Inventory and stock
Stock forecasting for WooCommerce
Ask which products will run out soon. Askshelf reads each product's stock and how fast it has been selling, and lists the ones that sell out within the days you choose. It also finds stock that isn't selling.
The question WooCommerce doesn't answer
WooCommerce tells you how much stock you have. Analytics › Stock lists what's low, out or on backorder, based on fixed thresholds. What it doesn't tell you is when each product will run out, which depends on how fast it's selling. A product with 40 in stock that sells 10 a day is in more trouble than one with 5 that sells one a week.
Askshelf answers that question. It looks at each product's and variation's current stock, works out its sales rate over a recent window, and lists what runs out within the days you ask about.
What runs out in the next 14 days?
How the forecast works
The method is deliberately simple, so you can trust and check it:
- Sales rate: units sold per day over the lookback window (30 days by default; ask for anything from 7 to 90).
- Runway: current stock divided by that rate gives the days left, also called stock runway.
- The list: every product or variation with fewer days left than you asked about (1 to 120), soonest first.
A short window reacts quickly to a product that's suddenly popular. A long window smooths out a one-off spike. Ask both ways if you're unsure.
The other side: stock that isn't selling
Runway finds what you'll run out of. Dead stock finds what you're sitting on. Ask which products with stock haven't sold in a number of days (14 to 365, 60 by default) and Askshelf lists them with the money tied up, at cost or at selling price, and when each last sold. It also gives the total value of all stock on hand at selling price, and at cost when WooCommerce's Cost of Goods Sold is turned on. Both lookups cover products where you manage stock.
Which products haven't sold in 90 days, and how much money is tied up in them?
What it doesn't do
Askshelf doesn't calculate reorder quantities, reorder points, safety stock or sell-through rate. It doesn't estimate sales lost to stockouts, keep a stock history or model seasonality. For those, our guides walk through the methods: reorder points, dead stock and inventory value. The free reorder point calculator does the arithmetic for one product.
Read-only, always
Askshelf reads stock levels and sales; it can't change stock, prices or products. Only products and variations you manage stock for, and that sold in the lookback window, can be forecast. Stock managed on a variable product as a whole is forecast as a whole; stock managed per variation is forecast per variation.
Questions you can ask
- “What runs out in the next 14 days?”
- “Which variations sell out before the end of the month, based on the last 30 days?”
- “What will run out within 7 days if this week's pace keeps up?”
- “Which products haven't sold in 90 days, and how much money is tied up in them?”
- “What is all my stock worth?”
Common questions
How does Askshelf work out when a product runs out?
It divides current stock by the product's average daily sales over a recent window (30 days unless you ask for another, from 7 to 90). Products and variations whose stock lasts fewer days than you asked about are listed, soonest first.
Does it work with variable products?
Yes. When stock is managed per variation, it looks at each variation separately, so a size that is selling out shows up even when the product as a whole has plenty of stock. When stock is managed on the product, it forecasts the product as a whole.
Can it tell me how much to reorder?
Not directly. It tells you how many days of stock are left at the current pace. It doesn't calculate reorder points or safety stock, so combine the runway with your supplier's lead time, or use the free reorder point calculator.
The free way, step by step: WooCommerce inventory forecasting: a practical guide