Stocky vs Shopify’s native purchase orders
When Stocky is retired on August 31, 2026, the default landing place for most merchants is Shopify’s built-in purchase orders. They are free and they are real — but they replace a different half of Stocky than most people assume.
Two jobs, not one
Stocky did two separate things, and it is worth separating them before comparing anything:
The hands
Recording the physical work
Writing down a purchase order, receiving stock against it, counting what is on the shelf, adjusting quantities.
The head
Deciding what and how much
Noticing something is about to run out, working out how many to order given how fast it sells and how long the supplier takes.
Shopify now covers more of both jobs than it did at the start of the transition. The remaining distinction is between one-off assistance and a replenishment policy that stays attached to every product and location.
Feature by feature
| Capability | Shopify native | UreyukiBox |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free tier, then paid |
| Create and record a purchase order | Yes | Yes |
| Receive stock against an order | Yes | Yes, full or partial |
| Reorder-point alerts | Low-stock notifications via Shopify Flow; no persistent Stocky-style policy | Email, Slack or LINE |
| Order quantity suggested from sales pace | Sidekick can recommend products from sales and draft a PO | Yes, minus stock, inbound and already-ordered |
| Store supplier lead time | No | Yes |
| Store minimum order quantity | No | Yes |
| Supplier management | Yes, native | Full supplier record, order sent by email |
| Import historical Stocky purchase orders | No — Shopify states these cannot be imported | Yes, while the Stocky API is still reachable |
| Import Stocky reorder points and lead times | No | Yes, from your CSV export |
| Interface language | English and many others | English and Japanese |
What Shopify provides now
Shopify’s official transition path now includes three useful native pieces:
- Suppliers and purchase orders managed in Shopify admin
- Sidekick recommendations based on sales, with a draft purchase order it can prepare for review
- Shopify Flow workflows for low-stock notifications
These may be enough for a straightforward workflow. A dedicated app differs when it stores lead time, MOQ and reorder policy as durable operating data, watches those policies automatically, and sends the resulting order to the supplier. Historical Stocky purchase orders are still not imported into Shopify. See Shopify’s official transition guide.
How to decide
Native alone is probably fine if…
You carry few enough SKUs to hold in your head, you reorder on a fixed schedule rather than reacting to demand, or your suppliers deliver fast enough that running out is a day-long problem rather than a month-long one.
You will feel the gap if…
You have hundreds or thousands of SKUs, your lead times differ meaningfully by supplier, you have minimum order quantities to respect, or you used Stocky’s reorder suggestions as your actual working queue rather than as a suggestion.
Either way, preserve your Stocky data now. The API copy must finish by August 31; Shopify says read-only exports remain available for at least 90 days, but Stocky history is not moved into Shopify automatically.
Common questions
Q.Can Shopify’s native purchase orders replace Stocky?
For many stores, partly. Shopify now has native supplier management and purchase orders, Sidekick can use sales data to recommend products and create a draft purchase order, and Flow can send low-stock notifications. What it does not reproduce is Stocky’s persistent replenishment policy with supplier lead times and minimum order quantities, automatic policy-based alerts, and a supplier-ready PO email loop.
Q.Can I import my old Stocky purchase orders into Shopify?
No. Shopify has stated that historical Stocky purchase orders cannot be imported into Shopify. Preserve them with Stocky reports or an API-based migration. Every Stocky API stops on August 31, while read-only Stocky exports remain available for at least 90 days afterwards.
Q.Do I have to pay for an app at all?
Not necessarily. If you carry few enough SKUs to eyeball stock levels, or you reorder on a fixed schedule rather than on demand, the free native purchase orders may be all you need. The cost of an app is worth it when forgetting to reorder actually costs you sales.
If you need the decision layer back
UreyukiBox is built to sit exactly where Stocky did: reorder points, order quantities based on your own sales pace and lead times, supplier records, and purchase orders you can send. It imports both your Stocky API data and the CSV-only fields.
The interface, the App Store listing and support are available in English. Alerts and supplier emails use English for stores outside Japan and Japanese for stores in Japan. The migration tools and the CSV import work on any Shopify store. Purchase orders follow your store too: totals are in your store’s currency, with editable purchase-tax presets for 53 countries. The US, Canada, Brazil, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia start with no tax line because one national rate would be misleading.
Related guides
-
Stocky alternatives: 14 apps compared
Price at feature parity, reviews, cold-start evidence, POS and migration path — including where ours loses.
-
Stocky shutdown checklist
What needs the August 31 API deadline, what remains read-only afterwards, and what to preserve first.
-
How to export your Stocky data
The exact screens — including the Low Stock report, where your reorder points and lead times actually are.
-
What happens to your data on August 31
Data by data: what stays in Shopify, what is not moved automatically, and how the read-only window works.
-
Stocky vs UreyukiBox
An honest feature-by-feature comparison, including where Stocky is still ahead.
-
How to migrate from Stocky
Six steps in the order that protects your data, even before you pick an app.
-
Move from Stocky to UreyukiBox
One Stocky migration entry for API copy through August 31 and standalone Stocky CSV import from September 1, without requiring API copy; Order limits/Statistics table import, review and export are also supported.
-
Planning inventory with no sales history
Calendar timing needs no product history; the current app waits for variant sales before forecasting quantity.
-
Reorder points on Shopify: the complete guide
The formula, safety stock and service levels, and choosing an app after Stocky.
All guides in one place: the UreyukiBox blog