Setting Up Locations
Shopify supports up to 1,000 locations depending on your plan. Go to Settings, then Locations, and add each location with a name and address. Locations can be warehouses, retail stores, fulfilment partners, or any physical point where stock is held.
Each location needs to be clearly named so your team can identify it easily in the admin. Use a naming convention like "Warehouse - Manchester" or "Store - Liverpool" to keep things clear.
Assigning Inventory
Inventory is tracked per variant per location. After adding a location, go to your products and set the quantity available at each location for each variant. You can do this via the product editor, via a CSV import, or via the Inventory section in Shopify admin.
For new stock arrivals, update inventory at the specific location where the stock has been received. Use purchase orders in Shopify admin (or a third-party inventory management tool) to track incoming stock.
Fulfilment Priority
When an order is placed, Shopify automatically assigns it to a fulfilment location based on your priority settings. Go to Settings, then Shipping and Delivery, and configure your location priority order.
Set your primary fulfilment location first. If stock is unavailable there, Shopify looks to the next location in priority order. Configure this to match your operational preferences: typically your central warehouse first, then regional warehouses.
Location Routing
For more sophisticated routing, Shopify Flow can direct orders to specific locations based on rules: orders from Scottish postcodes to your Glasgow warehouse, orders with next-day delivery to your nearest location to the customer, etc.
Third-party order management systems like Brightpearl and Linnworks offer more advanced location routing with distance-based logic and carrier selection per location.
POS and Locations
Each Shopify POS device must be assigned to a location. Stock adjustments made via POS (sales, returns, stock counts) automatically update the inventory for that location.
Enable local pickup at retail store locations to allow customers to collect online orders in-store. Stock is reserved from the specific location when a click-and-collect order is placed.
Reporting by Location
Shopify's inventory reports can be filtered by location. View current inventory levels, inventory history, and sell-through rates per location. This data helps you identify locations that are overstocked or understocked and optimise your stock distribution.
