Friday you sold down to two of a jacket. Shopify did not email you. Monday someone writes: when is it back? You open Products → Inventory. A table. No ping. No list. You found out from the customer.
You can set Shopify Flow to email you when a size drops to a number you pick – 5, or 2 [Source: Shopify Help Center, Flow inventory trigger]. It fires once per variant, per sale below the line. 5 left, one email. 4 left, another. Across a full catalog that is an inbox of single-variant emails, not a list. Flow can build a list on a schedule instead – Get variant data stops at 100 rows [Source: Shopify Help Center, Flow workflow examples].
If you want one email – today, or once a week – with what is low and what just hit zero, that is Low-stock and out-of-stock notifications in StockIQ. It goes to you, and to anyone else who orders stock. You still place the order in Shopify Admin.
Why Shopify does not email you when you are down to two
Admin is a look-up, not an alarm
Inventory in Shopify Admin is look-up. It will not write to your inbox when a product has one or two left. The product page will not email you either.
Flow will, if you build it. The quantity-changed trigger fires on every inventory movement past your number – useful when you watch one SKU, loud when the whole catalog moves. The scheduled Flow list is the other native option, with that 100-row cap.
A “2 left in stock” line on the product page is not this. That is theme text, or a scarcity app, for the person browsing. Notify Me is not this either – that email goes to the customer when you restock. This is the email to you, so you order more before the last one sells.
How to get a daily or weekly low-stock email on Shopify
One screen in StockIQ: Stock Alerts
Install StockIQ. Open Stock Alerts. Nothing sends until you turn it on. Set How often? to Daily, or Weekly (Saturday). Add up to three addresses – yours, plus whoever orders stock. Leave it blank and it goes to the store owner email on the Shopify account.
Turn on Low Stock Email. Set Low stock level to the number you care about. Default is 3. Put 2 if you want the “one or two left” warning. When Basis is Products, that number is the total across sizes and colors. Switch to Variants if you order by size.
Turn on Reached Low Stock and Reached Out-Of-Stock if you only want what changed since the last email – the short list, not the whole graveyard. Keep the full Low Stock and Out-Of-Stock emails on when you want every SKU that is already there. Product Status starts as Active and Draft. Pick Active Only if old drafts fill the list. Archived stays out unless you add it.
You can add sell-through and ABC grade from the last 28 days of orders, so the list is not only a count. ABC needs a sort after you switch it on. The stock-level slider on this screen only colors the Collections page. It does not change the email. Export Now gives you a CSV if you do not want to wait.
The email to you, the email to the customer, and “2 left” on the page
Three switches, asked for in one breath
People ask for all three at once: show “two left” on the site, email me when stock is low, email the customer when it is back. Those are three switches.
Stock Alerts is the email to you. It does not print “2 left” on the product page. Back-in-Stock Alerts is the Notify Me button. The customer gets that one when you restock. If you also want a staff list of what came back, the same Stock Alerts screen has Back-in-stock Email. Still not the button on the product page.
Prevent stockouts on the StockIQ page is this inbox: daily or weekly, before you hit zero. One number for the whole Shopify store – not a different trigger per product. You still open Admin to buy more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Shopify send low-stock email alerts without an app?
Not from Products or Inventory. Shopify Flow can email you when a variant drops past a number you set – one email per variant, per sale below the line. A scheduled Flow list exists; Get variant data returns at most 100 results [Source: Shopify Help Center, Flow workflow examples]. StockIQ sends a daily or weekly list from Stock Alerts instead.
What is the difference between a low-stock email and a back-in-stock alert on Shopify?
A low-stock email is for you, so you can order more. A back-in-stock alert is for a customer who clicked Notify Me on a sold-out page. “Two left in stock” on the product page is a third thing – your theme, or a scarcity app. StockIQ puts the staff emails on Stock Alerts and the customer button on Back-in-Stock Alerts.
Can I get an email only for products that just sold out, not my whole out-of-stock catalog?
Yes. Reached Out-Of-Stock Email and Reached Low Stock Email contain only what changed since the last send – the products that crossed the line today, or this week. On a catalog with a long tail of discontinued SKUs, that is the version to run, or the new zeros drown in the backlog. Keep the full Out-Of-Stock or Low Stock email on when you want everything that is already low or at zero.
Get the list before a customer asks
If Shopify never emailed you, or Flow emails you on every sale, you do not need a workflow per brand. StockIQ sends one daily or weekly low-stock list – what is down to your number, what just hit zero, sell-through if you want it. Order more before Monday, before the customer writes. Start on the StockIQ page, then start the 7-day free trial on the Shopify App Store.
