How to Sync Inventory Between Two Shopify Stores
Running two Shopify stores from the same warehouse? Here is how inventory sync between stores works, what to decide before you switch it on, and the mistakes that cause overselling.
Shopify keeps inventory per store. If you run two stores that sell the same products from the same warehouse, a sale on one store does nothing to the other. Until something connects them, one of the two is always showing numbers that are out of date, and the store with the stale numbers is the one that oversells.
This guide covers how inventory sync between Shopify stores works, the decisions to make before you turn it on, and the setup mistakes that cause trouble later.
Why two stores fall out of line
Each Shopify store tracks inventory for its own products at its own locations. When an order comes in, Shopify lowers the available quantity on that store only. Returns, restocks, manual adjustments and transfers are the same: they change one store.
Most merchants start by fixing this by hand. Someone exports inventory from the main store each morning and imports it into the second store. That works until a busy day, when everything sold between imports is sold twice.
How inventory sync between stores works
An inventory sync app listens for changes on each store and writes the matching change to the others. For that to work, it needs to answer two questions for every change:
- Which product on the other store is this? The app has to match each variant on one store to the same variant on the other. Most apps match by SKU. Bridgeful matches by SKU, then by barcode, then by handle for a single-variant product with neither.
- Which location on the other store holds this inventory? If your main store ships from a warehouse in London and your second store ships from the same warehouse, those two locations need to be paired. Bridgeful pairs each location with exactly one location on the other store, so every change lands in one place.
With both answered, a sale on either store moves the matched variant’s inventory on the other, in real time.
What to decide before you switch it on
Which store is the main store
Pick the store whose catalogue the others should follow. If you sync products as well as inventory, the main store is the source for product data. Inventory still moves both ways: a sale on any store updates the others.
Which locations share inventory
List the locations on each store and pair the ones that hold the same physical inventory. A location that should stay separate, such as a returns room or a pop-up with its own allocation, can be left unpaired. Inventory at an unpaired location stays out of the sync.
Whether your SKUs are clean
Matching only works when the same variant has the same SKU or barcode on both stores, and no two variants on one store share a value. Before connecting, check for:
- Variants with no SKU and no barcode
- Two variants on the same store sharing a SKU
- A barcode used for different variants on the two stores
Bridgeful does not guess when it meets one of these. The product waits on that store with the reason beside it (no match, duplicate SKU, barcode clash, or variants split across products), and nothing is created or written for it until you map it, create it, or fix it in Shopify.
Common mistakes
Syncing before matching. If an app creates products it could not match, you end up with duplicates on the second store, each holding its own inventory. Match first, then sync.
Pairing the wrong locations. Pairing your warehouse on one store with a retail shop on the other means every warehouse sale lowers the shop’s inventory. Pair locations by what they physically hold, not by name.
Forgetting the third store. With three or more stores, a sale needs to reach every store, not just the next one in a chain. Bridgeful writes a sale to every connected store at once, through the main store.
Setting it up with Bridgeful
- Install Bridgeful on your main store and enter the other store’s myshopify domain.
- Install Bridgeful on the other store and press Connect. There are no keys or accounts.
- Pair your locations, switch on inventory, and press Start sync.
Every change Bridgeful makes is listed on the Activity page, with the store, what moved and why. If you ever unlink the stores, both keep the inventory they show at that moment. Nothing is zeroed.
Bridgeful is $29 a month for one connected store, with a 14-day free trial, and free on development stores.