By use case: Inventory sync
Multichannel inventory sync
One stock figure, kept right on every shop, marketplace, ERP and warehouse you sell through.
- First workflow live
- Order placed, usually inside the first sprint
- Usually owned by
- E-commerce teams selling on more than one channel
- Built on
- Shopify, Amazon Seller Central, eBay
- Judged on
- Oversells and Sync lag
In short
Inventory sync automation keeps stock levels consistent across your online shop, marketplaces, ERP and warehouse, so a sale on one channel reduces what every other channel can sell. SBD builds it around one source of truth with per-channel mapping, safety buffers for slow channels, and a reconciliation check that flags any figure that drifts, rather than trusting each connector to stay in step.
Who this is for
The people who usually own inventory sync.
- E-commerce teams selling on more than one channel
- Brands with a warehouse or 3PL alongside their shop
- Distributors with an ERP and an online catalogue
- Operations managers who run the stock take
Is this you?
If three of these sound like your week, this page is about your team.
- Orders are cancelled because the item had already sold elsewhere
- Someone updates stock on each channel after every delivery
- Returns are not added back to stock for days
- The shop, ERP and warehouse each show a different count
- A new channel means a new spreadsheet
What it costs today
Where inventory sync loses the hours.
Selling what you do not have
A unit sells on one marketplace, the others still show it, and someone has to cancel an order and apologise.
Stock is updated by hand
Someone edits counts on each channel after a delivery, a return or a stock take, and misses one.
Every channel wants its own format
Titles, variants, SKUs and categories differ per platform, so one product becomes several records that disagree.
Nobody knows which number is right
The shop, the ERP and the warehouse each show a different count, and the team trusts none of them.
For e-commerce teams
One number, on every channel.
List your channels, your warehouse and where stock is counted today. We will show you where the counts drift and what keeps them in step.
Map your channels
By company size
Inventory sync at 10 people, and at 1,000.
- 1 to 10
Two or three channels updated by hand, and an oversell every busy weekend.
- 11 to 50
A sync app that covers some channels, a spreadsheet for the rest, and returns that never get added back.
- 51 to 200
An ERP, a warehouse and several marketplaces, each with its own count, and nobody sure which is right.
- 201 to 1,000
Multiple locations and entities, transfers between them, and reconciliation that takes a team a week.
What we build
What we build for inventory sync teams.
- 01
One source of truth
Your ERP, warehouse system or a purpose-built product database holds the stock figure. Every channel reads from it.
- 02
Event-driven updates
Orders, cancellations, returns, transfers and receipts adjust stock in the source and push to every channel within minutes.
- 03
Per-channel mapping and buffers
SKUs, variants and fields translated for each platform. Slow-syncing channels get a safety buffer so the last unit is not sold twice.
- 04
Reconciliation and alerts
A scheduled check compares every channel to the source. Drift is fixed or flagged to a person with the SKU and the difference.
The workflows
The inventory sync workflows, and what sets each one off.
- 01 Order placed
When a sale on any channel
ThenStock reduced in the source and pushed to every other channel
- 02 Return or cancellation
When an order is cancelled or a return is received
ThenStock restored after the return is checked
- 03 Goods received
When a delivery is booked in at the warehouse
ThenStock increased and channels updated
- 04 New listing
When a product is created in the source
ThenMapped and published to each channel in its format
- 05 Daily reconciliation
When a schedule
ThenEvery channel compared to the source, drift fixed or flagged
The numbers we move
How a inventory sync build is judged.
Every build has a number written into the blueprint. These are the ones inventory sync builds are measured by, and how we measure them.
| Metric | Before | After | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oversells | Regular and not counted | Counted, and rare | Orders cancelled for lack of stock, per month |
| Sync lag | Hours or the next day | Minutes | Time from stock event to the last channel updated, logged per event |
| Drift found at reconciliation | Found at stock take | Found daily | SKUs where a channel differs from the source, per check |
| Manual stock edits | Daily | Exceptions only | Stock changes made by a person on a channel, per week |
Systems we connect in inventory sync
What is usually already there, and what we add.
