WooCommerce Inventory Management: Avoid Overselling and Stockouts
How to manage stock in WooCommerce: stock settings, SKUs, low-stock alerts, hold stock, backorders, out-of-stock display, and syncing inventory with a physical shop or marketplaces.
On this page
- Enable stock management and set hold stock, low-stock and out-of-stock thresholds.
- Use unique SKUs and backorders with clear dispatch times.
- Sync stock with your shop or marketplaces and run regular stock checks.
Selling something you don't have in stock means cancellations, refunds and unhappy customers. WooCommerce has solid built-in inventory features; you just need to set them up and keep your data accurate.
Turn on stock management
In WooCommerce → Settings → Products → Inventory, enable stock management. Then, for each product (or variation), tick "Manage stock" and enter the quantity.
Key inventory settings
- Hold stock: how long to reserve stock for unpaid orders before cancelling them
- Low stock threshold: get an email when stock falls below this level
- Out of stock threshold: when a product is marked out of stock
- Out of stock visibility: hide out-of-stock products from the catalogue, or show them as unavailable
- Stock display: show "Only 3 left" or just "In stock"
Use SKUs
Give every product and variation a unique SKU (stock keeping unit). SKUs make stock counts, imports and syncing with other systems much easier.
Backorders
You can allow orders for out-of-stock items, useful for made-to-order products or items you can restock quickly. Tell customers the expected dispatch time clearly.
Out of stock: hide or show?
- Show if the item will return, especially with a "notify me when available" option, and to keep the page's search rankings
- Hide from category pages if it clutters browsing
- For permanently discontinued products, redirect to a similar product or category
Selling in a shop and online?
If you also sell from a physical store, stock must stay in sync. Options include:
- A POS system that integrates with WooCommerce
- Inventory or ERP software that syncs with WooCommerce
- For low volumes, a disciplined manual update routine
Selling on marketplaces too?
Multi-channel inventory tools can sync stock between your website and marketplaces, preventing overselling. See own website vs marketplaces.
Regular stock checks
Compare physical stock with WooCommerce counts regularly and correct differences. Stock reports help identify slow movers and bestsellers.
Setting up a store? See the WooCommerce launch checklist.
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