Inventory system migration without the risk.
Moving from Finale, Cin7, Katana, SKU.io, or spreadsheets? Run Carpe Inventory IQ in parallel with your current system until you're confident. You don’t touch a thing until you’re ready.
Every marketplace connection starts in Read-Only mode. Zero risk.
Here’s what we promise:
- We will never push inventory to your marketplaces until YOU flip the switch.
- You can run Carpe Inventory IQ alongside your current IMS for as long as you need.
- You can switch any channel back to Read-Only instantly — no data lost, no damage done.
How it actually works — step by step
Sign up
Create your account at carpeinventory.com. No credit card required. Your 14-day free trial starts immediately.
Connect your first channel
Connect Shopify, BigCommerce, Amazon, Walmart, or eBay. Your products, inventory levels, and cost data import automatically. The SKU codes from this channel become your primary SKUs in Carpe Inventory IQ.
Tidy up your catalog as you go
Here’s the honest part nobody else tells you: a clean catalog is what makes any inventory system feel like relief instead of more work. The cleaner your SKUs and aliases, the less time you spend chasing outliers, mis-routed orders, and mystery oversells — the spreadsheet treadmill you’re leaving behind. Carpe Inventory IQ surfaces what needs attention (unmapped channel codes, blank SKU fields, duplicates) on a review page so you can chip away at it instead of hunting for it. While you’re in there, add cost data where it’s missing, set up suppliers, and import raw materials and Bills of Materials via CSV if you manufacture or assemble. The system runs the whole time, Read-Only mode keeps nothing at risk, and most merchants knock out the high-impact items in under an hour. See Getting Your SKUs Ready for what good looks like.
Connect additional channels
Each new channel starts in Read-Only mode — Carpe Inventory IQ reads your orders and inventory but doesn’t push anything back. When you connect Amazon or Walmart, their SKU codes are often different from your primary SKUs (and that’s often the right call — FBA and FBM should usually have their own codes). Carpe Inventory IQ helps you map them through the SKU alias system: auto-matching catches the obvious ones, and you review and map the rest manually or via CSV. Once your aliases are mapped, inventory stays unified across every channel automatically.
Run in parallel
Keep your current IMS active. Watch real orders flow into Carpe Inventory IQ and compare counts between both systems. Check SKU mappings, BOM structures, and inventory levels. Take your time — there's no rush.
Configure protection
Set up Inventory Reserve (an oversell protection buffer that holds back units per channel) and Dynamic Cloak™ (randomizes stock levels visible to competitors and scrapers). Get these configured before you go live.
Disable your old IMS
Start with your lowest-volume channel. Turn off inventory pushes from Finale, Cin7, or whatever you're currently using — just for that one channel.
Go live — one channel at a time
Flip that channel from Read-Only to Full Sync in Carpe Inventory IQ. The moment you confirm, your inventory levels push to that marketplace automatically. Repeat for each channel at your own pace.
Total migration time: 1–3 weeks at a comfortable pace. Most of that is the verification period where both systems run in parallel.
What if something goes wrong?
Emergency Stop
Switch any channel back to Read-Only instantly.
One click. No confirmation dialogs. Carpe Inventory IQ immediately stops pushing inventory to that marketplace.
Your marketplace keeps whatever values were last pushed. No data is lost. No damage is done.
Re-enable your old IMS and you’re back to where you started.
Changed Your Mind?
No lock-in. No penalty. No hard feelings.
If Carpe Inventory IQ isn’t the right fit, switch all channels to Read-Only and reconnect your previous system.
Your data stays in Carpe Inventory IQ in case you want to come back. We don’t hold anything hostage.
Questions about switching
Ready to start? There’s nothing to lose.
Connect in Read-Only. See your data. Go live when you’re confident.
14-day free trial · No credit card required · Read-Only by default