Stock Management Modes
MicroPIM offers two stock management modes tailored to different business models. Choose the one that fits your store’s workflow — you can switch between them anytime without losing data.
The Two Modes
Section titled “The Two Modes”Simple Mode (Default)
Section titled “Simple Mode (Default)”Each product has a single, flat stock quantity. No warehouses. Perfect if you’re a small store, dropshipper, or if your e-commerce platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, etc.) is already your source of truth for inventory.
In Simple mode:
- Add stock directly to each product
- Flat in/out-of-stock flag
- No warehouse management
- Stock syncs to connected platforms as-is
Warehouse Inventory Mode
Section titled “Warehouse Inventory Mode”Every product gets an inventory record in your organization’s default warehouse. Unlocks the full Inventory page with multiple warehouses, stock transfers, goods receiving, and per-warehouse quantities. Product stock automatically mirrors your warehouse totals.
In Warehouse mode:
- Set up multiple warehouses
- Track stock per warehouse
- Transfer inventory between warehouses
- Use the goods receiving workflow
- Product stock reflects total warehouse quantities
- Required for the Smartbill integration and goods receiving
Which Mode Should You Use?
Section titled “Which Mode Should You Use?”| Your Business Profile | Recommended Mode | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Solo seller, dropshipper, small store | Simple | Minimal setup. Your platform handles logistics. |
| Multi-location store with warehouses | Warehouse | Track stock per location, optimize fulfillment. |
| B2B or wholesale with transfer workflows | Warehouse | Goods receiving, inter-warehouse transfers. |
| Using the Smartbill integration | Warehouse | Required for goods receiving and stock import. |
| Platform-only fulfillment | Simple | Shopify/Magento/WooCommerce is your inventory hub. |
| Growing and planning to add warehouses later | Warehouse | Easier to scale without re-architecture. |
How to Enable or Switch Modes
Section titled “How to Enable or Switch Modes”- Log in to MicroPIM and go to your Profile (top-right menu).
- Click the Product Settings tab.
- Scroll to the Stock management section.
- Choose Simple or Warehouse inventory.
- Click Save.
That’s it. MicroPIM handles the rest behind the scenes.
What Happens to Your Existing Products?
Section titled “What Happens to Your Existing Products?”Switching Simple → Warehouse Inventory:
- Each existing product is automatically initialized with an inventory record in your default warehouse.
- Stock quantity is copied from the product’s current flat stock.
- This runs as a background job and can take a few minutes on large catalogs.
- All future imports, integrations, and manual adds maintain inventory automatically.
Switching Warehouse Inventory → Simple:
- Warehouse records are preserved (frozen) but no longer maintained.
- The flat product stock becomes editable again.
- Nothing is deleted — you can switch back anytime.
How Inventory Behaves Across Import Paths
Section titled “How Inventory Behaves Across Import Paths”No matter how products enter MicroPIM, inventory is handled correctly:
| Import Path | Simple Mode | Warehouse Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Manual product add | Stock added directly | Inventory record created automatically |
| CSV/XLSX file import | Stock column imported | Inventory records created automatically |
| API product creation | Stock set via API | Inventory records created automatically |
| Platform integrations (Shopify, Magento, Gomag, Wix, WooCommerce, etc.) | Stock synced from platform | Inventory initialized; warehouse totals sync to platform |
| Web scraping | Stock extracted | Inventory record created automatically |
| Automations | Stock updated | Inventory updated automatically |
Platform sync note: Stock pushed to Shopify, Magento, Gomag, and other connected platforms is always your product’s total stock quantity. In Warehouse mode, that reflects your combined warehouse totals.
Switching Back
Section titled “Switching Back”You can switch back from Warehouse to Simple mode anytime:
- Warehouse records are kept (not deleted) and remain frozen.
- Your flat product stock becomes editable again.
- No data is lost.
This is useful if you’re consolidating locations or simplifying operations without losing the audit trail of your warehouse history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Section titled “Frequently Asked Questions”Can I have multiple warehouses? Yes, in Warehouse Inventory mode. Navigate to Warehouses in the admin to add and manage locations. Every product gets stock tracking per warehouse.
Do I lose data if I switch from Warehouse back to Simple? No. Warehouse records are frozen but kept in the system. Your historical inventory data is safe.
What’s a “default warehouse”? MicroPIM creates one automatically for your organization. It’s where all existing products are initialized when you enable Warehouse mode. You can add more warehouses and transfer stock between them anytime.
Does this affect my Shopify/Magento/WooCommerce syncs? No disruption. Stock continues to sync to your platforms as configured. In Warehouse mode, the stock sent reflects your warehouse totals.
Is the Smartbill integration only available in Warehouse mode? Yes. Smartbill requires Warehouse mode because it operates on the goods receiving and warehouse stock workflows.
How long does it take to switch modes on a large catalog? A few minutes for thousands of products. The initialization runs in the background — no downtime.
Can I manage inventory from the API? Yes. The API respects whichever mode is active, and Warehouse mode adds warehouse-level endpoints.
Need Help?
Section titled “Need Help?”If you have questions about which mode suits your workflow, reach out to our support team at [email protected]. We’re here to help you set up inventory the right way from day one.