--- title: Can Matrixify Import & Export Shopify Inventory Transfers? No — But Altera Can date: 2026-04-13 description: Matrixify does not support Shopify inventory transfers. Altera can bulk import, export, and update inventory transfers, shipments, tracking, and receiving using a Matrixify-compatible spreadsheet format. url: https://www.getaltera.com/matrixify-inventory-transfers/ --- Matrixify **does not support Shopify inventory transfers**. If you move stock between locations in bulk, manage incoming shipments from suppliers, or need to reconcile received and rejected quantities across multiple warehouses, Matrixify can't help — it has no inventory transfer columns, no shipment tracking fields, and no integration with Shopify's Inventory Transfers API. **Altera** supports full import, export, and bulk editing of Shopify inventory transfers — including line items, shipments, tracking numbers, and the full Draft → In Transit → Received workflow. --- ## What Are Shopify Inventory Transfers? Inventory transfers are the Shopify object used to move stock from one location to another — for example, replenishing a retail store from a warehouse, receiving a shipment from an external supplier, or redistributing inventory between fulfillment centers. Each transfer tracks: - **Origin and destination locations** — internal locations, or an external supplier when one side is blank - **Line items** — the variants and quantities being moved, looked up by SKU or barcode - **Status** — Draft, Ready to Ship, In Transit, Partially Received, Received, or Cancelled - **Shipments** — one or more shipments per transfer, each with tracking company, tracking number, tracking URL, ETA, and barcode - **Received and rejected quantities** — per line item and per shipment, for reconciliation against what was actually delivered - **Reference name, tags, and notes** — for tying transfers back to purchase orders or internal workflows Transfers are managed in the Shopify admin under **Products → Transfers**, or through Shopify's GraphQL Admin API. --- ## What Matrixify Does (and Doesn't Do) **Matrixify cannot:** - Export inventory transfers from a store - Import or create new inventory transfers - Update existing transfers, line items, or shipments - Manage tracking numbers, tracking URLs, or ETAs in bulk - Transition transfers through the Draft → In Transit → Received workflow - Reconcile received and rejected quantities against shipments Matrixify's supported data types include products, collections, customers, orders, discounts, pages, blogs, metafields, metaobjects, and more — but **inventory transfers are not among them**. Merchants with multi-location stores who need to move stock in bulk are left doing it one transfer at a time in the Shopify admin. --- ## The Multi-Location Inventory Problem Shopify's built-in transfer UI works well for a handful of transfers, but breaks down quickly at scale: - Creating dozens of draft transfers by hand is slow and error-prone - Updating tracking numbers across many shipments means clicking into each one individually - Reconciling received vs. rejected quantities across multiple shipments requires manual data entry - There is no way to export a full history of transfers for reporting or auditing - Agencies and 3PLs who manage inventory for multiple stores have no way to script or automate transfer workflows Without a bulk tool, high-volume merchants end up building spreadsheets in parallel to Shopify — or skipping the Transfers feature entirely and losing visibility into in-transit stock. --- ## How Altera Handles Inventory Transfers Altera treats inventory transfers as a first-class data type with full import, export, and bulk update support. **Export:** - Pull every transfer, line item, and shipment into a single spreadsheet - Columns for status, reference name, tags, origin and destination, and aggregated received and rejected quantities - Filter exports by status, origin, destination, product, variant, tag, or creation date - Include metafields for custom metadata storage - Leave the origin or destination blank to represent stock from an external supplier **Import:** - **Create** new draft transfers in bulk by listing line items with a SKU or barcode. Origin and destination can be looked up by location name. - **Update** existing transfers by ID — edit the note, tags, reference name, and line items. Line-item deletions are supported via `Line Item: Command = DELETE`. - **Manage shipments** inline using `Shipment 1:`, `Shipment 2:`, etc. columns. Set tracking company, tracking number, tracking URL, ETA, and barcode. - **Walk the workflow** — move a transfer from Draft through Ready to Ship, In Transit, Partially Received, and Received in a single import. - **Cancel** stale transfers without leaving your spreadsheet. **Line items and shipments:** - Line items matched by SKU or barcode, with Product and Variant titles included on export - Per-line-item shippable, shipped, received, and rejected quantities exported for reconciliation - Multiple shipments per transfer using numbered column prefixes See the [inventory transfers field reference](https://support.getaltera.com/en/articles/14596854-inventory-transfer-fields) for the full column list and a sample file. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions **Does Matrixify support Shopify inventory transfers?** No. Matrixify does not support inventory transfers. It cannot import, export, or update transfers, shipments, or tracking details. **Can I create new transfers with Altera, or only update existing ones?** Both. You can create new draft transfers from a spreadsheet by listing line items with a SKU or barcode, and you can update existing transfers by ID to edit notes, tags, line items, and shipments. **Does Altera support tracking numbers and shipment statuses?** Yes. Each shipment supports tracking company, tracking number, tracking URL, ETA, barcode, and status. You can walk a shipment from Draft through In Transit to Received in a single import. **How do I represent a transfer from an external supplier?** Leave the Origin Location column blank. Altera treats a blank origin or destination as an external party, matching Shopify's native behavior. This is useful for inbound purchase orders or stock leaving for an external destination. **Can I use Altera's inventory transfers with Matrixify for everything else?** Yes. Altera uses the same Matrixify-compatible spreadsheet format. You can use Matrixify for data types it supports and Altera for inventory transfers, translations, metafield definitions, metaobject definitions, and other data types Matrixify doesn't cover. --- See our full [Altera vs. Matrixify comparison](/altera-vs-matrixify/) for a breakdown of all the differences between the two tools, or check the [FAQ](/shopify-import-export-matrixify-faq/) for more common questions. {{< comparison-cta text="Import, export, and update inventory transfers with Altera." >}}