What Is the Shopify Out of Stock Product Report?
The Out of Stock Product report lists every product and variant in your Shopify store that has hit zero inventory, and puts the details you need to act on the same line: which item it is, where the stock ran out, what it costs, and whether it is still live on your store. Instead of discovering a sold-out bestseller when a customer complains, you get one clean view of everything currently unavailable.
The report reads at the variant level, so a product is not marked out of stock as a whole while one size or colour is gone. Each variant is judged on its own quantity. It also shows Product Status, so you can tell a live item that needs urgent restocking apart from a draft or archived item that is out of stock on purpose and can be left alone.
Merchants reach for this report when a full inventory list is too much noise. It filters the catalogue down to just the items at zero, pairs each with its location and cost, and turns "what is unavailable right now" into a shortlist you can hand straight to purchasing.
Which Fields Are Included in the Out of Stock Product Report?
These fields help you confirm what is unavailable, where it ran out, and whether it is worth restocking.
You can customize the pre-made report by adding, removing, or rearranging fields, and by filtering to one location or status so you focus on the items that actually need action.
Important Insights You Can Find in This Report
Which out-of-stock items are live and losing you sales right now?
Filter to Product Status = active and read the list that remains. An active item at zero stock is a product page a customer can reach but cannot buy, which is a sale lost every day it stays that way. Draft and archived items at zero are not urgent. Separating the two stops you from treating a deliberately hidden product as an emergency and points your restocking effort at the items that are actually costing you money.
Where did the stock run out, and does one location carry the problem?
Read Inventory Quantity against Location Names. The same variant can be out at one location while still sitting in another, so an out-of-stock line is often a distribution problem, not a true shortage. Grouping the zero-stock lines by location shows whether one warehouse or store is consistently the one running dry, which points to a transfer or a change in how you split stock rather than a fresh purchase order.
How much will it cost to bring these items back?
Read Product cost and Inventory Cost alongside the out-of-stock list. Before you reorder everything at once, this tells you the replacement cost sitting behind the shortlist, so you can prioritise. A cheap fast mover is an easy restock; an expensive item may be worth a smaller reorder or a check on demand first. The zero-stock flag tells you what is gone; the cost fields tell you what it takes to fix it.
THE ANALYST'S READ: The Signal Most Merchants Miss
The line worth pausing on is the one showing negative Inventory Quantity, not zero. A zero means the shelf is simply empty. A negative usually means committed stock has been oversold: orders were accepted against units that were not really there. That is a fulfilment problem waiting to surface as a delayed or cancelled order, and it will not show up if you only scan for items sitting exactly at zero.
When you see a negative count, do not just reorder. Check the location and the committed quantity behind it, because the fix is often reconciling what was promised against what exists, not only buying more. Read this report as two lists in one: the empty items you need to restock, and the oversold items you need to reconcile before they cost you a customer.
How Can You Automate the Out of Stock Product Report?
The pre-made report comes with the columns already set, so you can save it as is or adjust the fields and filters first. Once saved, schedule it to email you daily, weekly, or monthly so you never rebuild it by hand, and set it to auto-send to your team, VA, or supplier so restocking starts without you chasing it.
You can also export it to Excel, CSV, or PDF, or push it to Google Sheets or Google Drive on the same schedule. A daily run is the common choice here, since a delivery in your inbox means there are items that need action.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from the Low Stock Product report?
The Low Stock Product report flags items that are running low but still have stock left, so you can reorder before they sell out. This report lists only items that have already hit zero. One is an early warning; this one is the shortlist of what is already unavailable.
Why do some items show a negative inventory quantity?
A negative count usually means committed stock was oversold: orders were accepted against units that were not physically available. It is worth checking these against the location and the committed quantity, because they can turn into delayed or cancelled orders.
Does this report include draft and archived products?
It can show any product at zero stock regardless of status, which is why the Product Status field matters. Filter to active items when you only want the out-of-stock products a customer can actually reach on your store.
Can I see which location the stock ran out at?
Yes. The Location Names field shows where the stock was depleted, so you can tell a true shortage from a case where the item is still available at another location and only needs a transfer.
Can I filter the report to one location or status?
Yes. You can filter by location, status, or other fields before saving, which is useful when you want to work through the out-of-stock items for one store, warehouse, or product state at a time.