Creating and managing bin locations for your inventory using CSV files

With bin locations, you can organize your inventory at specific shelves, racks, or compartments within your physical locations. You can create and manage bin locations for your products using CSV files. After you create bin locations, you can also edit your bin locations using the bulk editor.

Bin locations can be useful when you have many products or a complex warehouse layout. Bin locations help you in the following ways:

• Find products faster when picking orders.
• Organize your warehouse more efficiently.
• Track where specific items are stored.

Considerations for creating and managing bin locations

Before you create and manage bin locations, review the following considerations:

• Each product variant can be assigned only to one bin per location.
• Multiple SKUs can be assigned to the same bin.
• Bin names must be unique within a location.
• Consider using a consistent bin naming format for proper sorting in picklists, such as A-01 instead of A-1.

Naming your bin locations

Review the following tips and considerations for naming your bin locations:

• Use a consistent format that sorts logically, such as A-01, A-02.
• Add leading zeros for numbers, such as 01 instead of 1 for proper sorting.
• Consider adding sections to your bins separated by -, such as aisle-unit-shelf-bin.
• Consider your warehouse layout when creating bin names.
• For retail stores with front and back areas, use prefixes, such as F- and B-.

Bin locations order

Bin locations are sorted in an alphabetical order. Characters are compared one-by-one from left to right and each position is evaluated separately before moving to the next position.

For example, A-01 comes before A-02 because after matching A-0, the 1 comes before 2. Similarly, A-10 comes before A-9 because 1 comes before 9 in the first position after A-.

This is different from numerical order. For proper sorting use A-01 instead of A-1 and use A-09 instead of A-9.

This ensures that your bins are displayed in the logical order that you expect when picking orders.

Adding and managing bin locations using CSV files

You can add bin locations to your products using CSV files. You can also edit bin locations and remove bin locations from products.

Formatting your CSV file for bin locations

Your CSV file needs to include the following columns:

• Handle: The product variant handle.
• Location: The name of your existing Shopify location.
• Bin name: The bin location name, such as A-01 or Aisle5-Rack3.
• On hand (current): The inventory quantity that you had at a location when you exported the CSV file. This column provides a snapshot of your inventory levels at the time of export and ensures safety validation during import.
• On hand (new): The new inventory quantity that you want to set. Leave empty when you don't want to change inventory quantities.

Review the following example CSV format for bin locations.

Add a bin location to products using a CSV file

You can add bin locations to your products. You need to export your inventory to a CSV file, add bin locations to your CSV file, and then import the CSV file back in to your Shopify admin.

The exported CSV file already contains the Bin name column.

Steps:

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

2. Click Export.

3. Select the locations that you want to export.

4. Click Export variants.

5. In the CSV file, add bin locations in the Bin name column for each product, and then save the CSV file.

6. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Inventory.

7. Click Import.

Change a bin location for a product using a CSV file

You can move a product from one bin location to another bin location. You need to export your inventory to a CSV file, change the bin location for your product in the CSV file, and then import the CSV file back in to your Shopify admin.

Steps:

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

2. Click Export.

3. Select the locations that you want to export.

4. Click Export variants.

5. In the Bin name column in your CSV file, change the bin name for a product.

6. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Inventory.

7. Click Import.

Remove a bin location from a product using a CSV file

You can remove a bin location from a product. You need to export your inventory to a CSV file, remove the bin location from your product in the CSV file, and then import the CSV file back in to your Shopify admin.

Steps:

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

2. Click Export.

3. Select the locations that you want to export.

4. Click Export variants.

5. In the Bin name column in your CSV file, delete the bin name for a product.

6. From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Inventory.

7. Click Import.

Managing bin locations using the bulk editor

After you import a CSV file with your bin locations to your Shopify admin, you can then view and change your bin locations using the bulk editor.

Steps:

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

2. Select the products that you want manage bin locations for.

3. Click Bulk edit.

4. Click Columns.

5. Optional: In the Quantities by location section, select the locations that you want to manage bin locations for.

6. In the Bin names by location section, activate the Show all bin names option.

7. In the Bin name column for a specific location, change or remove bin locations from your products.

8. Click Save.