Inventory
Stock You Can Trust, With a Reason for Every Change
Overselling the last piece is the fastest way to lose a shopper's trust. Mercayo takes or holds stock for every order the moment it is placed, and its Inventory screen shows exactly what you have, what is promised, and why it changed.
- In every plan
- Free for 14 days
Kosha is a demo store on Mercayo. Its products, orders and customers are sample data.
In short
What It Does
Inventory (under Products) has one row per variant, searchable by product, variant, SKU or barcode:
| Column | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| On Hand | Units on your shelf |
| Held | Units kept aside for orders that are waiting for their online payment |
| Available | What shoppers can still buy: on hand minus held |
| State | LOW, OUT, TAKES ORDERS (a variant that keeps selling without stock) or Not tracked |
- Tabs Tracked, Low, Out and Not Tracked, with counts; sorts by product name, available (least or most first) and recently changed.
- A summary strip: units On Hand over your tracked variants, Held for Orders, Running Low and Out of Stock, each with its definition.
- ADJUST one variant or many at once, with a reason and a note (a bill number, a supplier, what happened):
| Reason | Use It When |
|---|---|
| Received | New stock arrived (adds) |
| Stock Count | You counted the shelf: type what is there |
| Damaged | Broken or spoilt, cannot be sold (removes) |
| Lost | Missing or stolen (removes) |
| Correction | Any other change, up or down |
The dialog shows what each variant will have after the change before you press SAVE.
- STOCK HISTORY for one variant or the whole store: every movement, newest first, with its reason, the change, the note, and who made it: your team by name, Mercayo support as such, or Automatic. Besides your adjustments it lists Opening Stock, Sold, Returned, Back in Stock (a cancelled order or a parcel returned to origin) and Back After a Refund.
How orders move stock. A cash on delivery order takes its stock off the shelf the moment it is placed. An online order holds its stock while the payment is open; the payment takes it, and an unpaid order that expires lets it go. Two shoppers can never buy the last piece. Cancelling an order or marking it returned to origin puts its stock back, and a refund can put the items back too. Changing a number in the product editor is recorded as a movement as well.
Safe by design. An adjustment can never take the shelf below what orders already hold, a double tap adds nothing twice, and a role without the stock right cannot change a number anywhere.
One low-stock rule (available above 0 and at most your mark, 5 to start with) is used by the list, the Inventory screen, the product health strip and Home's Needs Your Attention.
For your store
Why It Matters
Wrong stock costs twice: a sale you refuse because you think you are out, or an order you cannot ship because you were not. Taking stock at the moment of the order and keeping a reason for every change means your numbers stay true even on a busy sale day, and when they do not, the history tells you why in a minute.
Most small Indian stores keep stock in a notebook or a spreadsheet beside the shelf, and the two drift apart within weeks. A Stock Count with a note ("counted 3 Oct, rack B") replaces that notebook: the history shows the difference the count made, and who made it.
A reason on every change also tells you where stock leaks. If Damaged and Lost keep growing, you see it in the history instead of guessing at the end of the season. And because the stock right is separate from editing products, you can let a helper update photos and descriptions without letting them change a single number.
Step by step
How It Works
Open Inventory
Go to Products → Inventory (on a phone, under More). The strip shows the totals; Low and Out show what to reorder. Sort by Available, least first, to see the most urgent at the top.
Record New Stock
When a delivery arrives, select the variants, press ADJUST, choose Received, type how many came in for each, and add the bill number or supplier as the note. The dialog shows the stock after the change; press SAVE.
Count the Shelf
Once a month, or before a sale, choose Stock Count and type what is really on the shelf for each variant. Mercayo works out the difference and records it. If orders hold some units, the count cannot go below them: the screen names the variant and changes nothing.
Write Off What Cannot Be Sold
Use Damaged for broken or spoilt pieces and Lost for missing ones, with a note saying what happened. Correction is for anything else, up or down.
