# How often should Shopify stock sync run? Choosing 1x, 3x or 8x daily

One, three or eight sync runs a day: how to pick a sync frequency for a supplier feed based on how fast the supplier's stock moves, your order volume and the cost of an oversold order.

Canonical: https://productxmlimport.com/blog/how-often-should-shopify-stock-sync-run
Last updated: 2026-09-06

## The question behind the question

How long can your store show a product as available after the supplier ran out? That window is your sync interval. With one run a day it can be up to 24 hours; with eight runs, at most three.

## Three signals to look at

### 1. How often the supplier's feed changes

Open the feed twice, an hour apart, and compare a few quantities. If nothing moved, ask the supplier when they regenerate it. Nightly feeds need one run, scheduled after regeneration. Live feeds justify eight.

### 2. Your order volume

A store taking two orders a day rarely hits a stale item. A store taking two hundred hits it daily. The more orders, the more an interval matters.

### 3. The cost of an oversold order

Cancelling an order costs the payment fee, the customer's trust and sometimes a review. Fast-fashion sizes and limited stock items are the worst cases; furniture with deep supplier stock is forgiving.

## A simple rule

| Supplier feed changes | Orders per day | Recommended |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Nightly | Any | 1 run, timed after regeneration |
| Several times a day | Under 20 | 3 runs |
| Several times a day | 20 or more | 8 runs |
| Live | Any | 8 runs |

## What runs actually cost you

Nothing per run. The reason plans differ is capacity: eight runs a day for every store on a plan is real infrastructure. If you only need fast sync for one of several feeds, note that multi-feed plans give eight runs to every feed.

## Timing the run

Runs are spaced from the previous run. If your supplier regenerates the file at 06:00, ask support to align the first run to 06:15 so the store follows the fresh file rather than the old one. Details in [sync schedule](/docs/sync-schedule).

## FAQ

### Is more frequent sync always better?

Only if the supplier's feed changes that often. A feed regenerated once a night gains nothing from eight runs; a feed with live stock benefits from every extra run.

### Can I change the frequency later?

Yes. Frequency follows the plan; upgrade or downgrade in the app and the schedule adjusts on the next run.

### Does a run cost anything per product?

No. Plans are flat monthly prices; the number of products or runs does not change the bill.