How to Do an Inventory Count for Your WooCommerce Store

Short answer: To do an inventory count for a WooCommerce store, pick a quiet time, print a stock overview, count each product on the shelf, and correct any quantity in WooCommerce that doesn't match. With Scanventory you can scan each product's QR code label with a phone and fix its stock on the spot, then check the Activity Log to see what changed.

Below is a routine you can repeat, whether you count everything once a year or a few shelves every week.

Why counts drift in the first place

WooCommerce keeps an accurate count of what it knows about. With stock management on, it subtracts items as sales are made and adds them back as orders are returned (WooCommerce product settings). It doesn't know about:

• sales made in person and never entered
• breakages, samples, and items that went missing
• deliveries that were shelved but not booked in
• typos when someone updated stock by hand

A regular count is how you catch these before they turn into an oversold order.

Full count or cycle counts?

A full count means checking every product in one go. It's thorough but disruptive. Many small shops do it at year end or before a busy season.

Cycle counts mean checking a small part of your stock on a schedule, for example one shelf, category or supplier each week, so that over time you cover everything. Each count is short enough that you can do it during normal opening hours.

You can use either method with the steps below. Many shops combine them: cycle counts most of the year and a full count once.

Step 1: Prepare before you count

• Label everything first. If products or bins don't have labels yet, print them from Scanventory → Label Builder. You can do all products, or select a group in Products → All Products and use Bulk actions → Build labels (Specific Product Labels). For products stored by variation, set Label For Variations to Yes so each size or colour has its own label (Label Builder). See our QR code label printing guide for details.
• Pick a quiet window. Orders placed during a count will change the numbers while you're counting.
• Be aware of pending orders. WooCommerce can hold stock for unpaid orders in "Pending payment" for the number of minutes set under Hold Stock, then cancels them and releases the stock (WooCommerce product settings). Orders that are "On hold" have already reduced stock (Order statuses). Check for open orders that are still to be packed so you don't "correct" stock that's already allocated to a customer.

Step 2: Print a stock overview

Open the Inventory Report tab in Scanventory. It gives you a stock overview you can review or print from the browser, meant for counts, audits, and a quick check of SKUs and quantities across your catalog (Inventory Report). It covers both simple and variable products (Scanventory admin).

A printed copy is handy as a checklist. Tick off each line as you go and write the counted number beside it.

Step 3: Count shelf by shelf

Work in a fixed order, for example left to right and top to bottom, so nothing gets skipped. For each product:

1. Count what's physically there.
2. Compare it with the quantity on your report.
3. If it matches, tick it off and move on.

Splitting the work between two people helps: one counts, the other records.

Step 4: Fix differences with a scan

When a number doesn't match, scan the product's QR code label with a phone or tablet, using the Scanventory app or any QR code reader app. The scan takes you straight to that product, where you can increase or decrease stock right there (How it works). No dedicated scanner hardware is needed (Scanventory FAQ).

That's the main time saver. You fix the number while you're still standing at the shelf, instead of writing it down and searching for the product in WP Admin later.

Step 5: Review the Activity Log

When you've finished, open Scanventory → Activity Log. It lists stock updates made through Scanventory, with when each change happened, who made it (linked to their profile) and what changed (linked to the product) (Activity Log).

Use it to:

• check that every correction you meant to make was saved
• spot unusually large adjustments that deserve a second look
• see which products keep needing corrections, which often points to a process problem such as unrecorded in-person sales

If each counter logs in with their own WordPress user, the log shows exactly who adjusted what.

Step 6: Print a final report

Print the Inventory Report again to keep a record of stock after the count. It's useful to compare against next time.

Making the next count easier

• Record offline sales as they happen. Scanning a product at the counter and reducing its stock right away keeps WooCommerce in line with the shelf (Who it's for).
• Book in deliveries by scanning. Add stock when it's shelved, not later.
• Turn on Restore Stock under Stock Rules if you want stock automatically returned when a customer cancels an order (Stock Rules). WooCommerce core also returns stock for cancelled orders when inventory management is enabled (Order statuses), so check your setup to avoid confusion.
• Relabel damaged or faded labels using Specific Products and Start position, so you can use up partially printed sheets (Universal Options).
• Keep a schedule. Cycle counts work because they're regular. Put them in the calendar.

FAQ

How often should I count my WooCommerce inventory? It depends on how fast your stock moves and how many places it's sold. Many shops do small cycle counts weekly or monthly and one full count a year. Choose a rhythm you can actually keep up.

Can I count stock with my phone? Yes. With Scanventory, scan a product's QR code label with any phone or tablet that can read QR codes. It opens that product so you can adjust the stock straight away (Scanventory FAQ).

How do I see who changed stock during a count? Open Scanventory's Activity Log. It shows the date and time, the user and a description of each stock change made through Scanventory (Activity Log).

Make your next count faster

Scanventory gives you QR code labels, QR code scanning, phone-based stock updates, an Inventory Report and an Activity Log in one plugin for $159/year, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Buy Scanventory on WooCommerce.com and get ready for your next count.