > Warehouse > Stock shows the Set up stock wizard. It takes a few short steps and you can change everything later.
Level: choose Simple stock or Full WMS.
Warehouse (Full WMS only): give your first warehouse a name (the default is "Main warehouse") and choose its time zone. The time zone sets the day for the warehouse dashboard and for expiry dates.
Open orders: QrX shows how many orders are open right now (open orders, open order lines, lines with a stock item, lines that need mapping, lines without enough stock and the oldest open order). Choose:
Reserve open orders: open orders reserve stock right away. Orders without enough stock go on backorder.
Only new orders: open orders ship as before. Orders created from now on reserve stock.
Reserving existing open orders is switched on by QrX for pilot accounts. If it is not available for you, the wizard says so and keeps "Only new orders". Click Turn on stock. Stock is now on.
Stock: load what you have on the shelf now. Importing a CSV file is fastest (see below); you can also create stock items one by one.
Roles: click Create Warehouse worker and Warehouse lead roles. Warehouse worker can view, receive, adjust and count stock, and pack. Warehouse lead can also transfer stock, approve counts, export the stock history and change the stock settings. Creating roles needs the Manage Roles permission. Give the roles to your team in Settings > Team & Access > Users.
Click Finish. Until you hide it, a Getting started checklist on the stock settings page shows what is left: set up your warehouse, add stock items, load your current stock, print labels, and the first order that reserves stock (this happens by itself with the next order).
Import Your Stock From a File
Open Settings > Warehouse > Stock, go to the Warehouses and tools tab and choose Import stock, or use the import button on the stock list.
Click Download template. The file has a header row and uses a comma or a semicolon. With Simple stock the columns are sku, name, ean, barcodes and qty. With Full WMS and bins you also get warehouse, location, zone, aisle and role. sku and qty are required; qty is a whole number of 0 or more. Put several extra barcodes in one cell, separated by |.
Choose your options:
Create missing stock items: a SKU that does not exist yet becomes a new stock item with the name from the file.
Create missing locations (Full WMS with bins): an unknown location code becomes a new bin, with the zone, aisle, role and capacity from its first row. One file can set up your bins and your stock at the same time.
Click Choose CSV file and then Check file. The preview shows the rows, valid rows, new stock items, new locations, new barcodes and units per warehouse, plus a table of rows with errors. Nothing is booked yet.
Fix any rows with errors in your file and check it again. When the file is valid, click Apply import. The units are booked as opening stock.
With Full WMS and bins you can also import only your bins: set What to import to Locations. Bins are created or updated and no stock is booked.
Undo. The Last import card shows your last stock import. Undo import reverses it within 24 hours, as long as no stock of its items moved since. Undo reverses the stock only: stock items, locations and barcodes the import created stay.
Link Your Shop Products
A stock item is the physical product on your shelf, with its own SKU. Your shop products (QrX products, product options and Shopify products) are linked to a stock item, so one stock item can serve several channels. QrX links them by SKU. Order lines that QrX cannot match show up in Needs mapping on the Warehouses and tools tab of the stock settings page. You can also link a product yourself on its Stock tab with Link or create stock item. See the article "Stock, Reservations and Backorders".
A product that is published in the QrX app is linked as a whole product; its options cannot have their own stock item. Use separate products for variants that need their own stock. To stop tracking a product, use Remove stock link on its Stock tab. See "Stock, Reservations and Backorders".
Changing the Level Later
You change the level and the modules on the Level and modules tab of Settings > Warehouse > Stock.
From Simple stock to Full WMS: at any time, for the modules in your plan.
From Full WMS to Simple stock: with one warehouse, QrX asks you to confirm and switches. With more than one warehouse, the wizard Switch to Simple stock merges your stock into one warehouse first.
To Off: when no open order holds stock, QrX asks you to confirm. The dialog says "Products that are linked to a stock item get the number back that they had before the link." and See the list shows them. When open orders still hold stock, the wizard Switch stock off opens.
One level change at a time. When a change was started and not finished, the stock settings page shows a notice with Continue: finish it before you change anything else. A change that was started in another browser is continued there.
The stock settings page shows the date stock was switched on. Orders shipped before that date are never counted. Your stock history is always kept.
Switching Stock Off
The wizard Switch stock off has four steps: What changes, To do first, Products, Confirm. Nothing changes until you confirm.
What changes: Open reservations that are released, Orders that stop waiting for stock, Product links that are paused, Products that get their old number back, Products that keep their current number. A number above 1,000 is shown as 1,000+.
To do first: what must be finished first, each with a button that opens the screen where you solve it. Then click Check again.
Products: every product that is linked to a stock item, with the columns Product, Channel, Stock item, Old number, Current number, Number after, What happens. The outcome is Old number back or Number stays. "No number stored" means the product keeps the number it shows now.
Confirm: click Switch stock off and keep the window open until it is finished.
To do first:
Open pick lists
Transfers that are not completed
Stock counts in progress
An app store order is being placed: a shopper is placing an order for a linked product right now. Wait a minute, then click Check again.
What happens when you confirm:
Reservations. Stock is no longer tracked. The open reservations are released; the orders themselves stay and ship as they did before stock was on.
