Creating and processing inventory transfers

You can create an inventory transfer between any of your store locations from your Shopify admin, including locations that aren't active for fulfillment. Transferring inventory to a location records quantity at the destination but doesn't activate the product there. If you want items to be sellable and fulfillable at the destination, then you can stock them as you receive the transfer, or activate the product at that location separately.

You can leave the origin or destination blank when creating an inventory transfer. This can be useful when you receive inventory from an external supplier or ship to an external location that isn't tracked as a location in Shopify.

You can also create a transfer with a barcode scanner. When you create a transfer you can view inventory quantities at the origin location and adjust the quantities that you want to transfer to a destination location.

After you create a transfer, your transfer is saved as a draft. Your inventory isn't committed and you can edit any details of your transfer, or delete it. To ship your inventory, process the transfer.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Transfers.

2. Click Create transfer.

3. Optional: From the Select origin drop-down menu, select an origin location that you want to transfer inventory from.

4. Optional: From the Select destination drop-down menu, select a destination location where you want to receive the inventory.

5. Add products to your transfer:

   1. Click the Search products field.
   2. Select or search for products that you want to add to your transfer.
   3. Click Add.

6. In the Move column, enter the quantities for each product in the transfer. When you enter quantities, the inventory changes are displayed for both the origin and destination locations so that you can review the impact of the transfer.

7. Optional: Add additional information about your transfer:

   • In the Add reference name field, enter a name for your transfer.
   • In the Add note field, enter a note for your transfer.
   • In the Add tags field, search to find existing tags or create new tags to add to your transfer.

8. Click Save.

Add metafields to a transfer

You can add custom metafields to your inventory transfers to store specialized information, such as a supplier reference, a carrier, or an expected delivery date. To add metafields to a transfer, you first create a metafield definition for transfers in Settings > Custom data, and then add values to the metafield on a transfer's page.

Import products in bulk

You can bulk import variants to a new or existing transfer using a transfer CSV file. The transfer CSV file contains information that uniquely identifies products, product variants, and their inventory quantities at your location or specified locations. You can download and view a sample transfer CSV file to use as a template.

If you import variants to an existing transfer and the transfer CSV file contains variants that already exist on the transfer, then the existing variant quantities are overwritten by the new quantities.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Transfers.

2. Click Create transfer or click an existing transfer.

3. Click Import, and then click Add file.

4. Select the transfer CSV file that you want to upload.

5. Click Import products.

After you prepare your items, you need to process your inventory transfer:

• If you're sending items to another location, then click Move to in transit.
• To set the inventory aside as Committed at the origin location before shipping, click Mark as ready to ship.
• If you've already physically moved the items, then click Mark as transferred to complete the transfer immediately.

Review the following table to learn more about the different actions that you can take to process a transfer.

Different actions to process a transfer and their descriptions

Action	Description
Move to in transit	The transfer status changes to In progress. Inventory is marked as incoming and can be received at the destination location. A shipment is automatically created for your transfer.
Mark as ready to ship	Inventory is committed at the origin location. You can optionally add tracking information or manage multiple shipments.
Mark as transferred	Inventory is automatically received and made available at the destination location. A shipment is automatically created and received for your transfer.

After you process your transfer, you can't change the origin and destination locations, but you can edit all other transfer details, such as products, notes, or tags.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Transfers.

2. Click a transfer that you want to process.

3. Do one of the following:

   • To move inventory to in transit, click Move to in transit.
   • To set inventory aside as Committed at the origin location, click , and then click Mark as ready to ship.
   • To receive and make inventory available at the destination location, click , and then click Mark as transferred.

4. Optional: If you moved the transfer to in transit, then add shipment details:

   • To add a tracking number for the shipment, click Tracking number, and then enter a tracking number.

   • To add a shipping carrier for the shipment, click Carrier, and then select a shipping carrier. If your carrier is supported by Shopify and you add a tracking number, then the carrier is automatically selected for you.

   • To add an expected arrival date for the shipment, click Expected arrival, and then select or enter an expected arrival date.

   • To add a barcode to the shipment so that staff can scan it to open the receiving page, click Barcode, and then enter a unique barcode of up to 250 characters.

   • To add a cost adjustment to the shipment, such as shipping, customs duties, or other fees, click Shipment cost, and then select an adjustment type from the Adjustment drop-down menu. Enter an amount, and then click Done.

When you create an inventory transfer, a single shipment is automatically created. For most inventory transfers, this is all you need, and you can receive items directly from the transfer details page.

If you need to send items in separate batches, then you can add additional shipments to an inventory transfer that's in the Ready to ship or In progress status. Each shipment has its own shipment ID, such as T289-1, and is tracked independently with its own status and tracking details. You can receive each shipment separately. For example, you might use multiple shipments when half your inventory is ready to ship immediately and the rest is available at a later date.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Transfers.

2. Click a transfer that's in the Ready to ship or In progress status.

3. Click More actions, and then click Add products.

4. Select the products that you want to add to the transfer, and then click Add.

5. In the Move column, enter the quantities for the products.

6. Click Save.

7. To send the new shipment, click Move to in transit.

8. Optional: Add shipment details:

   • To add a tracking number for the shipment, click Tracking number, and then enter a tracking number.

   • To add a shipping carrier for the shipment, click Carrier, and then select a shipping carrier. If your carrier is supported by Shopify and you add a tracking number, then the carrier is automatically selected for you.

   • To add an expected arrival date for the shipment, click Expected arrival, and then select or enter an expected arrival date.

   • To add a barcode to the shipment so that staff can scan it to open the receiving page, click Barcode, and then enter a unique barcode of up to 250 characters.

   • To add a cost adjustment to the shipment, such as shipping, customs duties, or other fees, click Shipment cost, and then select an adjustment type from the Adjustment drop-down menu. Enter an amount, and then click Done.

After you create a draft inventory transfer, you can edit your transfer details, such as changing the origin and destination location, adjusting products, and amending other transfer information. To edit a transfer that you've already processed, refer to Edit a processed inventory transfer.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Transfers.

2. Click a draft transfer that you want to edit.

3. Optional: From the Select origin and Select destination drop-down menus, adjust your origin and destination locations.

4. Optional: Add or remove products from your transfer:

   • To add new products, click the Search products field, select the products that you want to transfer, and then click Add.
   • To remove products from a transfer, click x for the products that you want to remove.
   • To adjust product quantity, in the Move column, enter the quantities for each product in the transfer.

5. Optional: Adjust the reference name, note, or tags.

6. Click Save.

You can delete inventory transfers that are in Draft status. You can't delete transfers that are ready to ship. If you need to stop a transfer that is ready to ship, then cancel it instead.

You can't access deleted transfers after they're deleted.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Transfers.

2. Click a draft transfer that you want to delete.

3. Click More actions, and then click Delete transfer.

4. Click Delete transfer.

Review the following different transfer statuses that your inventory transfers can have.

Inventory transfer statuses and their descriptions

Transfer status	Description
Draft	The transfer was created, but hasn't been marked as ready to ship. The inventory included in the draft transfer isn't committed.
Ready to ship	The transfer is marked as ready to ship. The inventory that you're transferring is committed at the origin location. This status is optional. You can move a draft transfer directly to In progress or Transferred.
In progress	The transfer is in progress. Inventory is marked as incoming at the destination location and can be received.
Transferred	The transfer is complete. All items are received and made available at the destination location.
Canceled	The transfer is marked as canceled. Your committed items are made Available at the origin location.