# How to Sell Online and In Store > Yes, a physical shop can sell online. Decide which items both channels will sell, where those items are kept, and how each sale will update the stock count. Test what happens when the last item sells in either place. - Type: Merchant guide - Level: Intermediate - Reading time: About 5 minutes - Audience: Written for store owners, builders, and designers refining high-performance ecommerce stores. - Last updated: 2026-11-04 - Canonical page: https://academy.getzenbasket.com/merchant-questions/how-to-sell-online-and-in-store/ - Part of: [Merchant Questions](https://academy.getzenbasket.com/merchant-questions/) on ZenBasket Academy --- ## What you need to know ### Decide what you will offer in each place The online selection can match the physical shop, or it can be smaller. You might list products you can pack safely online, but reserve fragile display pieces for in-person buyers. Write down which products can be shipped, picked up, or sold only in person. Make those options clear to customers. Do not show pickup for an item that is stored somewhere no one can retrieve it. ### Choose how the stock count will work Inventory is the number of items available to sell. Shared inventory means the online store and the physical shop draw from the same supply. Separate inventory means you set aside a certain number of items for each channel and count them separately. If both channels share stock, every sale, return, breakage, and restock should change the available count. If the two systems do not update each other automatically, you need a reliable manual routine and may keep a small safety buffer. ### Check the tools before promising real-time stock A point-of-sale system, often called a POS, records sales made at a counter or market. Ask whether your POS and online store exchange stock information, how quickly they update, and what happens when the internet connection fails. Test an in-person sale and check the online product immediately afterward. A connection between systems is useful only when its rules fit the business. Check whether it handles product options such as sizes and other variants, not just a single total count. ### Decide who fulfills each order Fulfillment means preparing an order and getting it to the buyer. Decide whether online orders ship from where you keep your stock or wait for pickup at the market or shop. Make sure the store shows the right option and that someone sees each new order in time to act on it. If a customer returns an item, decide where it goes and whether it can be sold again. That decision must also reach the stock count. ### Test the last-item problem Put a test product at a count of one. Sell it in the physical shop, then see whether an online customer can still buy it. Repeat with the online sale first. If both sales can go through, do not claim that the channels share accurate live inventory yet. --- ## Frequently asked questions ### Do my physical and online stores have to share inventory? No. You can keep separate stock for each, but you must decide and maintain the counts. Share stock only when the systems or a dependable process can keep the availability accurate. ### Can customers buy online and pick up in store? They can if your store supports pickup, and your team can reserve and prepare the item. Test the customer message, pickup location, and stock change before offering it. ### What if I sell at a market without internet access? Decide how you will record each sale and when the online stock will be updated. Avoid promising that the online count is live if market sales cannot reach it promptly. ## Related articles - **How to Start an Ecommerce Business** - **How to Choose an Ecommerce Platform** - [ZenBasket Build Guide](https://help.getzenbasket.com/zenbasket-builder/)