Symptom

You notice that the quantity shown in Luminous for a SKU does not match the quantity visible on your Shopify storefront or Walmart seller account. Luminous may show a higher or lower number than the channel.

Why It Happens

Luminous does not push your raw on-hand quantity to sales channels. Instead, it calculates and pushes an available (sellable) quantity using the following formula:

Quantity Pushed = On-Hand + Incoming (optional) − Pending Orders (all channels) − Buffer

This means the number your sales channel displays is intentionally different from your on-hand stock. Here are the most common reasons for a visible gap:

1. Pending orders are being deducted

Luminous aggregates open orders from all connected channels — Shopify, Walmart, B2B, EDI, and others — and subtracts that combined pending quantity before pushing to any individual channel. An order waiting to ship on one channel reduces what every other channel can see.

2. A buffer quantity is configured

A buffer can be set at the product level or on the channel itself. This intentionally holds back a reserve, so the channel never shows all of your available stock. The pushed quantity is floored at zero if the buffer exceeds available stock.

3. Stock push is disabled for the channel or product

If stock push is turned off on a channel, Luminous stops sending updates. The channel retains whatever quantity was last pushed (or its own default), which drifts over time as inventory changes in Luminous.

4. The SKU is not mapped (or is mapped incorrectly)

Luminous can only push inventory for SKUs that are linked to a corresponding product or variant on the channel. An unmapped or mismatched SKU receives no updates.

5. Incoming (open PO) quantity is included — or excluded — unexpectedly

On Shopify channels, there are optional settings that add open purchase-order quantities to the number pushed. If these settings differ from your expectation, the channel will show more (or less) than your physical on-hand.

6. The SKU is a kit

Kits do not hold their own physical inventory. Luminous calculates kit availability from component stock. If any component is low, the kit quantity pushed to the channel will be limited by that constraint, even if the kit "SKU" itself appears to have no shortage inside Luminous.

7. The push has not run yet since the last inventory change

Luminous runs a scheduled sync cycle for each active channel. If a sale or receiving event just occurred, there may be a short delay before the updated quantity reaches the channel. Luminous also skips the push entirely if the calculated quantity has not changed since the last successful push, which is expected behavior and not an error.

How to Resolve

  1. Check your channel's stock push setting. Go to Manage → Channels, find the relevant channel, open the three-dot menu on its row, and choose Edit. Confirm that stock push is enabled. If it was off, re-enable it and save.
  2. Review the buffer quantity. On the same channel edit screen, look for a buffer or reserve quantity setting. Also check the individual product's settings under Manage → Products for a product-level buffer. Adjust or clear the buffer if it is unintentionally reducing the pushed quantity.
  3. Verify SKU mapping. From the channel's Product Mapping page, confirm the Luminous SKU is linked to the correct product or variant on the channel. The "Last Pushed" and "Stock Level (Pulled)" columns show you what Luminous sent most recently.
  4. Trigger a manual push. On the Product Mapping page for your channel, you can request an immediate stock push for a specific SKU. Use this to force a refresh without waiting for the next scheduled cycle.
  5. For Shopify — review incoming stock settings. Navigate to Manage → Channels, open your Shopify channel, and scroll to the Push Inventory Stocks and Costs section. Review whether Include Incoming Stocks as Sellable or Push Incoming Stocks from Supplier Purchase Orders are enabled, and adjust them to match your intended behavior. See the related article below for a full explanation of these options.
  6. For Walmart — confirm warehouse group configuration. Go to Locations, edit the warehouse group associated with your Walmart integration, and verify that Pull Stocks is enabled and the warehouse group is correctly marked as Externally Managed. Also confirm that your Walmart SKUs match the SKUs in Luminous under the integration's Manage Products screen.
  7. For kit SKUs — check component stock. Open the kit product in Luminous and review the available quantity of each component. The lowest component ratio is the ceiling for what the channel will display.
  8. Wait up to a few minutes and re-check. If a large order or receiving event just processed, the next scheduled push cycle will send the corrected quantity automatically.

When to Contact Support

Contact Luminous support if:

  • The channel quantity remains incorrect after re-enabling stock push and triggering a manual push.
  • The Product Mapping page shows a recent successful push but the channel still displays a different number.
  • Pending inventory appears stuck or clearly incorrect (e.g., shows negative quantities or does not decrease after orders ship).
  • You see sync errors or a "failed" sync status on the Product Mapping page that do not clear after retrying.