Stocky vs Shopify's built-in inventory tools
Shopify's built-in tools cover more of Stocky than people assume, and less than you need if you were using it to plan.
Stocky closes on 31 August 2026, and Shopify points merchants at the inventory management built into the admin and Shopify POS. Here is what that actually means, feature by feature.
| What Stocky did | Where it goes after 31 Aug |
|---|---|
| Purchase orders | Built into Shopify admin |
| Stock transfers between locations | Built into Shopify admin |
| Inventory adjustments with reasons | Built into Shopify admin |
| History of inventory changes | Built into Shopify admin |
| Suggested reorder quantities | No direct equivalent — Sidekick can answer questions, but there is no forecasting engine |
| Minimum / maximum stock levels | Not built in — needs metafields or a third-party app |
| Purchase-order spend per supplier | No dedicated report |
| Your supplier list | Cannot be exported from Stocky at all |
To be fair to Shopify: the built-in tools genuinely do replace most of Stocky's day-to-day paperwork — purchase orders, transfers, adjustments, history and bulk edits are all there, included in your plan, with no app to install. Their AI assistant, Sidekick, is included on every plan and will answer questions like “what should I reorder?”. If your needs are mostly record-keeping, you may not need anything else, and we would rather tell you that than sell you something you do not need.
The pattern behind the table
Shopify replaced the record-keeping, not the decision. Everything about writing down what you decided — purchase orders, transfers, adjustments, history — is there and included. Everything about working out what to decide is not.
For a lot of stores that is fine. If your ordering rhythm is driven by conversations with suppliers and a feel for the season, the built-in tools plus Sidekick will do.
When the gap costs real money
- Many products. Past a few hundred, no one keeps every deadline in their head, and the ones that slip are noticed when something is already out of stock.
- Long lead times. If goods take months to arrive, the decision has to be made while the shelves still look fine. Stock level tells you nothing useful at that point.
- Expensive freight options. If missing a deadline means paying air freight instead of sea, every missed deadline has a price attached.
That combination — many products, long lead times, freight that varies by an order of magnitude — describes importers. It is who Restocio is for. If it does not describe you, the built-in tools may genuinely be enough, and we would rather say so.
Common questions
Do I have to replace Stocky with a paid app?
No. Shopify's built-in inventory tools cover purchase orders, transfers, adjustments and history at no extra cost. A separate tool is worth it if you relied on Stocky for suggested reorder quantities or minimum and maximum levels, or if freight decisions are a significant cost for you.
What does Sidekick do for inventory?
Sidekick is Shopify's AI assistant, included on every Shopify plan. It can answer questions such as what to reorder and analyse inventory levels across locations. It is not a demand-forecasting engine and does not produce automatic reorder quantities.
Related guides
- Looking for a Stocky alternative?
- Export your Stocky data before 31 August 2026
- Stock replenishment, end to end
Restocio plans purchasing for Shopify stores that import. It works out what to order, how much, and whether it should travel by sea, rail or air — so you pay air freight only for the units that genuinely cannot wait.