IBIOS vs Stocky: Trade ERP vs Shopify Inventory App
Stocky is an inventory app for Shopify merchants that tracks stock levels and purchase orders inside the Shopify admin. IBIOS is a standalone trade ERP built for UK bathroom showrooms and tile retailers.
IBIOS covers stock levels and purchase orders, and adds shade-lot tracking, multi-brand supplier pricing and AI document quoting, with AI phone answering coming soon. Check with Shopify how Stocky handles these.
At a glance
✓IBIOS offers
- ✓Shade-lot and dye-lot tracking per order line
- ✓AI quote from supplier PDF — OCR extraction against live catalogue
- ✓Purchase orders linked to specific customer jobs
- ✓Multi-brand supplier pricing (per-supplier rates)
- ✓Coming soon: AI phone receptionist with live stock and job lookups
- ✓Installation scheduling tied to the customer record
~Compare directly
- ~Basic stock level tracking
- ~Purchase order creation
- ~Supplier contact management
- ~Low-stock alerts
iStocky may suit better for
- iWorking inside the Shopify admin
What Stocky is
Stocky is an inventory management app from Shopify for Shopify merchants. It adds purchase order management to Shopify stock tracking: merchants can create supplier purchase orders, record deliveries, and set reorder points within the Shopify admin.
It is aimed at Shopify-based retailers who want the supplier side inside Shopify. Check with Shopify for Stocky's current status, features and pricing.
Is IBIOS a good Stocky alternative for UK trade businesses?
You run a UK trade business, such as a bathroom showroom, tile retailer or flooring merchant, and you need shade-lot tracking on every tile order, multi-brand supplier pricing, and purchase orders linked to specific customer jobs, with AI phone answering that knows your live stock coming soon. Independent of Shopify.
You need basic inventory tracking inside Shopify and your business runs on a Shopify store. Check with Shopify for Stocky's current status and features.
What IBIOS adds for trade businesses
✓Shade-lot tracking for tile orders
Tiles are manufactured in batches. Tiles from different batches can vary visibly in colour or texture. A bathroom retailer needs to record the shade lot of every tile order and verify that incoming deliveries match the batch the customer approved. IBIOS records shade lot on every order line and flags delivery mismatches before they reach the customer.
✓Purchase orders linked to specific jobs, not a general stock pool
In bathroom retail, a purchase order is typically raised for a specific customer job on a specific installation date. The bath in that order belongs to that job. IBIOS links every supplier order to the customer record, the job, and the installer schedule, so a late delivery triggers an alert against the affected installation, not just a generic low-stock notification.
✓AI document quoting from supplier PDFs
IBIOS reads a supplier PDF (a price list, a product sheet, a delivery note) and performs OCR extraction against the live product catalogue. Every line item is matched to a real product record, the supplier's negotiated discount rate is applied, and low-confidence extractions are flagged for review, so a quote does not have to be built by hand from the supplier document.
✓Multi-brand supplier pricing
A bathroom retailer may buy the same brand from two or three suppliers at different discount rates. IBIOS stores a separate discount percentage for each supplier-brand combination, so the correct margin is applied automatically when a quote or purchase order is raised.
✓Coming soon: AI phone answering with live stock and job data
IBIOS AI Receptionist is coming soon. It is being built to answer inbound calls and query live stock levels, open quotes, and job status before responding, so a customer asking whether a specific product is in stock gets an answer without interrupting the team, and a supplier calling about a delivery can have their order status confirmed from the same system.
✓Works independently of Shopify
Stocky is a Shopify app that works with a Shopify store. IBIOS is a standalone trade ERP platform. It does not depend on Shopify, so your trade operations are not tied to a consumer e-commerce platform's product roadmap decisions.
