A historical import should explain the past. It should not move the same stock again.
Shopify’s migration guide says Stocky is no longer available after August 31, 2026. The guide covers both native inventory tools and the data retailers may want to preserve. If you already saved exports, treat them as source records rather than a ready-made representation of today’s stock.
1. Keep the original files
Make an inventory of the exports you actually have: purchase orders, supplier information, stock counts and any other available records. Keep an untouched copy and record when it was exported. Do not assume every file includes every invoice, charge, location or receipt detail you used in the old workflow.
Write down the gaps. A missing supplier identifier or delivery date is useful information for the people reading the archive. Leaving a field blank with an explanation is better than inventing a value to make the import look complete.
2. Establish the live stock position
Confirm which Shopify locations are active and which stock figures your staff will use after migration. Historical PO receipts and a current on-hand balance answer different questions. A 200-unit receipt from last year cannot tell you how many of those units remain today.
If a physical count is needed, make it a separate task with its own date and review. Do not “repair” live quantities by replaying historical receipts; that can double-count units that Shopify already knows about.
3. Preview identifiers and mapping
Check how each source line can connect to a current variant. A SKU may be missing, changed or shared by more than one item. Archived products may no longer exist. Give ambiguous matches a review status instead of attaching them to whichever result appeared first.
Try a small representative file before committing a large archive. Include a normal order, a partial delivery and a record with missing data. Review the field mapping, date formats, currency and quantity meaning. “Ordered” and “received” are not interchangeable columns.
4. Look for duplicate sources
The same export can be uploaded twice under a new filename. Overlapping exports can also contain the same purchase order. Define which source identifiers will be used to recognize a repeated record. Keep duplicate decisions visible rather than quietly deleting a line someone expected to find.
5. Reconcile before relying on it
Open several archived records and compare them with the untouched source files. Check the supplier, destination, reference, dates, quantities and amounts. Review at least one incomplete or unusual record; checking only the neatest example misses the cases your staff will struggle with later.
Document which information the new archive preserves and which it does not. Keep the source files accessible to the people who need them under your own retention policy. The migration is easier to trust when its limits are written down.
Merchavelo Inventory’s historical-import workflow is being prepared around previews, mapping and an archive that leaves live stock unchanged. Before choosing it, review the supported format and your actual files. A feature called “migration” should not be taken as a promise that every old field will transfer automatically.