Managing Product Inventory
Inventory tracking helps you keep track of product quantities across your locations. You can track total stock or manage inventory by lot, including expiration dates and low-stock notifications.
Choose how to track inventory
Inventory tracking is turned off by default. Products without inventory tracking are treated as Unlimited, and sales do not affect their stock quantity.
When you enable inventory tracking, you can choose between two methods:
Track Total Stock
Track the total quantity of a product available at each location.
Track by Lots
Track inventory in separate batches, or lots. Each lot can have its own quantity, identifier, and expiration date.
Inventory is tracked in whole units, such as one bag, toy, or box. Fractional quantities are not supported.
Enable inventory tracking
Go to Inventory → Products.
Select the product you want to track and click Edit.
In the Inventory section, turn on Track Stock Quantity.
Select Track Total Stock or Track by Lots.
Enter a Low Stock Level for each location.
Choose whether to receive Low Stock Notifications for each location.
Click Save.
Enabling inventory tracking does not automatically add stock. The product will have a quantity of 0 until stock is added through a stock adjustment.
If a product uses Units as its measurement type, inventory tracking replaces the standalone Amount field.
Add or adjust stock
Use stock adjustments to add inventory, remove inventory, or correct the quantity of a tracked product.
Go to Inventory → Stock.
Select the product.
Click Adjust Stock.
Enter the quantity to add or remove using a positive or negative whole number.
Enter a reason for the adjustment.
If the product is tracked by lots, select the applicable lot.
Click Save.
Stock can only be adjusted for locations you have permission to manage. Products with inventory tracking turned off cannot be adjusted.
Track inventory by lot
If you use Track by Lots, inventory can be separated into batches. Each lot can include:
A lot identifier
A quantity
An expiration date
Expiration dates are optional.
Once a lot passes its expiration date, it is marked Expired. Expired inventory is excluded from available stock and will not be automatically deducted when the product is sold.
How inventory updates after a sale
When a product is sold, its inventory is automatically deducted from the location where the sale was completed.
For products tracked by lots, inventory is deducted from the lot with the earliest upcoming expiration date first. Once that lot is depleted, inventory is deducted from the next eligible lot. Lots without expiration dates are used last.
Refunds
Refunding an order does not automatically return products to inventory.
If a refunded product should be added back to your available stock, make a manual stock adjustment. Cuddles will display a reminder when you refund an order that includes products.
View inventory
To view inventory for a specific product:
Go to Inventory → Products.
Open the product.
In the Inventory section, select a location.
For an individual location, you can view the product’s current stock, low-stock level, notification settings, and lot information.
The product’s inventory status will display as:
In Stock
Low Stock
Out of Stock
Expired
Unlimited
You can also use Adjust Stock to update the quantity or Stock History to review previous inventory changes.
When viewing multiple locations, the total stock across those locations is displayed. Stock adjustments must be made for an individual location.
View inventory across products
Go to Inventory → Stock to view inventory across your products and locations.
From the Stock page, you can search for a product by name or filter products by inventory status, including In Stock, Low Stock, Out of Stock, Expired, and Unlimited.
Low-stock notifications
You can set a Low Stock Level for each tracked product and location.
When inventory reaches or falls below that level, Owners receive an email with products that are currently low in stock for that location.
Low-stock notifications can be turned on or off for each location.
View stock history
Every inventory change is recorded in the product’s stock history.
To view it, open the product’s stock details and select Stock History.
Stock history includes:
Date and time
Type of inventory change
Quantity added or removed
Resulting stock quantity
Location
Lot, if applicable
Reason for the adjustment
Staff member who made the change
Stock history cannot be edited or deleted.
Change your inventory tracking method
You can switch between Track Total Stock and Track by Lots when the product’s available stock is 0.
If the product has available inventory, adjust the stock to 0 before changing the tracking method.
Expired inventory does not count toward available stock when changing tracking methods.