GUIDES / SMART SHELF TRACKING
Smart shelf inventory tracking
Shelves that know what is on them, so nobody has to count.
What smart shelf inventory tracking is
Smart shelf inventory tracking means the shelf reports what is on it. Instead of people counting, each item tells its shelf it is there, and the shelf tells your system the moment it leaves.
The count stays true between counts, and the map shows where everything is right now.
How Chukwu’s shelves work
What it changes
Tap one to see how it works.
- A lifted item shows on every screen
- The count stays true between counts
- The light shows a picker which shelf
- Shopify shows what is on the shelf
- Works with Floor and Pick
CV1, the hub and the tag
CV1 is the reader under each shoe. Watch it open up, then the whole wall.
See the smart shelves
How a smart shelf knows
Every item carries a small tag. Each place on the shelf has a reader under it that can see the tag of the item sitting there. In the wired setup, a hub on the wall asks each reader, many times a second, what it sees.
When an item is lifted, its reader stops seeing the tag. The reader’s connection updates the map, and the spot turns red on every screen in about a second. When it is put back, it turns green. Nobody scans and nobody counts.
The same shelf can light up. Ask for an item and its shelf glows blue, so a picker walks straight to it: a kind of pick-to-light that also knows when the item has gone.
Where smart shelves pay off
If more than one of these is you, the shelves earn their place.
- Display walls where samples are picked up all day
- Showrooms that recount after every new sheet
- Stock that goes missing between counts
- Pickers who walk the floor looking for the right shelf
- Online stores that sell what has already left the shelf
- Teams that spend hours a week counting
Smart shelves, scans and counts
A barcode scan tells you where an item was when it was scanned. A count tells you what was there on the day of the count. A smart shelf tells you what is there now, and changes the moment that changes.
That is what keeps stock accuracy high between counts, and what lets Shopify show the same number as the shelf. You can start without the shelves: Chukwu Floor runs on its own, and the phone reads tags and labels. The shelves make it live.
Words on this page
Plain definitions in the glossary.
Questions
What is smart shelf inventory tracking?
Shelves that report what is on them, so the count changes when stock moves, not when someone counts.
What happens when an item is lifted?
The shelf knows at once, and its slot turns red on every screen.
Does every item need a tag?
Yes. Each item carries a tag, which is how its shelf knows it is there.
Can I start without the shelves?
Yes. Floor runs on its own: receive, move and count stock from the app. The shelves make it live.
How fast does the map change?
About a second after an item is lifted.
Can I add shelves later?
Yes. Start with the phone and Floor, then add smart shelves wall by wall.