Internal Inventory Settings

Explains the Inventory Settings page, the do not track option, inventory permissions and restrictions, and how to print inventory locations on packing slips.

The main Inventory Settings are located in Settings > Inventory Management > Inventory Settings.

ShipStation's Inventory Settings

These settings allow you to control certain inventory behaviors.

  • When shipping products that have either NO ON HAND STOCK remaining or an UNKNOWN on hand stock level, tell ShipStation to either Allow the shipment as usual, allow the shipment with a warning, or block the shipment.

    Blocking the shipment will prevent ShipStation from creating a label for the order containing the out-of-stock item.

  • When shipping from a location that is not tracking inventory, you can have ShipStation warn you that the inventory for the product will not be adjusted.

  • Have ShipStation create an alert when stock for your products falls below your set threshold (you can override this value by setting a reorder threshold at the product level).

  • If the Enable Inventory Tracking toggle is off, ShipStation will ignore all inventory settings and stock levels.

In addition to the Settings page, ShipStation includes a few more options for inventory you may wish to use. See the below sections for details.

'Do Not Track Inventory' Option

The Do Not Track Inventory option is on the Product Details page under the Inventory tab.

Check the box labeled Do Not Track Inventory for any individual products not to be tracked.

Use the Do Not Track Inventory feature for coupons, freebies, samples, seasonal products, or rare items that you may not always have in stock. It is also useful to use with limited-edition and one-time-only products.

When this option is checked, ShipStation will not include the product on insight reports. or inventory reports.

This option also prevents inventory actions like allocating stock, reorder threshold alerts, and blocking shipments when there is no stock on hand.

Set the 'Do Not Track' Option

Inventory User Permissions & Restrictions

Your ShipStation account User Management Settings include some inventory-specific permissions and restrictions.

Admin users can go to Settings > Account > User Management and click Edit to modify these permissions for any user.

  • Permissions: For non-admin users, check the Inventory Management box to give the user permission to add, move, and remove inventory, allocate and deallocate inventory for an order, or set up allocation strategies.

    SET_ACCT_UserMgmt_InvPermission_MRK.png
  • Restrictions: Enabling this option disables the Allocate, Allocate By, and Deallocate buttons for the user. The user can view inventory data, but cannot modify it.

    SET_ACCT_UserMgmt_InvRestriction_MRK.png

Add Inventory Locations to Packing Slips

Print a product's Inventory Locations (from the Product Details > Inventory > Location field) on packing slips to ensure you are always picking and packing the right item from the right location.

V3 Inventory tab with location column highlighted.

You can add the product's Inventory Location to both your default packing slip and custom packing slips, as described in the steps below.

Three things to note about this feature:

  • Enable Inventory Tracking must be set to active in Settings > Inventory Management > Inventory Settings.

  • Items must be allocated in the order to print on the packing slip successfully.

    ShipStation automatically allocates items for a shipment when you print the packing slip, but if you preview the packing slip prior to printing, the preview will display unallocated in the item location section.

  • If you have more than one warehouse in your product's inventory list, ShipStation will always print the first Location in this list on the packing slip (as this is where inventory deducts from by default).

Add Inventory Location to the Default Packing Slip

The default packing slip template in ShipStation now includes the Inventory Location value in the Order Items table, if you have enabled the corresponding packing slip document option.

Here is how this information will appear on the default packing slip:

Custom packing slip with example inventory location "17-B-2-a" highlighted in Location column.

Not Available in ShipStation Legacy

You cannot enable or disable the setting while in ShipStation Legacy Layout.

Add Inventory Location to Custom Packing Slips

If you have custom packing slip templates, you can add the product's Inventory Location information to the Order Items section of the template using a new field replacement, [Product Location].

Requires HTML

Packing slip templates require some basic HTML knowledge. 

ShipStation does not provide custom HTML assistance. Our support team is available to troubleshoot, but they do not provide design or consultation services. Visit our user forum for custom template help from other ShipStation users.

The example below will illustrate adding a column to the Order Items table in a template so it prints the [Product Location].

Custom Packing Slip Example

In this example, we'll add a column to the right of the SKU column in the Order Items table to hold the Inventory Location information.

Location column highlighted in red box on example packing slip, with sample warehouse location "17-B-2-a"

And that's it! Any order that uses this packing slip and has its items allocated will now print the product's Inventory Location.

Notes about the [Product Location] Field Replacement

  • The [Product Location] field replacement is not available in ShipStation's Legacy Layout.

  • The [Product Location] field replacement can only be used in the Order Items section of the packing slip template since it is item- level information. If you add to any other section it will not function as a field replacement and will simply print as plain text on your packing slip.

  • The Location field in the Product Details follows the layout you set in your Inventory Warehouse settings, located in Settings > Inventory Management > Inventory Warehouse > Manage Locations. This example includes Area, Unit, Shelf, and Bin, but your layout may differ.