Once connected, you’ll instantly see your current inventory health, key risks (understock/overstock), and your best and worst performers — with forecasting available as soon as your settings are configured.
Step 1: Before You Start (What You’ll Need)
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 (like Mintsoft, Linnworks, etc.), connecting it helps Swap pull in incoming stock and improve forecasting accuracy over time.
Step 2: Install the Swap Shopify App
To begin onboarding, install the Swap Global Shopify App or Swap Returns App.
Once installed, Swap will automatically begin syncing your store data, including:
Products & SKUs
Current stock levels
Sales history
Key inventory performance metrics
This is what powers your Inventory Health dashboard.
Step 3: Connect Your WMS / 3PL (Optional but recommended)
If you manage stock through a warehouse or fulfilment partner, connecting your WMS helps Swap show:
Incoming stock
Ensuring your alerts and all risks at Swap will transparently show incoming stock
Swap supports WMS connections via Trackstar, an integration partner that connects with many popular systems. This step can happen before or after go-live.
Step 4: Sending us your Inventory Settings
This is the most important part of onboarding.
Swap Inventory uses your settings to correctly calculate risk states like:
Understocked
Overstocked
Reorder timing
Weeks of supply (WOS)
To set this up quickly across your full range, you’ll upload your settings using a spreadsheet.
What you’ll need to include
In the Inventory Settings Spreadsheet, you’ll define key SKU-level logic such as:
Lead times
Safety stock
Minimum/maximum WOS/Stock cover levels
Stock and reorder alerts (on/off)
Once uploaded, these settings apply across your entire account automatically — and can still be edited later in the app.
Step 5: Review Your Data in Inventory Health
Once your Shopify data and settings are in place, you can begin reviewing your dashboard.
During your onboarding call, we’ll validate that the following areas look correct:
Inventory levels
Understock/overstock flags
Incoming stock visibility (if connected)
Forecast & forecasted risks
New Product Forecasting
This is also where you’ll spot any anomalies early - like incorrect lead times or unrealistic safety stock assumptions.
Step 6: Follow-Up Sessions (Recommended)
After your initial setup, most teams benefit from 1–2 follow-up sessions to build confidence and establish a repeatable workflow.
Recommended structure
Session 2: Forecasting workflow
For many teams, the first forecasting session is best done together so everything is set up correctly.
Forecast editing
Planning routines
Using Swap as your inventory source of truth
You’ll also align on your internal workflow:
Who should own forecast edits
How often forecasts should be reviewed
When forecasting fits into your planning cadence
Session 3: Review & improvement
What’s working well
What feels unclear
Missing data or workflow gaps
Process improvements
Step 7: Invite Your Team
Swap Inventory works best when it becomes a shared source of truth across the business.
You can invite teammates in:
Merchandising
Operations
Marketing
Finance (if relevant)
This creates shared visibility around:
What will sell out soon
What is overstocked
Where marketing activity may be needed
What stock risks are emerging across the range