Shelf positions: tracking a product by shelf

Shelf tracking is switched on product by product. A tracked product has a quantity on each shelf of every warehouse; a product that is not tracked has only a quantity per warehouse, as before. There is no switch that tracks every product at once.

Switch on shelf tracking

Switching tracking on or off needs the Add / Edit / Delete Products permission. Switching on also needs the Starter plan or above: on other plans, the switch is greyed out, with a lock beside it whose tooltip names the plan that includes shelf positions. Switching off is always possible.

The switch only works on a product that already exists. On a new product, the form says Save the product first to track shelf positions.

1. Open Catalog.
2. Select View Products.
3. Click the product.
4. Select Product Page in the preview that opens.
5. Select Edit product.
6. Find the Track shelf positions switch, just below Count/Show in inventory.
7. Turn it on.

The switch takes effect as soon as you turn it, not when you save the form, and a confirmation message appears.

When you switch tracking on, everything the product already holds is Unassigned: it is in the warehouse, but on no shelf yet. Put it away with Move between shelves, on the product's page or on the Shelves page. See Shelf positions: moving stock between shelves.

From then on, stock-outs, transfers, deliveries and stock counts of that product ask which shelves the units leave from or go to.

What Unassigned means

Every warehouse has an Unassigned amount for each tracked product: the quantity the warehouse holds, minus everything on its shelves. It is worked out, not typed in, so the shelves and Unassigned always add up to the warehouse's stock.

Units land in Unassigned when they arrive through a movement that does not ask for shelves, such as an adjustment, found inventory, initial stock or an assembly, and when a warehouse has no shelves yet.

Where to see shelf quantities

On the product's page, the Inventory by Warehouse card on the Overview tab has a Shelves section for a tracked product. For each warehouse, it lists every shelf holding the product with its quantity, and an Unassigned line when some units are on no shelf. Beside the warehouse's name, an amber badge such as 12 not shelved tells you how many units are waiting to be put away.

To look at it the other way round, shelf by shelf, open Inventory, then Shelves. It lists what every shelf of a warehouse holds. See Shelf positions: the Shelves page.

If your account is limited to certain departments, you see shelf quantities only for the products of those departments.

Shelves are not shown in View Inventory, in the products list or in the movements list, and no report breaks stock down by shelf. The Shelves page is where you see what each shelf holds. The CSV import and the list exports have no shelf columns either, so stock brought in by the import arrives as Unassigned. Shelf quantities are current only: you cannot look up what was on a shelf at an earlier date.

Switch tracking off

Turn Track shelf positions off in the same place. You are asked to confirm, because the shelf breakdown is cleared and all of the product's stock then reads as Unassigned. The history is kept and the stock itself does not change. If you switch tracking on again later, the product starts again with everything Unassigned.

Changes to your plan

If your organisation moves to a plan without shelf positions, the products already tracked stay tracked and keep their shelf quantities, and their movements still ask for shelves. You cannot switch tracking on for other products until the plan includes shelf positions again.