What Is the Shopify Inventory Status Report?
The Shopify Inventory Status report classifies your stock by availability at the variant level. Every product variant appears as its own row, sorted by whether it is in stock or out of stock, so the items that need attention rise to the top. Each row shows the product and variant, the SKU, the product status, the inventory status, how many units are on hand, and what that stock cost.
This is different from a plain quantity list. A count tells you a variant has zero units, but it does not tell you whether customers can even reach that product. Inventory Status pairs availability with the product's Shopify status, so you see not just what is empty but what is empty and live on your storefront.
Two fields here are easy to confuse. Inventory Status is about availability, whether a variant is in stock based on its quantity. Product Status is a Shopify setting that says whether the product is Active, Draft, or Archived, which controls whether it appears to customers at all. A variant can be in stock while its product sits in Draft, which means the stock exists but no one can buy it. Merchants reach for this report when they want a fast, honest read on stock health across the whole catalog rather than a single location or a single low-stock threshold.
Which Fields Are Included in the Shopify Inventory Status Report?
These fields let you read stock at the variant level and judge, row by row, what is sellable, what is running dry, and how much capital is tied up in the stock you are holding.
You can customize the pre-made report by adding, removing, or rearranging fields, or by filtering to a single status, product, or SKU, so the view matches how you review your store.
Important Insights You Can Find in This Report
Which variants are in stock but hidden from customers?
Read Inventory Status next to Product Status. A variant can show a healthy quantity and still be attached to a product in Draft or Archived status, which means the stock is real but no one can buy it. Those rows are sales you are silently turning away, and they never appear if you only look at quantity. When you spot them, decide whether to set the product Active or clear the stock deliberately.
Where is your cash actually sitting?
Compare Inventory Cost against Inventory Quantity across variants. A handful of high-cost variants can hold most of your tied-up capital even when they are a small share of the units on hand. Sorting by Inventory Cost surfaces the items to watch for overstock, because carrying too many of an expensive variant freezes cash you could use elsewhere. Read cost alongside how quickly each item sells.
Which out-of-stock variants are the ones that matter?
Filter Inventory Status to out of stock, then read Product Status. An out-of-stock variant on an Active product is an immediate lost-sale risk and belongs at the top of your reorder list. An out-of-stock variant on a Draft or Archived product usually is not urgent, because customers cannot buy it anyway. Splitting the two keeps your reordering focused on stock that actually affects sales.
THE ANALYST'S READ: The Signal Most Merchants Miss
Most people scan this report for the out-of-stock rows and stop there. The quieter signal is the mismatch between availability and sellability: variants that are in stock yet sit under a Product Status that keeps them off your sales channels. On paper that stock counts toward your inventory; in practice it earns nothing because no customer can reach it.
The pattern to look for is repeat offenders, the same products showing up as in stock but Draft or Archived across weekly runs of this report. That usually points to a launch that stalled, a seasonal item never switched back to Active, or a variant archived while units were still on the shelf. When you see it, compare the Inventory Cost so you know how much capital is frozen, then decide case by case whether to reactivate the product, discount the stock, or write it off. This is a different question from low stock, and it rarely shows up if you only sort by quantity.
How Can You Automate the Shopify Inventory Status Report?
Open Report Pundit, load the pre-made Inventory Status report, and save it. The columns are already set, so you can apply any filters you want, such as showing only out-of-stock variants or only Active products, and reuse it whenever you need it.
From there you can schedule it to send automatically on a daily, weekly, or monthly cycle, and route it to the people who act on it, such as a warehouse manager, your VA, or your accountant. It exports to Excel, CSV, and PDF, and can be delivered to email, Google Sheets, or Google Drive so the numbers arrive already built.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Shopify Inventory Status report show?
It shows your stock classified by availability at the variant level. Each variant gets a row with its product, SKU, product status, inventory status, inventory quantity, and inventory cost, so you can see what is in stock, what is out, and what capital is tied up.
What is the difference between Inventory Status and Product Status?
Inventory Status shows availability, whether a variant is in stock or out of stock based on its quantity. Product Status is the Shopify setting that shows whether the product is Active, Draft, or Archived. One tells you whether stock exists, the other tells you whether customers can buy it.
Does the report track stock per product or per variant?
Per variant. Each size, color, or other version gets its own row with its own quantity, cost, and availability, so you never assume a product is fine when only some of its variants are in stock.
Can I filter the report to see only out-of-stock items?
Yes. Apply a filter on Inventory Status to show only out-of-stock variants, and you can layer on Product Status to focus on Active products, which are the ones where a stockout costs you a sale right now.