You set up Shopify low stock alerts with Shopify Flow or an inventory alert app. Shopify's own help points to both. In Flow, install the template that emails you when a product variant's inventory is low, set your threshold, and turn it on. Between alerts, sort the Inventory page by Available to spot thin stock.
Low stock is the warning before the sell-out. Catch it early and you reorder on time. Miss it and you are pausing ads on a dead product page. Mark is the coordinator you text on Shoperator, and you can ask him what's running low.
How do you set up low stock alerts on Shopify?
You set up low stock alerts on Shopify with a Shopify Flow workflow or an inventory alert app from the Shopify App Store. Shopify's help on managing inventory names both options for direct low stock notifications. Flow covers most small stores. An app adds per-SKU rules, schedules, and forecasting if you need them.
Shopify's Managing inventory help says that if you need direct notifications of low stock levels, you install an inventory alert app, or you use Shopify Flow to set them up. Shopify tracks quantities. Deciding when a quantity is too low is your call.
Pick the path by catalog size and how you work:
- Shopify Flow: Shopify's automation app. Start from a low stock template and set your own threshold in the condition.
- An inventory alert app: rules by product, collection, or location, plus scheduled digests, depending on the app.
- A manual check: a saved, filtered Inventory page view you open on a set day each week and sort by Available.
Most stores start with Flow and the manual check. Add an app when one threshold rule stops fitting the catalog.
How do you set up a low stock alert with Shopify Flow?
You set up a low stock alert in Shopify Flow by going to Apps > Flow, clicking Create workflow, and browsing templates. Install the template that emails you when product variant inventory is low. Set your threshold and the recipient email, test it, then click Turn on workflow. It runs when a variant's inventory quantity changes.
Steps from Shopify Help on creating workflows from a template:
- From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Flow.
- Click Create workflow.
- Click Browse templates, and then select a low stock template, such as "Get notified when product inventory is low."
- Click Install.
- Edit the condition to your threshold, and change the recipient to the email of whoever does your buying.
- Optional: test the workflow on a test trigger event.
- Click Turn on workflow.
The template runs on the Product variant inventory quantity changed trigger. Shopify's Flow examples explain why the condition checks two numbers: the quantity now and the quantity before the change. Check only the current quantity and the email goes out on every sale until you restock. Check both, so it fires once, when stock first drops to your threshold.
Shopify's Flow examples page lists other inventory templates too, including "Merchandise low stock products and hide when out of stock" and "Hide and republish products based on inventory level." Both change what shows on your online store, so read each template's actions before you turn it on.
How do you pick a low stock threshold?
You pick a low stock threshold from how fast a variant sells and how long a restock takes. Multiply average units sold per day by your supplier's lead time in days, then add a buffer for a slow delivery. Shopify's Inventory remaining per product report has a table that shows the days of inventory remaining for each variant.
A single number for the whole catalog rarely fits. Ten units can be a month of stock on a slow mover and two days on a best seller. Set the threshold per variant, or at least per product type.
Shopify's inventory reports give you the inputs:
- Inventory remaining per product: its table shows days of inventory remaining for each variant, which is the quantity still in stock divided by the average quantity sold per day over the last 28 days. Variants with no sales in the period show N/A.
- ABC product analysis: grades each variant by its share of your revenue over the last 28 days. A-grade products are the ones you cannot afford to sell out of.
- Products by sell-through rate: the share of inventory you sold in the period. It runs about two days behind.
A worked example, with made-up numbers: a hoodie sells 3 a day and the supplier takes 10 days. Reorder at 30 units, plus a buffer you choose for a late shipment. Revisit the number when the sell rate changes, such as after a promotion or at the start of a season.
How do you check low stock on the Shopify Inventory page?
You check low stock on the Shopify Inventory page by going to Products > Inventory, choosing a location, and sorting by Available from lowest to highest. Add an Available filter, such as available at or below your threshold. Save the filtered list as a view, then sort by Available each time you open it.
Shopify Help on viewing inventory lists the sort and filter options. You can sort by Available, On hand, Committed, Incoming, and Unavailable. You can filter by vendor, product type, tags, and quantity amounts.
A weekly low stock check:
- From your Shopify admin, go to Products > Inventory.
- Select the location that fulfills online orders.
- Sort by Available, lowest to highest.
- Add a filter for Available at or below your threshold. Add a vendor filter for a per-supplier reorder list.
- Save the filtered list as a view, then sort by Available each time you open it. On desktop, a sort resets to Product title after a refresh, and only the Shopify mobile app saves an alternate sort.
- Compare Available with Incoming before you reorder, so you do not order stock that is already on its way.