What is the difference between Stocky and IBIOS?
| Feature | IBIOS | Stocky | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic stock tracking | ✓ | Check with Shopify | IBIOS tracks stock levels |
| Shade-lot / dye-lot tracking | ✓ Per order line | Check with Shopify | Critical for tile and bathroom retailers — batch mismatches cause installation disputes |
| Purchase order management | ✓ Linked to customer job | Check with Shopify | IBIOS links each PO to a specific job and installation date |
| Multi-brand supplier pricing | ✓ Per-brand, per-supplier rates | Check with Shopify | IBIOS models different discount % per brand per supplier |
| Supplier lead time tracking | ✓ Min/max days per brand | Check with Shopify | IBIOS alerts when a late order clashes with a scheduled installation |
| AI quote from supplier PDF | ✓ OCR extraction | Check with Shopify | IBIOS reads supplier PDFs and extracts line items against the live catalogue |
| Product catalogue import | ✓ Import your own | Check with Shopify | Catalogues are private to each company; IBIOS has a catalogue import |
| AI phone receptionist | Coming soon | Check with Shopify | Coming soon: IBIOS answering inbound calls with real-time stock, open quotes, and job status |
| Installation scheduling | ✓ Linked to job record | Check with Shopify | IBIOS records surveyor and installer dates against each customer job |
| Quote management | ✓ Versioned, with approval | Check with Shopify | IBIOS keeps versioned quotes with an approval step |
| Pay by link | ✓ Stripe-powered | Check with Shopify | Payment link embedded in quote document |
| Works without Shopify | ✓ Standalone platform | Shopify app | IBIOS operates independently; Stocky is a Shopify app |
| Pricing | Founding prices for waiting-list members | Check with Shopify | See the IBIOS pricing page |
Check current Stocky features with Shopify. IBIOS pricing: founding prices for waiting-list members; see the pricing page.
Pricing
IBIOS pricing: founding prices for waiting-list members; see the pricing page. Access is by waiting list. For Stocky pricing and availability, check with Shopify directly.
Related IBIOS products, guides and comparisons
If you are comparing Stocky with IBIOS for a UK trade business, these pages cover the IBIOS products involved, the sectors it is built for and other honest comparisons.
IBIOS (Integrated Business Intelligence & Operations System) is made by IBIOS Limited (NI743167), Northern Ireland. Access is by waiting list; there is no free trial.
- Inventory Control: stock across more than one location, with shade-lot tracking for tiles.
- Warehouse: goods-in booked against your supplier orders.
- Tile showrooms: stock control, shade lots and quoting for tile shops.
- Stock take best practices: how to run an accurate stock take in a trade business.
- Stocky alternative for UK retailers: another honest side-by-side comparison.
- IBIOS vs Lightspeed Retail: another honest side-by-side comparison.
Frequently asked questions
How is IBIOS different from Stocky?
Stocky is an inventory app for Shopify merchants that works inside the Shopify admin. IBIOS is a standalone trade ERP for UK bathroom and tile businesses, covering stock, supplier orders, quoting and installation scheduling, with an AI receptionist coming soon. Check with Shopify for Stocky’s current status, features and pricing.
Where does IBIOS overlap with Stocky?
Both handle stock levels and purchase orders. IBIOS extends them for trade businesses: stock tracking includes shade-lot and dye-lot fields for tiles and flooring; purchase orders are linked to specific customer jobs; supplier management includes per-brand discount rates and lead times.
What does IBIOS add for trade businesses?
Shade-lot tracking for tiles and bathroom products, with batch numbers recorded and checked on deliveries. Multi-brand supplier pricing, where the same product can have different discount rates from different suppliers. AI document processing that reads a supplier PDF and extracts line items directly into a costed quote. Installation job scheduling linking customer records to installer and surveyor dates. AI phone answering with live stock and job lookups is coming soon. Check with Shopify how Stocky handles any of these.
Does IBIOS require a Shopify store?
No. IBIOS is a standalone trade ERP platform. It does not require Shopify and does not operate as a Shopify plugin. If you currently run online sales through Shopify and want to keep that channel, IBIOS handles your trade operations — jobs, quotes, supplier orders, installations — independently of your Shopify store.
How do I move from Stocky to IBIOS?
Import your product catalogue from CSV, configure your supplier brands and add your team accounts. Catalogues are private to each company, so you import your own products, including any Carron lines you stock. IBIOS provides onboarding support throughout.
A trade ERP built for bathroom and tile businesses.
Import your own catalogue. Shade-lot tracking, multi-brand pricing, and AI document quoting included. Early access by waiting list.
Product and company names on this page are trademarks of their respective owners. IBIOS is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.