How do you forecast subscription demand and reserve stock on Shopify?

What does the Inventory Planner tell you?

How many units of each variant your subscriptions will need over the next 7, 14 and 30 days, next to your current stock. You see which products carry your subscription business and what to order before you run out. An export takes the same table into your own planning sheet or inventory system.

The forecast follows what subscribers actually do. Skipped orders drop out. A product swapped for one order, an added item or a changed quantity counts for that order instead of the usual contents. The numbers refresh every day, so the plan you buy against matches the orders that will really bill.

How does Zubs hold stock for subscribers?

With reservation switched on, Zubs sets aside the exact variants and quantities due on each upcoming billing date, a number of days ahead that you choose. It uses Shopify’s own reservation mechanism, so the units stop being available to every sales channel: storefront, POS and other draft orders. Nothing is deducted and no stock adjustment is made. Your on-hand count stays as it is.

As subscriptions are added, skipped, changed or cancelled, Zubs updates the holds every day. On billing day, the hold is released just before the subscription orders are created, so they draw on the stock that was waiting for them. A short window keeps more stock on sale. A long one protects subscribers earlier.

How do you spot a shortfall in time?

With reservation on, Zubs warns you when your free stock won’t cover an upcoming billing date and shows which variants are short, by how many units and from which date. That is your restock list, with a deadline, and it reaches you before a subscriber’s order fails. That timing matters. A subscriber whose order doesn’t come won’t wait quietly for the next one: the routine they pay for breaks, and that is often when they start to reconsider.

Who is it for?

Merchants whose subscription stock is limited or has to be bought ahead: small-batch food and drink, seasonal products, curated editions. Anything where a one-time buyer could take the last units your subscribers are counting on. It also helps anyone who commits volumes to suppliers in advance.

Essig & Öl Compagnie uses Zubs’ volume planning to decide how much olive oil to commit to each small mill on its sourcing trips: “The volume planning has turned out to be extremely useful for us.”

How does it fit with the rest of Zubs?

Reservation and dunning work as a pair: reservation prevents renewals from failing on stock, and dunning retries the ones that still do, separately from payment failures. Before you install, the inventory forecast calculator gives you a first estimate from your own numbers.

Set it up in the help center: Inventory Planner and stock reservation.