Available is what you can sell. On hand includes units already committed to orders. If a variant shows Available 0 with units on hand, read Should an AI Change Shopify Inventory Without Approval? before you change the count.
Can you get Shopify low stock alerts by text?
You can check Shopify low stock by text by asking Mark which products are running low. Mark routes the question to Marcus, who reads connected store data, including inventory, and replies in the same thread. Mark can also set a reminder, so you remember to run the check. Asking changes nothing in your store.
What Can I Text Mark? lists pulling sales reports, setting reminders, and asking what's happening. How to Run a Shopify Store by Text says Marcus reads connected store data, including inventory, and answers in the thread.
That makes text a check you start, and a reminder only prompts you to ask. It is not an automatic push alert. If you want an alert that fires the moment stock drops, set up the Flow template above.
Example texts:
- "Which products have fewer than 10 units available?"
- "What will run out first at the rate we're selling?"
- "Low stock check for the Spring collection."
- "Remind me Monday at 9 to check low stock."
The reply is a readout. If you decide to act, such as setting a sold-out product to Draft, ask Mark for a preview. Mark applies the change after your yes. Shoperator does not send email or SMS to your shoppers, and it does not pause, launch, or edit Meta or Google ads.
How do you show low stock to customers on Shopify?
You show low stock to customers with your theme's product page settings. In Shopify's Dawn theme, add the Inventory status block to the product information section and set the low inventory threshold. At or below that number, the page shows Low stock. You can turn on the inventory count to show how many are left.
Shopify added the block to Dawn in its Inventory status pull request. It shows In stock above the threshold, Low stock at or below it, and Out of stock at zero. Other themes may name the setting differently, so check your theme's product page options.
Two cautions before you turn it on:
- The message has to be true. If a variant is set to continue selling when out of stock, Dawn keeps showing In stock.
- A customer-facing low stock line is not a staff alert. It tells shoppers, not your buyer. Keep the Flow alert running for reorders.
This is the search behind "Shopify low stock alert for customers." It is a storefront message, not a notification to you.
What should you do when a low stock alert fires?
When a low stock alert fires, confirm the count, check Incoming, and reorder if nothing is on the way. On Shopify, create a purchase order for the supplier, which links to a transfer you receive when the stock arrives. If you will sell out first, plan the page and the ads that point at it.
Shopify's inventory help says each purchase order links to an inventory transfer that tracks the shipment and lets you receive items. Every inventory adjustment is recorded, so you can see when and why a quantity changed.
A same-day response:
- Open the variant on the Inventory page and confirm Available, On hand, and Incoming.
- If nothing is incoming, reorder from the supplier.
- Estimate the gap: days of inventory remaining against the supplier's lead time.
- If you will sell out before the restock lands, decide now what the product page says and where your ads should point.
- Review the threshold. If the alert came too late, raise it.
If the gap is real, What to Do When a Shopify Product Goes Out of Stock covers the sell-out day: ads first, then inventory state, then page copy.
FAQ
How do you set up low stock alerts on Shopify?
You set up low stock alerts on Shopify with a Shopify Flow workflow or an inventory alert app from the Shopify App Store. Shopify's help on managing inventory names both options for direct low stock notifications. Flow covers most small stores. An app adds per-SKU rules, schedules, and forecasting if you need them.
How do you set up a low stock alert with Shopify Flow?
You set up a low stock alert in Shopify Flow by going to Apps > Flow, clicking Create workflow, and browsing templates. Install the template that emails you when product variant inventory is low. Set your threshold and the recipient email, test it, then click Turn on workflow. It runs when a variant's inventory quantity changes.
How do you pick a low stock threshold?
You pick a low stock threshold from how fast a variant sells and how long a restock takes. Multiply average units sold per day by your supplier's lead time in days, then add a buffer for a slow delivery. Shopify's Inventory remaining per product report has a table that shows the days of inventory remaining for each variant.
How do you check low stock on the Shopify Inventory page?
You check low stock on the Shopify Inventory page by going to Products > Inventory, choosing a location, and sorting by Available from lowest to highest. Add an Available filter, such as available at or below your threshold. Save the filtered list as a view, then sort by Available each time you open it.
Can you get Shopify low stock alerts by text?
You can check Shopify low stock by text by asking Mark which products are running low. Mark routes the question to Marcus, who reads connected store data, including inventory, and replies in the same thread. Mark can also set a reminder, so you remember to run the check. Asking changes nothing in your store.
How do you show low stock to customers on Shopify?
You show low stock to customers with your theme's product page settings. In Shopify's Dawn theme, add the Inventory status block to the product information section and set the low inventory threshold. At or below that number, the page shows Low stock. You can turn on the inventory count to show how many are left.