Read the History
STOCK HISTORY shows every movement and who made it, for one variant from its row, or for the whole store. LOAD MORE goes further back. A surprise in the numbers is explained in a minute.
Let Orders Do the Rest
Orders take and hold stock on their own; cancellations, parcels returned to origin, expired payments and refunds with restocking put it back. Set Track Stock off in the product editor for things you make to order, or Keep Selling When Out of Stock for pre-orders.
Your shoppers
What Your Shoppers See
Shoppers never buy what is not there: sold-out options are marked on the product page, ADD TO BAG and checkout refuse a quantity you do not have, and a "few left" line appears only from real counts. A sold-out variant can show a form where shoppers leave their phone or email to hear when it is back.
Settings
Settings You Control
Each one is in your admin. A new store starts with the value shown.
Mercayo
Mercayo's Controls
Who may adjust stock is a separate right in your staff roles, checked by the database; viewing stock comes with viewing products. Every change is a stock movement with its author, including changes made in a Mercayo support session, which are marked as Mercayo support. Mercayo's team can fix the low-stock marks and the time to pay for a store, with a reason your admin shows. How many stock locations a store may have is set by its plan.
Limits today
Good to Know Before You Start
- One online location sells to shoppers; other locations reach them through transfers (see locations, barcodes and stock counts).
- Splitting one order across several locations is not built.
- Back-in-stock alerts go to shoppers by email, or on WhatsApp for requests left with a mobile number: see back in stock and pre-orders.
- The low-stock mark is one number for the whole store, not per variant.
- An item received back from an exchange is not put back into stock by itself: adjust it with Received or Correction.
Questions
About Inventory
When is stock taken for an order?
A cash on delivery order takes it off the shelf the moment it is placed. An online order holds it while the payment is open and takes it when the payment arrives; if the shopper never pays, the hold ends and the stock is free again. A cancelled order, or a parcel returned to origin, puts it back.
Can an adjustment make stock negative?
No. An adjustment can never take the shelf below what orders already hold. Received only adds and Damaged or Lost only remove, so a wrong sign is caught before it is saved.
Who changed this stock?
STOCK HISTORY shows each movement with the person who made it, Mercayo support if it happened in a support session, or Automatic for orders, returns and refunds. Every adjustment keeps its reason and note.
Can I count stock and set the real number?
Yes, choose Stock Count and type what is on the shelf; the history records the difference, so you see how far the numbers had drifted.
Can I adjust many variants at once?
Yes. Select them in the list and press ADJUST: one reason and note for all, a number for each, and the result for each shown before you save.
Does a refund put stock back?
When you refund items you can choose to restock them; they come back as Back After a Refund in the history. A refund of money only, with the items kept by the shopper, leaves stock as it is.
Related
Related Features
- ProductsA fast product list with a health strip, saved views and bulk changes you can undo, and an editor for options, variants, photos, descriptions and SEO.
- Order Clean-UpOptionally cancel cash on delivery orders nobody confirmed or shipped after the days you choose, with their stock and coupon uses put back.
- Returns and RefundsLet shoppers ask to return items for a refund; approve, receive and refund from one queue, with the GST credit note issued for you.
- Locations, Barcodes and Stock CountsStock locations and transfers, SKU and barcode generation with printable labels, stock counts by camera or scanner, and an inventory spreadsheet.
- Back in Stock and Pre-OrdersShoppers ask to be told when a sold-out item returns and get one message when it does; pre-orders sell with a ship-by date; your team hears when stock runs low.
More in Admin on Your Phone: Orders · Products · Import and Export · Collections and Categories · Order Alerts · Customers · Admin on Your Phone · Search and Command Palette · Setup Guide and Launch · Sample Data · Contact Inbox · Notification Credits · Plans and Billing · Draft Orders · Catalogue Tools · Media Library · Locations, Barcodes and Stock Counts · Installable Admin
Try It on Your Own Store
Every feature is in every plan, free for 14 days.