Virtual Inventory guides

Soply Virtual Inventory helps Shopify merchants calculate how many products they can sell based on raw material stock, product usage, and bundle components. Once you configure and enable the relevant rules, you can check whether customers are trying to buy more than you can fulfill.

Use this guide to choose a setup path, configure your first item, and find the next tutorial for your task. It is designed for stores that share materials across products, sell bundles or kits, or handle both cash on delivery (COD) and online payments.

New to Soply? Set up and test one product first. Once its availability looks right, apply the same approach to the rest of your catalog.

Choose your setup path

If each sale consumes a measured amount of material, start with Raw Materials. If each sale contains a fixed number of existing components, start with Bundles / Kits.

Set up your first item in five steps

1. Choose an inventory mode. Open Inventory rules and select Raw material mode, Bundle mode, or Mixed mode.
2. Create the inventory relationship. Add a material under Raw Materials and choose its inventory source, or create a kit under Bundles / Kits and add its components.
3. Connect the product customers buy. For a material, select Shopify product variants in the material details or Product Bindings, then enter the amount used by each sale. For a bundle, enter the number of each component required for one kit.
4. Check calculated availability. Review the available quantity shown for the material, product variant, or bundle. Confirm that the source stock, usage quantities, and locations match your setup.
5. Test the purchase limit. Check the cart and checkout validation status in Inventory rules. Test a quantity that should be allowed and one that exceeds availability. You can also review the app status on Home.

Example: You have 10 meters of fabric and each T-shirt uses 0.5 meter. With no other limits, that fabric supports up to 20 T-shirts. If other products use the same fabric, they draw from the same material stock.

Find a guide for your task

First visit: Start with virtual inventory basics, then follow the first-time setup, choose an inventory mode, and check app status.

Raw materials and product bindings

• Choose a raw material inventory source: Decide whether to track stock in Soply or read it from a linked Shopify product.
• Create an app-managed material and set opening stock: Record a material's starting amount and unit.
• Use Shopify product stock as a material source: Link a variant and check participating locations.
• Adjust raw material stock: Record inbound stock, scrap, and count corrections.
• Bind product variants and set usage: Specify how much material one sale of each variant consumes.
• Bind products in bulk: Find variants by product type, tag, vendor, keyword, or collection.
• Understand raw material availability: Check calculations for products sharing stock.
• Set up finished goods and backorders: Understand pre-produced stock and selling through a shortage.
• Configure materials across locations: Choose participating locations and a location rule.
• Set up Shopify stock sync: See which settings write calculated quantities to Shopify inventory and preview the changes first.
• Review material snapshots and operation logs: Trace quantity and configuration changes.

Multi-level bills of materials (BOM) and CSV import

• Build a multi-level BOM: Create base materials, sub-assemblies, and product usage.
• Calculate multi-level BOM availability: Follow expanded material requirements.
• Edit a BOM and check its impact: Review affected variants before and after a recipe change.
• Import BOM recipes from CSV: Download the template, review matches, and resolve warnings.
• Export BOM recipes to CSV: Back up product bindings and understand the multi-level export limit.

Bundles and kits

• Create a bundle or kit: Select the Shopify sales variant, add components, and set the quantity required per bundle.
• Choose a bundle inventory mode: Understand how DERIVED_ONLY and MIXED calculate availability.
• Check multi-location bundle availability: See whether a complete bundle can be assembled at each location.
• Review bundle and component snapshots: Trace the source of a bundle quantity change.

Orders, alerts, and troubleshooting

• Configure cart and checkout validation: Check its status and test an order above the available quantity.
• Customize inventory error messages: Set single-item and cart-conflict wording for your store languages.
• Choose when orders affect inventory: Understand the behavior for paid, pending, COD, and fulfilled orders.
• Review reserved orders: Track temporary holds and final deductions.
• Handle oversell orders: Distinguish hard and soft oversells and track follow-up.
• Set up low stock alerts: Configure thresholds, notification emails, and alert logs.

Three concepts to know before you begin

Inventory source tells Soply where a material's stock quantity comes from. You maintain app-managed material stock in Soply. A material linked to Shopify product stock reads availability from the selected Shopify variant and locations.

Available to use is the quantity currently available after the relevant inventory activity. It can differ from Recorded stock, which is the stock amount saved for an app-managed material. Order consumption, reservations, and other rules can affect what remains available.

Shopify stock sync is a separate setting. Calculating availability in Soply and writing a calculated quantity to Shopify inventory are different behaviors. Before enabling sync, review the affected variants, locations, and previewed changes.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need both raw materials and bundles?

No. Start with the mode that fits what you sell. Use Mixed mode when your store needs both raw material and bundle rules.

Will creating a material or bundle automatically block purchases above availability?

Check the validation status in Inventory rules and test it with a product. Creating inventory relationships, enabling rules, and confirming storefront validation are separate steps.

Does Soply change Shopify's native inventory?

It depends on your stock sync settings. Soply can calculate availability without writing the result to Shopify inventory. It also offers settings that sync certain calculated quantities to Shopify. Review the target products and locations before enabling any sync option.

Where should I look if an available quantity seems wrong?

First check the inventory source, product or component usage, selected locations, and order status. Then review the relevant inventory snapshots and operation audit logs. If you still need help, contact the team from Support in the app.

What to do next

Configure one raw material or one bundle, then complete steps 4 and 5 above to verify its availability and purchase limit. Once the result is correct, expand the setup to more products.

For business examples with sample quantities, explore the Shopify inventory use cases.