Links. The links between your products and stock items are paused, not deleted. When you switch stock on again, the links come back and the shop numbers follow the stock again.
Shop number. A linked product gets the number back that it had before the link, with its unlimited setting. A product without a stored number, a link on an option and a product linked to a dropship item keep the number they show now.
The result. The last screen shows Product links paused, Products with their old number back, Products that kept their number, Orders whose reservations are being released. It also lists the products that were in an order at that moment and therefore kept their number, with the reason "An order was being placed".
From then on the number on these products is your own again: you change it in the product editor, with the bulk actions or through the API.
Switching from Full WMS to Simple Stock
Simple stock uses one warehouse. The wizard Switch to Simple stock has four steps: Warehouse, What moves, To do first, Confirm.
Warehouse: choose the Warehouse you keep. Everything in the other warehouses moves to it: all stock goes to the main location of this warehouse, blocked stock goes to its quarantine, and the other warehouses are switched off.
What moves: what each warehouse holds now, with the columns Items, Units on hand, Blocked units, Lines that move, What happens. A warehouse shows Stays or Merged, switched off. You also see how many orders are reserved again and which modules are switched off. Every Shopify location that is linked to a warehouse that is merged is listed: choose Link it to the warehouse you keep (the location then shows the stock of that warehouse) or Unlink it (the location is no longer linked and its stock sync is switched off). Shopify stock sync runs at Full WMS only.
To do first: see the list below. Solve each point, then click Check again.
Confirm: click Merge and switch to Simple stock. This cannot be undone. Keep the window open; a large stock takes a moment and the wizard shows the progress.
To do first:
Open pick lists: finish or cancel pick lists that are waiting or being picked.
Orders that are being picked: stock that is allocated to an order or already picked. Ship these orders or release them first.
Open pack sessions: an order is being packed at the pack station. Finish or abandon these pack sessions.
Transfers that are not completed: receive, finish or cancel transfers that are not completed.
Stock counts in progress: finish or cancel counts that are open, being counted or waiting for approval.
Open receipts: complete or cancel deliveries that are announced or being received.
Open purchase orders: receive, close or cancel open purchase orders.
Containers with stock: move the stock into a bin first, so the container is empty.
Returns on their way back: receive or close returns that are expected back in a warehouse.
Negative stock: correct it with a count or an adjustment.
Shopify shops linked to more than one warehouse: a Shopify shop has locations on more than one of your warehouses. Keep one location per shop in Shopify stock sync first; then you choose in the wizard what happens to it.
What happens when you confirm:
Open orders that reserved stock in another warehouse are released and reserve again in the warehouse you keep.
All modules are switched off. Their data, such as lots, expiry dates, serial numbers, kit component lists and count plans, is kept and is not shown at Simple stock. Your stock history is kept.
Stock you hold for another merchant keeps its owner. Low stock alerts that count one merged warehouse are switched off; alerts for all warehouses together keep working.
While the merge runs, new counts, transfers, receipts, inbound announcements and purchase orders for the warehouses that are merged are refused. The warehouse you keep stays usable.
If the switch stops half way, nothing is lost: the stock that already moved stands in the warehouse you keep with its full history, and your level is still Full WMS. The stock settings show who started it, when and how many stock lines moved. Anyone who manages the stock settings can act on it: Continue picks up where it stopped, and Cancel the switch stops it after you confirm. After a cancel your level stays Full WMS, all warehouses stay in use, and order routing, Shopify locations and low stock rules go back to how they were. Once the switch is finishing it can no longer be cancelled: continue it to the end.
Only one stock level change runs at a time. During the switch, no warehouse can be deleted and a Shopify location cannot be linked to a warehouse that is being merged.
Permissions
Manage stock settings: turn stock on, change the level and modules, import and undo imports, manage stock items and Needs mapping.
View stock: see the stock screens and the stock settings (read only).
Manage Roles: needed for the roles step of the wizard.
Permissions are set per role in Settings > Team & Access > Roles & Permissions. See the article "Team Members, Roles and Partner Access".
Limits
An import file has at most 5,000 rows and 5 MB. Split larger files.
Undo is possible for 24 hours and only while no stock of the imported items moved.
Reserving existing open orders when you switch on is switched on by QrX per pilot account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will orders be blocked when a product is out of stock?
No. QrX never blocks an order because of stock. Lines without enough stock go on backorder and are filled automatically when stock arrives.
What happens to orders that were already open when I switched stock on?
That depends on your choice in the wizard. With "Only new orders" they ship as before and are never taken out of stock. With "Reserve open orders" they reserve stock right away.
Can I undo an import?
Yes, within 24 hours with Undo import on the Last import card, as long as no stock of those items moved since.
Can some products stay unlimited?
Yes. Products set to unlimited stock are not tracked: their orders never reserve or wait for stock.
What does warehouse stock cost?
It is part of the Warehouse (WMS) module of your QrX plan. Your billing plan page (Settings > Billing > Plans) shows whether it is included and how many orders you used this month.
When to Contact Our Support Team
Contact QrX support when you want warehouse stock or a WMS plan turned on, when you want existing open orders to reserve stock, when an import keeps failing although the preview shows no errors, or when you need to switch down a level while orders still hold stock. Include a screenshot of the message and, for imports, the file you used.