Out-of-Stock vs. Sold Out in Your Shopify Store: What Is the Difference? - Shopify Apps by Egnition (2024)

Not having stock of an item can put a stop to your store's income stream and potentially create a backlog of problems. However, while "out-of-stock" and "sold out" are similar, the slight difference can be used strategically in your Shopify store:

  • Out-of-stock refers to items that are temporarily unavailable but stock will be replenished soon.
  • Sold out refers to items that are no longer available and won't be back in circulation, including discontinued items or items with a limited run because they were tied to a specific event.

In both cases, Shopify will make items unavailable for purchase by default because the inventory level has reached zero. Luckily, you have the option to continue selling when an item is out of stock in Shopify.

Can You Sell Out-of-Stock Items in Shopify?

Even when an item's inventory level is zero, you may still want the item to be available for sale. This could be for several reasons, including:

  • The item is available for pre-order.
  • Your stock will be in soon.
  • You want to base your inventory order on accumulated sales.

To sell out-of-stock items, you can set them up for pre-orders in Shopify or change their availability status in the inventory section. If you choose to enable pre-ordering, you can either use code to create page templates or use a third-party app.

Manage Your Out-of-Stock Items With an Egnition App

Out-of-Stock vs. Sold Out in Your Shopify Store: What Is the Difference? - Shopify Apps by Egnition (2)

Smart Management for Out-of-Stock Products

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7 days

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Reasonable fixed pricing structure

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Out-of-Stock Police helps you easily manage your out-of-stock items by automatically tagging them and pushing them down your product lists, giving your store a cleaner look. View product and collection statistics while you receive email notifications when stock is running low or depleted. Finally, you can increase your organic traffic and boost your SEO because the app ensures your out-of-stock items are still indexed.

Out-of-Stock vs. Sold Out in Your Shopify Store: What Is the Difference? - Shopify Apps by Egnition (3)

Out-of-Stock Police

4.8/5(155 reviews)

» Check out this Out-of-Stock Police review to learn more

Out-of-Stock vs. Sold Out in Your Shopify Store: What Is the Difference? - Shopify Apps by Egnition (2024)

FAQs

Out-of-Stock vs. Sold Out in Your Shopify Store: What Is the Difference? - Shopify Apps by Egnition? ›

Sold-out items: All the inventory has been purchased and is no longer available for sale. Out-of-stock items: There is still some inventory left, but not enough to meet customer demand.

What is the difference between sold out and out of stock on Shopify? ›

Out-of-stock refers to items that are temporarily unavailable but stock will be replenished soon. Sold out refers to items that are no longer available and won't be back in circulation, including discontinued items or items with a limited run because they were tied to a specific event.

How does Shopify handle out of stock products? ›

A product is considered out of stock in Shopify when the inventory level is at zero or below. When you sell out of a quantity of an item, by default Shopify won't let customers purchase that item until you adjust the inventory levels to add more stock.

What is out of stock issue in Shopify? ›

Although there are a few other things that can cause inventory issues on Shopify, the most common cause is incorrect location settings. So if you're having trouble with your inventory levels, make sure to check your locations first.

What does Shopify mark as out of stock? ›

Steps:
  1. Activate inventory tracking for your products.
  2. Change the automated collection conditions for each of your collections, and add the following conditions: For Products must match, select all conditions. For Inventory stock, select is greater than and enter 0.

Why does my product on Shopify say sold out? ›

If the products you add to your store automatically show up as "sold out" on your store, you very likely have to adjust your Inventory Location settings on Shopify.

How do I continue to sell when out of stock on Shopify? ›

Step 1: Scroll to the “Products” tab and select “All Products” Step 2: Select all of the products you have currently listed. Step 3: Click on the “Edit Products” option. Step 4: After the spreadsheet shows on your screen, select “Add Fields” and then choose “Continue Selling When Out of Stock”

How do I notify me when a product is out of stock on Shopify? ›

When a customer clicks on the 'Notify Me' button, an email field will be displayed, prompting the customer to enter their email address. After the product is restocked, the customer should receive a notification via email.

How to sell products on Shopify without inventory? ›

All you need to do is disable "track quantity" when creating your products. You can also setup products to "continue selling when out of stock" so Shopify will ignore inventory and just keep the product purchasable on your site.

What does out of stock in store mean? ›

An out of stock (OOS) or stockout is defined as a complete lack of inventory on shelves of a theoretically listed SKU. OOS may be the result of a default of supply by the manufacturer or a failure of the retailer to re-stock the shelves as needed.

What happens when a product is out of stock? ›

If an item is out of stock, what happens to the order? - Quora. The order is often cancelled or if the item is something that may come back in stock, the customer will be notified and told that the product is delayed.

What does not stocked mean in Shopify? ›

If the Track quantity is checked but the product is not stocked at a particular location, then the value in the location cell will say Not stocked .

Do you need stock to sell on Shopify? ›

There are multiple ways to sell on Shopify without inventory. You may start doing print-on-demand, dropshipping, selling digital products and services, or starting an affiliate store, among other options.

How do I grey out out of stock variants on Shopify? ›

Go to your Online Store and select Themes. Find and click on Customize for your active theme. Locate the section where you want to hide out-of-stock products (usually the product grid on the homepage or collection pages). Look for an option like "Product Visibility" or "Show Out of Stock Products" and toggle it off.

Does Shopify take a percentage of my sales? ›

Shopify charges 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction. However, the Shopify transaction fees depend on the plan you're using. For example, when you are on the Shopify pricing plan subscription, you will be charged 2.5% + 30¢ per transaction. It will be 2.4% + 30¢ per transaction for the Advanced Shopify plan.

Is out of stock the same as stock out? ›

A stockout, or out-of-stock (OOS) event is an event that causes inventory to be exhausted. While out-of-stocks can occur along the entire supply chain, the most visible kind are retail out-of-stocks in the fast-moving consumer goods industry (e.g., sweets, diapers, fruits).

What does it mean when inventory is sold out? ›

If a shop sells out of something, it sells all its stocks of it, so that there is no longer any left for people to buy.

What does it mean when a store is sold out? ›

: to have sold the entire amount of something. "Are there any more tickets?" "No, I'm sorry, We're (all) sold out." often + of. The store was sold out of milk.

Does sold out mean sold out? ›

If a performance, sports event, or other entertainment is sold out, all the tickets for it have been sold. The premiere on Monday is sold out. If a store is sold out of something, it has sold all of it that it had.

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