A Stocky migration setup checklist organizes the data-preparation work you do before rebuilding inventory, buy-list, supplier, and purchase-order workflows in Shopify, so each step runs in a sensible order and you rebuild from clean, clearly labelled records instead of stale or unsorted ones. The point is not to re-explain every screen, but to sequence the prep: back up what you need, clean the files you will import, get the Shopify side ready, review what is worth carrying forward, and decide what each record becomes. Stocky will not be available after August 31, 2026, and the records you want to keep are exported manually using Stocky’s built-in reports while it is still running, so treat the sunset as a deadline to prepare against rather than the day to begin. This checklist is the organizing layer; each step points to the guide that carries the field-level detail. Here is what to prepare first.
What a Stocky migration setup checklist should cover
This checklist covers five kinds of material: the records you back up, the CSV-style files you will import, the Shopify product and inventory fields that receive them, the supplier notes you keep by hand, and the purchase-order context you carry into new orders. It is a planning layer rather than a conversion tool, because the two systems do not line up automatically. Shopify has stated that some Stocky-specific features might work differently or might not yet be available in Shopify, so expect to make decisions item by item rather than assume a clean swap. This is also distinct from running the move itself: for the full sequence from export through receiving and team training, the Stocky migration checklist walks the whole project, while this setup checklist focuses on getting the data ready and deciding what it becomes.
Back up the records you still need to reference
Start by securing what you cannot recreate. Records you want to keep must be exported manually using Stocky’s built-in reports while the app is still running, and historical Stocky data, including old purchase orders and stocktakes, won’t automatically move into Shopify. Pull the reports you might need for audits, supplier conversations, or trend reference, store them somewhere durable, and keep the originals untouched so a later edit never damages your only copy. Treat the sunset as a deadline to finish backups with time to spare, and work back from it rather than racing it. The export Stocky data before the sunset guide covers what to pull and what will not transfer, so this step is the first box to tick before any cleanup begins.
Clean CSV-style files before using them in Shopify workflows
Once the backups exist, clean the files you actually plan to import, because the inventory CSV writes against live counts and a small mistake can overwrite real stock. Prefer the All states export, which includes separate rows for each location with columns for all inventory states and provides protection against accidental overwrites on import, and keep both the On hand (current) and On hand (new) columns so Shopify runs a safety validation that prevents accidental overwrites when the current value in your file does not match what is in Shopify. Cleanup is its own task with its own checks, so do it deliberately rather than as part of the import. The full file-by-file review, including how to split product fields from quantity fields and catch mismatched SKUs, is the Stocky CSV cleanup guide, and the field-level mapping into Shopify’s CSV formats is the Stocky CSV migration guide.
Prepare products, variants, SKUs, and locations
Quantities attach to variants and locations, so the Shopify side has to be ready before you bring any counts in. The product CSV imports and exports product details like titles, SKUs, and variant options, and the inventory CSV identifies a variant and location by the Handle, Location, and Option1 Value columns, plus Option2 and Option3 Value for products with more than one option. Confirm the products, variants, and SKUs you sell already exist in Shopify, and that every location you count stock at is set up with the exact name you will reference, so the quantity step has somewhere correct to land. The complete readiness pass, from catalog structure to location names, is the subject of preparing Shopify inventory before the Stocky sunset. Once you are working in Shopify, the same catalog foundation is what Shopify inventory setup after Stocky checks before you rebuild a workflow on it.
Review inventory quantities before rebuilding buy decisions
Before you rebuild anything that drives buying, look at what is actually worth carrying forward. Shopify inventory CSV files can export current inventory quantities and update quantities for products in each location, which gives you the figures to review, and Shopify’s inventory reports summarize past sales and current stock to help you decide which products to prioritize when restocking, and they are not automatic reorder recommendations and do not calculate reorder quantities. A slow seller you were about to migrate is often one to review rather than refill, so a dead stock after Stocky pass belongs at this point, and the decisions it feeds into are the work of reorder planning after Stocky. Reviewing now means the rebuilt workflows start from a list you trust rather than a copy of every count you happened to hold. Running that review as a repeatable pass over your Shopify records is a Shopify inventory audit after Stocky.
Separate supplier notes from importable inventory data
Supplier information needs its own lane, because it does not travel as inventory data. Suppliers can’t be exported from Stocky, so there is no supplier file to import, and the supplier details you keep are notes you capture by hand rather than rows in an inventory CSV. Shopify suppliers are created in the admin when you create a purchase order, so a clean spreadsheet of your active suppliers, with contact, currency, and terms, is reference material for re-entry rather than an importable record. Keeping supplier notes out of your product and quantity files keeps both sides clean: the inventory CSV stays focused on variants, locations, and counts, while the supplier spreadsheet holds the context you will re-enter as you write the first purchase order to each vendor.
Decide what becomes a buy list, purchase order, or manual note
The last setup step is a decision made record by record: what becomes a buy list item, what becomes a purchase order, and what stays a manual note. A buy list is the short, reviewed list of what to actually order this cycle, which a buy list after Stocky keeps tight and honest. A purchase order is the native order of record, where a Shopify purchase order records the products, their costs, and the quantities ordered from a supplier; what native purchase orders cover after Stocky is set out in purchase orders after Stocky, and the difference between a flexible working list and that order of record is the CSV versus PDF purchase orders comparison. A manual note is everything else: historical orders you keep for reference but do not re-key, supplier context, and anything that has no clean home in a Shopify field. Sorting each record into one of these three keeps the rebuild deliberate instead of a rushed re-entry of whatever you exported.
Stocky migration setup checklist
Run the setup work in order so nothing is rebuilt on stale data. Back up the Stocky records you want to keep, working on copies and leaving the originals untouched. Clean the CSV files you plan to import, preferring the All states inventory export and keeping the On hand columns so the safety validation runs. Confirm your products, variants, SKUs, and locations exist in Shopify with the exact names you will reference. Review your quantities and flag the slow movers worth a second look before they go onto any reorder list. Capture supplier details as notes for re-entry, since they are not importable. Then decide, record by record, what becomes a buy list item, a purchase order, or a manual note. One deadline frames the whole list: Stocky will not be available after August 31, 2026, so work back from it and finish with time to validate. For the exact dates, see the Stocky shutdown timeline, and for the wider tooling choice once your data is ready, see what to use after Stocky.
Limitations
Organizing your Stocky migration setup is a planning habit, not a Shopify feature and not a service, and this guide does not cover every workflow Stocky used to support. It does not create Shopify purchase orders, it does not import Stocky purchase orders, and it does not create a Stocky supplier CSV, because suppliers cannot be exported from Stocky at all. It is not a one-click migration, and none of it is demand forecasting; the choices you make about each record are judgement calls a person reviews, not steps to run blindly. It is not accounting, tax, legal, or financial advice. It does not replace your own review of each record, and Shopify’s inventory records, purchase orders, suppliers, and reports still need source-backed checks against your own store. For the one slice where supplier reliability is the heart of the work, the existing kijun app is one option, scoped honestly: it builds 0-100 supplier scorecards from purchase orders recorded in kijun, on supported supplier and vendor records, and it does not forecast demand or reorder for you. See how supplier scorecards work after Stocky.
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against cited sources through kijun’s editorial workflow. Last updated: 2026-06-30.
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