How to Track Low Stock in Shopify (and What to Do When It Runs Out)

If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “I didn’t even realize that was sold out!” You’re not alone. Staying on top of inventory is genuinely hard for small product-based businesses, especially when you’re juggling everything else yourself.

Running low (or completely out) of stock means missed sales, disappointed customers, and a scramble to restock. But it is avoidable with the right systems in place.

Here’s how to track low and out-of-stock items in Shopify, how to calculate a sensible reorder point, and how Craftybase takes it further if you’re making your own products.

Last updated: April 2026

Why Low Stock Tracking Matters

Here’s what happens when you don’t catch low inventory in time:

• You sell out and don’t notice until orders are already delayed
• You’re constantly in reactive mode, rushing to restock without a plan
• You miss marketing opportunities: restock announcements, bundle promotions, “only 3 left!” urgency
• Profit margins take a hit from rushed reorders or small-batch supplier premiums

7.4% of retail sales are lost due to out-of-stock items, costing businesses an estimated $82 billion per year, according to NielsenIQ.

Want to see what stockouts are actually costing you? Try our stockout cost calculator.

On the flip side, proactive stock tracking lets you:

• Stay ahead of restocking instead of reacting to crises
• Keep bestsellers available consistently
• Plan production in advance (critical if you’re making batches yourself)
• Avoid customer frustration and negative reviews

What Does “Low Stock” Mean in Shopify?

Low stock means your product’s available quantity has dropped below a threshold you’ve defined as your minimum acceptable level. It’s the point at which you need to act, not just watch.

In Shopify, there’s no default “low stock” indicator built into the dashboard. The system tracks available quantity, but it won’t flag a product as “low” unless you set up an automation or install an app. “Out of stock” is different: that’s when quantity hits zero and Shopify stops accepting orders (by default).

So the practical difference:

• Low stock = still selling, but you need to reorder or start production now
• Out of stock = Shopify has stopped (or is close to stopping) sales on that product

Most makers need both thresholds: a low-stock alert to trigger production planning, and an out-of-stock warning as a backup if that first one got missed.

How to Track Low Stock in Shopify

Shopify has a few built-in options, from manual filters to automated workflows. Here’s how to use each one.

1. Check Inventory Filters in Your Shopify Admin

The simplest approach: go to Products > Inventory in your admin and filter by stock level. You’ll see columns for “Available” and “Committed” inventory, and you can sort ascending to surface what’s lowest.

It works. But it’s manual, and manual checks only work if you actually remember to do them.

2. How Do I Set Up Low Inventory Alerts in Shopify?

The best way to get automatic low-stock notifications is with Shopify Flow. If you’re on Shopify, Shopify Advanced, or Shopify Plus, Shopify Flow lets you build automated alerts triggered by inventory events.

Here’s how to set it up, step by step:

Step 1: Open Shopify Flow In your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Flow (or install it from the App Store if you haven’t already).

Step 2: Create a new workflow Click “Create workflow” and choose the trigger: Inventory quantity changed.

Step 3: Add a condition Set the condition to: Inventory quantity is less than or equal to [your threshold]. A threshold of 5–10 units is a reasonable starting point for most small sellers, but we’ll look at how to calculate the right number below.

Step 4: Choose your action Common options:

• Send yourself an email or Slack message
• Tag the product as “low-stock” so you can filter your catalog instantly
• Create a task in your project management tool

Step 5: Save and activate Turn the workflow on. Shopify will now watch for that condition automatically.

Flow is only available on select Shopify plans. Basic plan sellers will need a third-party app.

Want to build more advanced automations beyond low-stock alerts? Our guide to Shopify Flow inventory automations covers 5 step-by-step workflows, including supplier notifications, automatic task creation, and pausing ads when you sell out.

3. Third-Party Inventory Apps

There are dozens of apps in the Shopify App Store that send restock alerts or offer more dynamic inventory dashboards. Most are solid general-purpose tools. But they’re built for retailers, not makers. If your products come from raw materials you mix, blend, or cut yourself, you’ll quickly hit the ceiling of what these apps can do.

How to Calculate Your Reorder Point

Setting a threshold of “5 units” is a guess. Calculating your actual reorder point is better.

The formula:

Reorder Point = (Average Daily Sales × Lead Time) + Safety Stock

Break it down:

• Average daily sales: how many units you sell per day on average. Check your Shopify analytics over the last 30–90 days.
• Lead time: how many days it takes to restock. For a maker, this is the time to source materials plus production time.
• Safety stock: a buffer for demand spikes or supply delays. A simple rule: 20–50% of your average daily demand over lead time.

