Inventory Management for Ozon: How to Keep Track of Stock

Why Ozon Sellers Lose Money on Inventory

Sales are coming in, revenue is growing — but at the end of the month there's less money than expected. Sound familiar?

Most of the time the reason isn't commissions or advertising. The reason is warehouse chaos.

Typical losses for Ozon sellers:

Stock ran out on FBO and you found out 3 days later — lost sales and search ranking
Sent the wrong product — return, penalty, negative review
Bought too much slow-moving stock — money frozen in inventory
Don't know your real cost price — selling at a loss without realising it

All of this is solved by proper inventory management. Not Excel, not a notebook — a system.

FBO vs FBS and Why It Matters for Inventory

FBO (Fulfillment by Ozon) — your product is stored at Ozon's warehouse. You shipped a batch and forgot about it? No. You still need to know how much is left to replenish in time.

FBS (Fulfillment by Seller) — goods are with you, you ship orders yourself. Inventory tracking is critical here: you need to know exact stock levels to avoid selling what you don't have.

Combined model — some on FBO, some at your warehouse. The hardest to track — you need to monitor stock in two places simultaneously.

A good inventory system covers all three models.

Excel for Ozon: When It Works and When It Doesn't

Honestly: Excel works if you have fewer than 20 SKUs and work alone. Fine at the start.

When Excel stops working:

Situation	Problem in Excel
50+ SKUs	Spreadsheet becomes unmanageable
2+ managers	Conflicts when editing simultaneously
Multiple warehouses	Need separate sheets, formulas break
Need history	Excel doesn't track who changed what
Need cost price	Manual WAC calculation is painful

Alternatives to Excel: What's Available

Basic spreadsheet tools (Google Sheets, Notion) Free and familiar, but have the same core problems as Excel — no automatic WAC, no stock alerts, breaks down with multiple users.

Mid-range paid systems (from ~1,500 ₽/month) Good functionality and marketplace integrations. Downside: monthly fees add up, interfaces are often complex, and many features are irrelevant for small sellers.

Enterprise systems (from ~15,000 ₽) Powerful analytics and full customisation. But require a developer to set up, weeks of implementation, and ongoing maintenance costs. Not practical for most marketplace sellers.

SelSklad Free, built specifically for Ozon and Wildberries sellers. No bloat, no monthly fees. Unlimited SKUs, warehouses and transactions.

How to Run Inventory for Ozon: Step by Step

Step 1: Build your product catalog

Each product gets its own card:

SKU (your internal + Ozon article number)
Name and unit of measure
Category
Minimum stock level (reorder point)

Don't skip the minimum stock level — this is the basis for low stock alerts.

Step 2: Record every goods receipt

Received a batch from supplier — enter immediately:

Date, quantity per SKU
Purchase price
Additional costs (shipping from supplier, packaging)

This gives you real cost price using WAC — weighted average including all costs.

Step 3: Record FBO shipments

Sending a batch to Ozon's warehouse — this is a transfer, not a sale:

Deduct from your warehouse
Add to FBO warehouse

Now you know what you have and what Ozon has.

Step 4: Deduct on FBS sales

For FBS every parcel sent = stock deduction. Do it on the day of shipment, don't let it pile up.

Step 5: Monthly inventory count

Compare physical stock against the system. Discrepancies always exist — the important thing is to track and investigate them.

How to Calculate Real Profit from Ozon Sales

Real profit = Revenue − Cost price − Ozon commission − Logistics − Storage − Advertising

Without inventory management you don't know your cost price precisely. So you don't know your profit.

Example: sold a product for 1,500 ₽. Ozon commission + logistics = 400 ₽. Looks like you earned 1,100 ₽. But if cost price including supplier shipping = 900 ₽, real profit = 200 ₽. Easy to work at a loss without tracking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need inventory management if I only use FBO? Yes. You need to know how much stock is at Ozon's warehouse, when to replenish, and what the real cost price is.

How do I handle returns? A return = receiving stock back into your warehouse. Record it as a separate operation marked "return".

What if system stock doesn't match actual stock? Run an inventory count and adjustment. Up to 2% discrepancy is normal. More — investigate the cause.