Anything with an API or a database we can read works the same way. Each tool links to its page in the integrations directory.
- Shopify
-
WooCommerce -
Amazon -
eBay -
Zoho Inventory - S SAP
-
SmartSuite -
Make
Proof
Proof from builds like this.
- Customer story
Sales channel inventory sync
One SmartSuite control panel pushing products and stock to Shopify, eBay and Chrono24, with sales synced back. The client reported no inventory mismatch cases in the 90 days after launch.
Read the story - Customer story
Order and dispatch management system
Order, enquiry and dispatch tracking moved from Excel into one app, so stock and order status sit in one place.
Read the story
How it starts
An audit of the inventory sync work your team still does by hand.
One to two weeks. We map the workflows, put an hours-a-week figure on each, and give you a costed blueprint in order of payback. The audit is credited in full to the build.
- Week 1 to 2Audit. We sit with the people who do the work and map it.
- Week 3Blueprint. Fixed scope, fixed price, the first build chosen by payback.
- Week 4 onBuild in two-week sprints, working software every second Friday.
- After go-liveSixty days of hypercare, then a care plan or run it yourself.
What this does not do
So the scope is clear before the call.
- A single channel with no warehouse. Your platform already handles stock.
- Inaccurate physical stock. Sync spreads the number you have; a stock take comes first if that number is wrong.
- Channels with no API or export. We will tell you which ones cannot be automated.
Terms, defined
Inventory sync terms, in plain English.
- Source of truth
- The one system whose stock figure every other system copies.
- Safety buffer
- Units held back from a channel so slow syncs do not sell the last item twice.
- Oversell
- Selling stock that is no longer there, usually because a channel had not been updated.
Questions
What people ask about inventory sync automation.
Can we not just use a sync app from the marketplace?
Often you can, and we will say so in the audit. A build makes sense when you have a warehouse or ERP in the loop, bundles, several locations, or channels no single app covers.
What about bundles and kits?
A bundle is stock calculated from its components. When a component sells alone, the bundle count drops too. We model that in the source of truth.
How fast is the sync?
Most channels update within minutes of an event. Where a marketplace limits API calls, we use buffers and batch updates so the limit does not cause an oversell.
What happens when an API is down?
Updates queue and retry. If a channel stays out of step past a set time, the team is alerted, and the reconciliation check catches anything left over.
How much does it cost?
The $500 Automation Audit comes first, credited to the build. Workflow automation starts at $1,500, with the fixed price set after the audit.
Reading
- Operations
Who noticed when the workflow stopped?
Most automation failures are silent: the run shows green and nothing happens for weeks. How it happens in Zapier and n8n, its cost, and the four checks we add.
- Pricing
The Zapier tax in 2026: what a 20-person team pays
Zapier now bills tasks, AI steps by model tier, and Agents in activities. A worked bill for a 20-person company, and what the same workflows cost on n8n.
Related
- Industry
Service and e-commerce
One product record on every channel, stock that cannot oversell, orders that reach fulfilment without re-typing, and customers who hear first.
- Industry
Distribution and logistics
Collections on a schedule, proof of delivery the same day, one stock count across every channel, and customers who hear before they ask.
- Use case
Order to cash
Orders entered once, fulfilment visible to everyone, invoices raised the moment goods leave, payments matched as they land and reminders sent before anyone has to ask.
- Function
Operations
The order moves through the business without anyone re-typing it, and everyone who needs to know, knows.
By use case: Invoice processing, Lead routing, Customer onboarding, Employee onboarding, Quote generation, Order to cash, Ticket triage, Document extraction, Approval workflows, Weekly reporting, Client portals
Inventory sync
Get the inventory sync hours back.
Bring the one inventory sync workflow your team still runs by hand. You leave the call with a yes or no on fit and the first thing we would build.
Book the call