Not selling what you cannot supply.
WHY IT MATTERS
An order for something out of stock produces a refund, a complaint, and a customer who does not return.
ENABLING STOCK MANAGEMENT
In WooCommerce, Settings > Products > Inventory. Then set quantities per product.
Set a low-stock threshold so you reorder before running out.
HOLD STOCK FOR UNPAID ORDERS
Important when you accept bank transfer. Without a hold period, abandoned transfer orders tie up inventory indefinitely.
SELLING ONLINE AND OFFLINE
The hard problem. If you also sell in person, stock will disagree unless one system is authoritative and everything updates it.
Decide which is the truth, and reconcile regularly.
RECONCILING
Count physical stock periodically and correct the system to match. Software drifts from reality in every business; the question is how quickly you notice.
OUT OF STOCK ITEMS
Keep the product page published, marked unavailable, rather than deleting it. It preserves the page and any search ranking, and you can offer a notification when it returns.
