Foreshelf vs Stocky

Stocky shut down on 31 August 2026, so this isn't a "use whichever fits" comparison — Stocky isn't an option anymore. The useful question is: for the work Stocky used to do, how does Foreshelf compare, what carried over after the migration, what didn't, and what's different in the day-to-day workflow. This is for someone who used Stocky and is now picking a replacement.

If you haven't narrowed it down to one app yet, start with the wider guide to the bestStocky alternative — it covers the export deadline and what Shopify's built-in tools replace. This page assumes you're already comparing Foreshelf specifically.

The two apps, side by side

What carried over from Stocky — and what didn't

After Stocky stopped functioning, what survives in Shopify itself depends on whether you enabled it as a channel app. For most stores:

• Completed purchase order reports — exportable as CSV for at least 90 days past shutdown, until roughly late November 2026.
• Stocktake history — also exportable.
• Historical cost data — exportable.

What doesn't survive, and what most stores underestimate:

• Suppliers — Shopify states plainly that supplier records aren't exportable from Stocky. Your supplier list, supplier-specific lead times and minimum order quantities need to be rebuilt from the PO report's supplier column.
• Purchase order statuses — only completed POs export. Drafts, sent and received-but-not-billed statuses don't carry over.
• Stocky-specific custom fields — anything you'd added beyond the defaults doesn't transfer.

The supplier gap is the one that hurts most: it's the most laborious thing in any inventory account and Stocky won't hand it to you. Workaround is to rebuild from the PO report's supplier column — that's how Foreshelf's importer expects to receive them.

Where the two approaches actually differ

1. Explainability

Stocky's reorder suggestions were presented as a number with little working shown — you trusted the engine or you didn't. Foreshelf shows its arithmetic on every recommendation: "sells 5/day, 12 days of cover, 14-day lead time → reorder 90 now." That difference is the entire reason Foreshelf exists. When the recommendation is wrong, you can see why it's wrong, and override it; with Stocky, the only override was "don't trust it" — which meant you did the maths in a spreadsheet anyway.

2. POS dependency

Stocky was bundled with Shopify POS Pro. If you were using Stocky only for online-store inventory, the POS Pro dependency was a hidden line item. Foreshelf has no POS requirement — it works on any Shopify plan. That makes it free of the constraint that priced some stores out of running planning at all.

3. Scope

Stocky did forecasting, PO management, stocktakes and kitting. Foreshelf does forecasting and reorder planning only. Stocktakes, transfers and kitting live in Shopify admin now and didn't need an app to begin with; what Foreshelf gives up is the unified PO workflow. In practice most stores that used Stocky's PO workflow either emailed CSVs to suppliers (which Foreshelf's supplier-grouped export does), or use a dedicated purchasing platform on top of forecasting.

4. Data importer

Because suppliers don't come out of Stocky, the importer is the part that matters most for a Stocky-to-anything migration. Foreshelf's importer accepts any CSV with a SKU column and lets you map the rest of the columns to suppliers, lead times and minimum order quantities — which is how it handles the "Stocky won't hand over suppliers" problem. A tool that demanded one exact Stocky-shaped file would be unusable now that Stocky no longer exists.

The case for Foreshelf (if Stocky was working for you)

• Explainable numbers. Every recommendation shows its working, so you stay in control.
• No POS Pro requirement. Works on any Shopify plan.
• Read-only. A planning tool reads products, orders and inventory. It has no reason to write to your store, and Foreshelf doesn't.
• Supplier CSV import that tolerates the Stocky gap. Rebuild your supplier list from the PO report and import it as-is.
• Daily email digest when products hit their reorder point — between the weekly reviews, you don't miss the urgent ones.

What you lose coming off Stocky

• The unified PO workflow — drafts, sent, received, billed states. Foreshelf gives you the supplier-grouped reorder report; turning that into a workflow is on you.
• Stocktake workflow. Moved to Shopify admin and POS — not lost, but moved out of the same app.
• Kitting. Moved to Shopify admin (Inventory → Bundles). Foreshelf doesn't cover kitting.
• Your historical PO statuses. If you relied on Stocky to know "which POs are still open", that's gone; you need to export completed POs from Stocky before the read-only window closes and reconstruct the rest.

Migration: the realistic 90-minute path

1. Export from Stocky now — PO reports, stocktake history, cost data. The 90-day read-only window closes around late November 2026.
2. Build a single spreadsheet with a row per SKU: SKU, supplier, lead time in days, minimum order quantity. The PO report gives you SKU and supplier; fill in lead times from what you know.
3. Install Foreshelf and use Import from Stocky. Map your spreadsheet's columns to suppliers, lead times and MOQs — whatever shape your spreadsheet is in.
4. Let sales history sync from Shopify (sales history doesn't come from Stocky, so nothing is lost there). Open Forecasts and you'll see velocity and reorder points computed from your real order data.
5. Run one week of overlap. Pick three SKUs whose reorder behaviour you know by heart. Compare Stocky's last recommendation with Foreshelf's first. They should be close; if not, the inputs (lead time, safety buffer) need adjusting.

If you weren't using Stocky

If you're reading this because you're new to inventory planning rather than migrating from Stocky, the same comparison holds. Foreshelf gives you the forecasting and reorder-point method — see the inventory management guide for the maths — without the POS Pro requirement or the black-box numbers. Skip the migration section above and start at "install Foreshelf."