Quick Answer: Stock isn’t one number. Shopify’s help page defines 5 inventory states: On hand, Available, Committed, Unavailable and Incoming, and On hand equals Committed plus Unavailable plus Available (Shopify Help Center, 2026). Only Available units can be sold, so tracking all five stops you promising stock that’s already spoken for, and keeps your online shop and your shelf telling the same story.
Most overselling starts with one number doing too many jobs. “We have 12” might mean 12 on the shelf, 12 you can sell, or 12 including a box that hasn’t arrived. This guide uses Shopify’s inventory-states help page as one worked example of a clear model, then shows how any shop can copy it on a spreadsheet. We use Shopify’s page to explain the idea only; it isn’t a recommendation of any tool.
In this article
- What are the inventory states?
- How do the states add up?
- What does Available mean?
- What counts as Committed?
- Why would stock be Unavailable?
- When does Incoming stock become sellable?
- What happens when I make a sale?
- Can I move stock to Unavailable myself?
- How many small retailers still count by hand?
- Why do stock errors matter so much?
- How do small retailers usually find out an item is gone?
What are the inventory states?
Shopify’s help page defines 5 inventory states: On hand, Available, Committed, Unavailable and Incoming (Shopify Help Center, 2026). Each answers a different question about the same units.
You don’t need Shopify to use the idea. Five columns in a spreadsheet, kept up to date, give you the same clarity.
How do the states add up?
On hand equals Committed plus Unavailable plus Available, according to the help page. So the units physically at a location are split into three groups: promised, set aside and sellable.
Incoming sits outside that sum, because those units haven’t arrived. Check the sum whenever you count the shelf. If it doesn’t add up, something is mislabelled.
Available units are the ones you can sell: they aren’t committed, aren’t set aside as Unavailable and don’t include Incoming units (Shopify Help Center, 2026).
| State | What it means | Can you sell it? |
|---|---|---|
| On hand | All units at a location | Only the Available part |
| Available | Not committed or set aside | Yes |
| Committed | Reserved for sales or transfers | No |
| Unavailable | Stocked but set aside | No |
| Incoming | On its way, not yet received | No |
What does Available mean?
Available units are the ones you can sell: they aren’t committed, aren’t set aside as Unavailable and don’t include Incoming units. This is the only number your online shop should show as sellable.
If your website shows On hand instead, it will promise units that are already reserved for other orders.
What counts as Committed?
Committed units are reserved for sales or transfers and can’t be sold. Examples include unfulfilled orders, draft order reservations and transfers marked ready to ship.
Think of committed stock as spoken for but not yet gone. It’s still on your shelf, which is why a shelf count and a sellable count differ.
Related: How to stop overselling across your website, Shopee and Lazada
Why would stock be Unavailable?
Unavailable units are stocked but not sellable, for 5 listed reasons: damaged stock, quality control holds, safety stock, units set aside by apps, and other reasons. The units are in the building; they’re just not for sale.
Safety stock is the interesting one. Setting a small buffer aside as Unavailable is one way to avoid selling your last unit to two channels at once.
Shopify defines 5 inventory states, and On hand equals Committed plus Unavailable plus Available (Shopify Help Center, 2026).
When does Incoming stock become sellable?
Incoming units from transfers or purchase orders aren’t sellable until they are received, and receiving them moves them to Available automatically. A delivery note isn’t stock.
Don’t sell what’s on a truck. Count the units in, then let them become Available.
What happens when I make a sale?
A sale moves units from Available to Committed until the order is fulfilled. The units are still on hand but no longer sellable to anyone else.
That small move is what stops two customers buying the same last unit. It works only if every sale, in-store or online, makes it.
Can I move stock to Unavailable myself?
Yes. You can move Available units to Unavailable through an inventory adjustment and move them back once the issue is resolved. A damaged box can leave the sellable count today and return after inspection.
This is better than deleting the units. The stock stays on the books, and nobody sells it by mistake.
A sale moves units from Available to Committed until the order is fulfilled, and incoming units are not sellable until they are received (Shopify Help Center, 2026).
How many small retailers still count by hand?
Over half of small retailers still rely on manual counts, according to the Global Payments 2025 Retail Inventory Report of 200 small retailers, so any process built on those counts is only as accurate as the last count. The report is small, so treat it as a pointer.
A state model helps a hand count too. When a count is off, you can see which state is wrong instead of searching for one missing number.
Why do stock errors matter so much?
Out-of-stocks cause 65.6% of the roughly US$1.7 trillion lost to inventory distortion each year, or 6.2% of retail sales, according to IHL Group figures reported by Retail Insight Network (2026). These are global figures, not a Singapore number.
Mixing up states is a small, everyday way to create that loss. Selling committed stock is the classic case.
Related: Why a Singapore shop’s POS should share stock with its online store
How do small retailers usually find out an item is gone?
Nearly one in four small retailers only learn an item is out of stock when a customer tries to buy it, according to Global Payments (2025). A shop that tracks Available separately from On hand hears about it earlier.
A system that keeps these states per location makes the model easier to follow. Asalta Inventory tracks stock across stores, websites and marketplaces, and it’s one option to compare against others. You can read more on the Asalta Inventory page.
Key Takeaways
- Split the number: stock has 5 states, not one count.
- Show Available online: On hand includes units already reserved.
- Check the sum: On hand equals Committed plus Unavailable plus Available.
- Don’t sell Incoming: units count only once received.
- Park damaged stock: move it to Unavailable instead of deleting it.
Shopify’s help page defines five inventory states: On hand, Available, Committed, Unavailable and Incoming.
On hand equals Committed plus Unavailable plus Available.
Available units are the ones you can sell: they aren’t committed, aren’t set aside as Unavailable and don’t include Incoming units.
Committed units are reserved for sales or transfers and can’t be sold, such as unfulfilled orders, draft order reservations and transfers marked ready to ship.
Unavailable units are stocked but not sellable, for reasons such as damaged stock, quality control holds, safety stock, units set aside by apps or other reasons.
Incoming units from transfers or purchase orders aren’t sellable until they are received, and receiving them moves them to Available automatically.
A sale moves units from Available to Committed until the order is fulfilled.
Yes. You can move Available units to Unavailable through an inventory adjustment and move them back once the issue is resolved.
Over half of small retailers still rely on manual counts, so any process built on those counts is only as accurate as the last count.
Out-of-stocks cause 65.6% of the roughly US$1.7 trillion lost to inventory distortion each year, or 6.2% of retail sales.
Nearly one in four only learn an item is out of stock when a customer tries to buy it.