A few maker examples:

Candle maker, 8oz soy candles: Sells 3 units/day on average. Takes 5 days to receive fragrance oil and 2 days to produce a batch. Safety stock = 5 units. Reorder Point = (3 × 7) + 5 = 26 units

Soap maker, lavender bars: Sells 2 units/day. Lye and oils take 4 days to arrive, 1 day to cure (shortened for pre-pour prep). Safety stock = 4 units. Reorder Point = (2 × 5) + 4 = 14 units

Jewelry maker, sterling findings: Sells 5 pairs of earrings/day. Silver findings take 3 days to ship. Safety stock = 8 units. Reorder Point = (5 × 3) + 8 = 23 units

Once you’ve got your reorder point, that’s the number you plug into your Shopify Flow threshold or your Craftybase low-stock alert. It’s not perfect, but it’s far more defensible than a gut feeling.

For a complete picture of your true product profitability, don’t forget Shopify’s transaction costs. Use our Shopify fee calculator to see exactly how much of each sale goes to Shopify before calculating your actual margins.

How to Avoid Running Out of Stock on Shopify

Getting a low-stock alert is the easy part. The harder part is having a plan ready so you can act fast.

For makers who manufacture their own products, avoiding stockouts comes down to three things: knowing your reorder point, understanding your raw material levels, and having production capacity lined up.

Know your production lead time, not just your supplier lead time. Most inventory guides assume you’re buying finished goods and waiting for a shipment. But if you handmake your products, you also need to factor in production time: curing (soap, resin), drying (candles, wax melts), or cure-and-finish processes (ceramics, lacquered wood). Add that to your lead time calculation.

Set two thresholds, not one. A “start production” threshold and a “stop selling” threshold are different numbers. If your candles take 48 hours to cure and set, your low-stock alert should fire well before you’re down to your last few units.

Keep raw materials visible. This is where Shopify falls short entirely. It doesn’t know what goes into your products. More on that below.

For a deeper look at this, our stockout prevention guide covers reorder points, safety stock, and production planning in detail.

Beyond Shopify — Why Makers Need Raw Material Tracking

Here’s the problem with Shopify’s inventory tracking: it only sees finished products. It has no idea what goes into making them.

If you sell handmade candles, Shopify knows you have 12 candles left. It doesn’t know you also have enough wax and fragrance oil to make another 40. Or that you’re almost out of wicks, and the next batch is going nowhere without them.

That gap is where most makers end up surprised. You might have a “plenty of stock” green light in Shopify while you’re actually one missing material away from a production halt.

This is why a dedicated manufacturing tool matters. For more on how to build the material-tracking layer Shopify doesn’t provide, see our guide on tracking material inventory alongside Shopify.

Craftybase — Inventory Tracking Built for Makers

Craftybase is inventory and manufacturing software built specifically for small-batch makers. It tracks raw materials, finished products, and production runs, and it connects to Shopify so everything stays in sync.

Here’s what makes it different from Shopify’s built-in tools:

Automatic Low Stock Alerts

Set custom thresholds for both finished products and raw materials. You’ll get notified when soy wax drops below 5kg, or when your amber jars are running low, well before a production run is halfway through.

Raw Material Tracking

Every ingredient, supply, and component is tracked in real time. You’ll always know what’s on hand, what’s been used in batches, and what needs reordering. No spreadsheet required.

Batch Production Tracking

Record each production run: what materials went in, how many units came out, and what it cost. This keeps your inventory accurate even when you’re making products in large batches rather than one at a time.

Stock Push — Two-Way Shopify Sync

Craftybase imports your Shopify orders automatically and adjusts inventory levels in real time. And with Stock Push, it syncs your product counts back to Shopify too, so your listings always reflect what you actually have.

No more manually updating Shopify after every production run. Set your thresholds, make your batch, and Craftybase handles the rest.

True Cost of Goods

Once your materials are tracked, Craftybase calculates your real COGS automatically, ingredient by ingredient. You’ll know exactly what each product costs to make, which makes pricing and tax time much less stressful. If you’re a Shopify seller wanting to understand COGS more deeply, our guide to tracking COGS in Shopify is a good next step.

Frequently Asked Questions

Stop Letting Stockouts Catch You Off Guard

Keeping bestsellers in stock shouldn’t feel like a game of whack-a-mole. Whether you’re using Shopify Flow for basic alerts or Craftybase to track every material down to the last gram, the goal is the same: knowing what you have before you run out of it.

For a complete strategy, check out our stockout prevention guide on reorder points, safety stock, and production planning.

Want a full picture of everything Shopify’s inventory tools cover, and where you’ll need extra help as a maker? See our Shopify inventory management guide for handmade businesses. When you’re ready to connect raw material tracking and low-stock alerts to your Shopify store, see the Shopify inventory management integration for details.

Or if you’re ready to track materials, production, and Shopify inventory all in one place, give Craftybase a try.

Start your free 14-day trial (no credit card required).