Shopify is retiring Stocky. Where does your purchasing go next?
Shopify has said Stocky will not be available after 31 August 2026, and this is the part that catches people out: your old purchase orders and stocktakes do not move into Shopify automatically, and your suppliers cannot be exported from Stocky at all. So there is a real deadline and a real export job, whichever way you jump. This is the calm version of that decision, from someone who has run stock in the packaging trade.
What is actually changing
Three facts, straight from Shopify's own migration notes. Stocky stops working after 31 August 2026. Historical Stocky data, such as old purchase orders and stocktakes, will not automatically move into Shopify after that date. And suppliers cannot be exported from Stocky, so that list gets rebuilt by hand wherever you land. The clock, not the software choice, is the urgent bit.
What Shopify native now covers, and what it does not
Shopify has folded the core of Stocky into native inventory: you can move stock between locations with transfers, receive purchase orders from suppliers, adjust quantities, and report on historical inventory changes, all inside the admin and POS. For plenty of Shopify-only merchants, that is genuinely enough, and the honest advice is to use it.
Where it can fall short is when your stock does not only live inside Shopify. A warehouse or trade counter that is not on POS, a business also selling on WooCommerce or offline, or a team that wants purchasing and receiving discipline in one place away from the checkout, all end up stitching things back together. That is the gap worth thinking about before the deadline forces a rushed choice.
The realistic options in 2026
| Route | Fits |
|---|---|
| Shopify native inventory | Shopify-only merchants happy working inside the admin and POS, with straightforward supplier lists |
| Straptory - inventory + POs in one, seat-priced | UK merchants who want live stock and purchase orders in one tool outside the checkout, including offline, warehouse or mixed Shopify and WooCommerce setups. Single location today, priced per person; accounting sync and direct store sync are not available yet, import is by CSV |
| Light-ERP suites | Bigger, multichannel operations with an implementation budget |
| Back to spreadsheets | One person, low order volume - but no audit trail, no receiving discipline, and one shifted row breaks silently |
Whichever route you look at, ask the same plain questions: what exactly raises the bill as you grow (items, orders, users or revenue), what a read-only seat costs, and what the renewal price is, not just the intro price.
Export from Stocky before 31 August 2026
- Export now, not in August: pull your purchase orders and stocktakes out of Stocky while it is still live. Suppliers cannot be exported, so screenshot or re-list them by hand while you still can.
- Clean once, in the export: dedupe SKUs, fix units, archive dead items. Do not carry mess across that you will promise to clean up later.
- Import products and suppliers via CSV wherever you land, then do a counted stock take as your opening balance. That count becomes day zero of a trustworthy audit trail.
- Re-key only the OPEN purchase orders. Closed history can live in your exports; open orders need to be receivable in the new system from day one.
In Straptory's private beta, that whole path, CSV import, opening stock take and first purchase orders, is what the guided onboarding walks you through, with founder help when the export is ugly. It does not sync directly with Shopify today, so it suits teams who want their purchasing and stock in one place rather than another app bolted inside the store.
Stocky migration questions, answered
When is Shopify Stocky being discontinued?
Shopify has said Stocky will not be available after 31 August 2026. Until then it keeps working, which is your window to export anything you want to keep.
Will my Stocky data move into Shopify automatically?
No. Shopify has been clear that historical Stocky data such as old purchase orders and stocktakes will not move across automatically after 31 August 2026, and suppliers cannot be exported from Stocky at all. Anything you need to keep has to be exported by hand before the deadline.
Do I have to switch to Shopify native inventory?
No. Shopify native now handles transfers, receiving purchase orders and quantity adjustments inside the admin and POS, which is enough for a lot of merchants. If your stock and purchasing live partly off Shopify, in a warehouse, on a trade counter, or across another store, keeping that workflow in one tool outside the checkout is a valid choice too.
Free invite-only UK beta · unlimited SKUs · priced per person when public pricing launches. Request early access →
Related: free UK purchase order template · goods received note template · leaving QuickBooks Commerce