How to Link Your Stock to a Supplier Feed

To link your stock to a supplier feed in Stock Sync, gather the required information from your supplier and set up a feed connection with the correct method and mappings.

What You Need From Your Supplier

To update existing products or sync new ones automatically, request a file or data source that includes:

• SKU (must match your Shopify SKU exactly)
• Quantity (current stock level)
• Optional: price, title, or other fields if you want to sync those as well

The supplier can provide this in one of several formats:

• CSV, XLS, or XLSX file
• A URL feed
• Email‑attached file
• FTP/SFTP file upload
• API endpoint (if no downloadable feed is available)

Connection Methods Supported by Stock Sync

You can link the feed using any of these methods:

• Import from URL
• Email attachment (supplier emails files directly to a Stock Sync address)
• FTP/SFTP
• Manual file upload (less automated)
• API integration (requires supplier documentation)

Setting Up the Feed

1. Gather the supplier source and confirm that it includes a product identifier (usually SKU) and the quantity or availability field you want to sync. If the supplier only provides an online file, use its direct download URL. If it provides only a public Shopify storefront, use a Shopify Public Store connection where available. For an API connection, request the endpoint documentation and credentials.
2. In the Stock Sync dashboard, click Create New Feed, then choose Add Feed to import new products or Update to update products already in Shopify. If you need both, create one Add feed and one Update feed and configure them separately.
3. Select the connection method (URL, FTP/SFTP, Google Sheets, Dropbox, OneDrive, Email Attachment, Shopify Public Store, API, or manual upload). If a URL points directly to an XML or other downloadable file, use Import from URL rather than an API connection.
4. Upload or connect the supplier file and test the connection.
5. Map the supplier product identifier to your Shopify SKU (or Barcode/EAN if that is the matching identifier), then map the supplier quantity to the Shopify stock field. Map any additional fields, such as title or price, if needed, and confirm the correct Shopify Inventory Location is selected.
6. If the supplier provides only text availability, use Quantity Rules: map in stock to the quantity you want to use (for example, 5) and out of stock to 0.
7. Review the filters. Disable filters such as tracking or quantity conditions if they exclude products you want to synchronize. Use Preview Sync and check a few sample SKUs before running the feed.
8. Save and run the feed with Start Process to apply the changes.

Automation

You can schedule the feed to run automatically (e.g., every 6 hours, daily, or multiple times per day), depending on how often the supplier updates their file. Create a separate feed for each supplier source when suppliers use different files, URLs, or APIs. Separate feeds also allow each supplier's changes to appear independently in the changelog. For accumulated stock across suppliers, create a separate Update Feed for each supplier, choose one feed as the initial-quantity feed and configure the others to add to that initial quantity. Schedule the related feeds close together, with the initial-quantity feed running first. For example, quantities of 10, 13, and 15 result in a total of 38 when added, whereas a highest-quantity setup would use only 15.

For email attachment feeds, suppliers must send future stock files to the unique Stock Sync email address generated for that feed. For an inventory-only email feed, map the supplier's product identifier to the matching store SKU and map only the Quantity field. For example, if the supplier's CSV uses Item Code as the value matching Shopify SKUs, use Item Code as the Product Identifier and leave price, images, and other fields unmapped.

If the supplier provides only in stock or out of stock text, use Quantity Rules to map in stock to the quantity you want to assign (for example, 5) and out of stock to 0.
If the supplier only shows stock on a website and has no CSV or URL feed, ask them for:

• API endpoint
• API endpoint
• Credentials (username/password)
• API key or secret, if required
• Any documentation

Stock Sync can evaluate whether a custom API integration is possible.

If your supplier previously offered a template through Stock Sync but has uninstalled the app, their template will no longer be available. In this case, request the feed files directly from the supplier and connect using a supported method such as URL, FTP/SFTP, Google Sheets, or email attachment.

Updated on: 06/08/2026