Once you stock products in more than one place, a single inventory number per variant stops being enough. Your garage, a small warehouse and a market stall each hold different counts of the same medium black hoodie, and Shopify needs to know which is which so it sells what you actually have and ships from the right spot.
Location limits by plan
Every Shopify plan supports multiple locations, but the maximum depends on your plan, and Shopify has raised these limits over time. Check Settings, then Locations in your admin, or Shopify's current pricing page, for the exact number on your plan. Plus stores get a much higher limit for large retail networks.
Locations created by fulfillment apps, such as a print-on-demand partner, are handled a little differently from the locations you add yourself, so read your partner's docs before you plan around the limit.
Setup
- Go to Settings, then Locations, and add each place you hold stock: a warehouse, a shop, a home studio. Give them clear names like "Studio - Austin" rather than "Location 2."
- Decide which locations fulfill online orders. A retail shop might sell in person only.
- Open a product, choose a variant, and in the Inventory section enter the count at each location. For many products, use the Inventory page or a CSV export to bulk edit.
- Make sure "Track quantity" is on for each variant. Without tracking, location counts aren't enforced. Once counts are in, add low-stock alerts for variants so a location doesn't run dry unnoticed.
- Set your order routing rules so Shopify knows which location to try first.
Ship-from logic
When an order comes in, Shopify uses your order routing settings to pick the location that fulfills it. You can rank locations by priority (for example, warehouse first, retail shop last), favor the location closest to the customer, or try to avoid splitting one order across several locations. If the first choice doesn't have every item, Shopify moves down the list.
Splitting matters for cost. Two shipments from two locations mean two labels. If most orders contain several items, a rule that minimizes splits usually saves more than shipping from the closest location. If you also want different rates by region, see our guide to shipping per region for variants.
POS integration
Shopify POS sells from the location the device is assigned to. When you sell a mug at your market stall, that location's count drops; when an online order ships from the warehouse, the warehouse count drops. Both draw from the same variant, so your total stock stays accurate across channels.
The common mistake is forgetting to move stock between locations properly. If you carry 20 hoodies from the warehouse to a weekend market, record a transfer so Shopify doesn't keep selling those 20 online.
Personalized and print-on-demand products
For personalized items made from blanks you hold, track the blanks per location. The personalization itself (the name, font or uploaded photo a buyer adds with PIMW Product Personalizer) is saved on the order as a line-item property, not as stock, so it doesn't need a location. Whichever location picks the order sees the buyer's details right on the order.
Print-on-demand partners usually appear in Shopify as their own fulfillment location, so orders for those products route to the partner automatically while your own stock routes to you. If you use more than one partner, the help article on routing products to different POD partners covers the setup.
Worked example: studio plus warehouse
A candle and gift store keeps 200 blank tumblers at a third-party warehouse and 30 at the owner's studio for local pickup and markets. Online orders route to the warehouse first, then the studio if the warehouse runs out. POS at weekend markets sells from the studio location. When the studio drops below 10, the owner transfers 20 from the warehouse and records it in Shopify so both counts stay right. Engraved names travel with each order, so the warehouse team sees exactly what to engrave. If that warehouse runs its own software, our notes on passing options to a WMS explain how the details reach the pick list.
When you don't need multiple locations
If everything ships from one place, keep one location. Extra locations add counting work and routing rules to maintain. A second location only pays off when stock physically sits in two places and you sell from both. As you grow, plan reorders per location with our variant inventory forecasting guide.
Frequently asked questions
How to set multi-location inventory per Shopify variant?
Add your locations under Settings, then Locations. Then open each variant and enter the count at each location in the Inventory section, or bulk edit from the Inventory page.
Location limit per plan?
It depends on your plan, and Shopify has raised the limits over time. Check Settings, then Locations, or Shopify's pricing page for your current limit; Plus allows far more locations.
How does Shopify pick ship-from?
It follows your order routing settings. You can rank locations by priority, prefer the closest location, or minimize split shipments.
POS + online same inventory?
Yes. Both use the same per-variant, per-location counts. A POS sale reduces stock at the store's location, and an online order reduces stock at whichever location fulfills it.
How to transfer inventory between locations?
Create a transfer in the Shopify admin, choose the origin and destination, and add the items. Mark it received when the stock arrives so both counts update.
Multi-location forecast?
Look at sales for each location as well as the store total. Reorder for the location that's selling, so stock sits where demand is.
Ship-from override for specific order?
You can change the fulfillment location on an individual order in the admin. For repeat rules, an automation such as Shopify Flow can tag or route orders that match conditions.
POD partner as location?
Usually yes. Print-on-demand apps typically show up as their own fulfillment location, so their products route to the partner and ship from the partner's facility, not yours.
Related reading
Sources & further reading
Primary sources referenced in this article. We link to official platform documentation and standards bodies rather than secondary summaries so you can verify claims directly.
- Shopify Help Center: Product variants
- Shopify.dev: Product variant limits
- Shopify Help Center: Line item properties (customization)
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