What is Swap Inventory?
Swap Inventory is an inventory management tool that allows you to monitor your inventory health, assess risk of understock or overstock, and proactively plan for future demand.
Prerequisites
To use Swap Inventory, you'll need:
A Shopify store (required)
A WMS / 3PL connection (optional, but strongly recommended)
If you're using a WMS (such as Mintsoft or Linnworks), connecting it helps Swap pull in incoming stock and improve forecasting accuracy over time.
Step 1: Install the Swap Shopify app (for new Swap users only)
If this is your first time using Swap, you'll need to install the Swap Global Shopify App or Swap Returns App.
Once installed, Swap will automatically begin syncing your store data, including:
Products and SKUs
Current stock levels
Sales history
Key inventory performance metrics
This is what powers your Inventory Health dashboard.
Step 2: Connect your WMS / 3PL (optional, recommended)
If you manage stock through a warehouse or fulfilment partner, connecting your WMS helps Swap show:
Incoming stock
Real-time alerts that include incoming stock alongside current risk levels
Swap supports WMS connections via Trackstar, an integration partner that connects with many popular warehouse management systems (WMS). You can find the option to connect your WMS via Trackstar under Store settings.
Step 3: Send Swap your inventory settings
Your Swap Onboarding Manager will ask for your inventory settings in spreadsheet form. This should define your business's SKU-level logic including:
Lead times
Safety stock
Minimum and maximum WOS and stock cover levels
Stock and reorder alerts
These settings are used to correctly calculate risk states such as understocked, overstocked, reorder timing, and weeks of supply (WOS) against your definitions.
Once uploaded, these settings apply across your entire account automatically and can be edited later in the app.
Step 4: Review your data in Inventory Health
Once settings have been uploaded, review the following alongside your Swap Onboarding Manager to make sure they're correct:
Inventory levels
Understock and overstock flags
Incoming stock visibility (if connected)
Forecast and forecasted risks
New product forecasting
By doing this you can spot anomalies early, such as incorrect lead times or unrealistic safety stock assumptions.
Step 5: Invite your team
Swap Inventory works best as a shared source of truth across the business. You can invite teammates from merchandising, operations, marketing, and finance to create shared visibility around what will sell out soon, what is overstocked, where marketing activity may be needed, and what stock risks are emerging.
Learn more about understanding user roles and permissions.