Receive an inventory transfer in Shopify
Receiving a transfer is the step where the box on the dock is checked against the transfer record. This tutorial receives 18 Trail Crew Tees at the Main Street store: 15 accepted, 2 rejected, and 1 cancelled, so the stock added matches what actually arrived.
Written · Shopify admin, desktop steps · 5 minutes read
The worked example
| Transfer | Restock Main Street Nov 11 |
| Units sent | 18 |
| Accepted | 15 |
| Rejected | 2 |
| Cancelled | 1 |
| Status after | Transferred |
Download the record: trail-crew-tee-receiving-record.csv (108 bytes).
A receiving record for the Trail Crew Tee transfer: units sent, accepted, rejected, and cancelled, with the counts adding to the transfer total.
1Open the transfer
From your Shopify admin, go to Products, then Transfers, and click the transfer named Restock Main Street Nov 11. The transfer is In progress, with its inventory marked as incoming at the destination.
2Open receiving
On the transfer details page, open the receiving view for the shipment. When you create a transfer, a single shipment is automatically made, and for most transfers you can receive items straight from the transfer details page.
3Count what arrived
Open the box and count the Medium Blue shirts before you touch the screen. The count here is 15 good shirts, 2 with a torn seam, and 1 missing from the box. Receiving means you have checked the items and decided to accept, reject, or cancel each one.
4Accept the good units
Set the action to Accept for 15 units and enter the quantity in the Receiving column. Accepted units become available at the destination location.
5Reject and cancel the rest
Set the action to Reject for the 2 torn shirts, and Cancel for the 1 missing unit. You can record more than one action for the same item, and add a note to explain each one.
6Save and check the status
Save the receiving. The transfer stays In progress until every unit is accounted for, then changes to Transferred. Here 15 plus 2 plus 1 is 18, so every unit is accounted for and the transfer completes.
The arithmetic
The receiving figures are a straight addition:
| Action | Count |
|---|---|
| Units sent | 18 |
| Accepted | 15 |
| Rejected | 2 |
| Cancelled | 1 |
| Units accounted for | 18 |
| Stock added at destination | 15 |
15 accepted plus 2 rejected plus 1 cancelled is 18 units accounted for, which matches the 18 sent. Only the 15 accepted units are added to the destination stock.
Held at the counter
Receiving is a count, not a click. Accepting the full transfer quantity without opening the box writes stock into the admin that never arrived. Count first, then set the actions to match the count.
A transfer is not done until every unit is accounted for. The status stays In progress until the accepted, rejected, and cancelled units add up to the transfer quantity. A half received transfer is easy to forget, so finish the receiving in the same session.
Rejected and cancelled are different answers. Rejecting covers items that arrived but are not fit to sell; cancelling covers items that never arrived. Mixing them up makes the supplier conversation harder than it has to be.
Sources
- Creating and processing inventory transfers — Shopify's help pages: receiving items from the transfer details page, the Accept, Reject, and Cancel actions, and the Transferred status.