Send alerts only when the product is published to Online Store

By default, STOQ sends back in stock alerts when a product's inventory increases. With the Product status setting, you can change this so alerts are sent only when the product is published to your Online Store — in addition to being restocked. This gives you full control over when customers are notified, especially if you update inventory before making products visible.

Why Send Alerts Only When a Product Is Published

• Control alert timing: If you restock products before they are ready to sell, this prevents alerts from going out too early. Customers are only notified once you publish the product to your Online Store.
• Manage hidden products: Some merchants hide or unpublish product listings while updating quantities, images, or descriptions. This setting ensures alerts wait until the product is visible again.
• Coordinate product launches: If you want to build anticipation around a restock, you can add inventory first and send alerts only when you choose to publish.
• Avoid premature notifications: During inventory transfers between locations, stock may appear temporarily. This prevents alerts from firing before the product is actually available for purchase.

Prerequisites

• The STOQ app is installed and active on your Shopify store.
• You are on the Standard plan or higher. This setting is not available on the Free or Lite plans.
• Automatic alerts are enabled in your Notifications settings. This setting only applies to automatic back in stock alerts.

How to Enable Product Status Alerts

1. Open the STOQ app from your Shopify admin.
2. Click Back in stock alerts in the left menu bar.
3. Click the Notifications tab.
4. Scroll down to the Delivery settings section.
5. Under the Product status card, select the radio button labeled Send back in stock alerts when a product is published or restocked.
6. Click the Save button at the top of the page.

How It Works

When you select Send back in stock alerts when a product is published or restocked, STOQ listens for product updates instead of inventory changes. Alerts are triggered when all three of these conditions are met:

• The product status is set to Active in Shopify.
• The product is published to your Online Store sales channel
• At least one variant has stock above your minimum restock quantity.

This means you can:

1. Add inventory to a product while it is hidden or set to draft.
2. Update the product listing (images, description, price).
3. Publish the product to your Online Store when you are ready.
4. STOQ detects the publish event and sends alerts to all waiting customers.

How to Switch Back to Default

If you want alerts to trigger based on inventory changes again, follow the same navigation and select the default option.

1. Open the STOQ app from your Shopify admin.
2. Click Back in stock alerts in the left menu bar.
3. Click the Notifications tab.
4. Scroll down to the Delivery settings section.
5. Under the Product status card, select Send back in stock alerts when a product is restocked.
6. Click the Save button.

When you switch back:

• Alerts will trigger based on inventory level changes as before.
• The minimum restock quantity, location filters, and batched delivery settings continue to apply.
• No pending customer signups are lost.

Interaction with Other Settings

The product status setting works alongside other delivery settings in STOQ.

• Minimum restock quantity: Still applies. Even with product status enabled, alerts are only sent if the variant's available stock meets or exceeds your minimum threshold.
• Location-based alerts: Still applies. If you have specific locations selected, only inventory at those locations is checked when determining if the product has stock.
• Batched delivery: Still applies. If batched delivery is enabled, alerts triggered by a product publish event are sent in batches rather than all at once.
• Manual sends: Not affected. You can always send alerts manually from the Reports page, regardless of this setting.

Known Limitations

• This setting requires a paid plan. It is not available on the Free plan.
• The setting is global and applies to all products. You cannot enable it for specific products while keeping the default for others.
• Alerts require the product to be both active and published to the Online Store sales channel. Setting a product to active without publishing it to the Online Store will not trigger alerts.
• If you publish a product that has zero inventory, no alerts will be sent. Stock must meet your minimum restock quantity.
• When this setting is enabled, inventory level changes alone will not trigger alerts. Only product update events (such as publishing) are monitored for alert purposes.
• Switching between the two options does not resend alerts to customers who have already been notified.

Troubleshooting

FAQs

Q: What does "published to your Online Store" mean?

A: In Shopify, a product can be available on multiple sales channels (Online Store, POS, Facebook, etc.). "Published to your Online Store" means the product is visible on your website — the Online Store sales channel. You can check this in Shopify admin under the product's Publishing section. If the Online Store channel is listed and the product has a published_at date, it is considered published.

Q: Does this setting affect manual sends?

A: No. Manual sends from the Reports page are not affected by this setting. You can send alerts manually at any time, regardless of whether the product is published or whether this setting is enabled.

Q: Will alerts fire if I just change the product status to Active without publishing?

A: No. The product must be both Active and published to the Online Store for alerts to trigger. Setting the status to Active without publishing it to the Online Store sales channel will not send alerts.

Q: What happens to customer signups when I switch between options?

A: Nothing changes. Customer signups are preserved regardless of which option is selected. Switching only changes how STOQ detects restocks — it does not affect the customer signup data in your Reports.

Q: Can I use this with batched delivery?

A: Yes. Batched delivery works with both options. If batched delivery is enabled and alerts are triggered by a product publish event, the alerts are sent in batches according to your batch size and interval

Q: Does this affect preorder notifications?

A: No. The product status setting only applies to back in stock alerts. Preorder notifications are managed separately in the Preorders section.

Q: What if I restock a product that is already published?

A: When this setting is enabled, alerts are triggered by product update events. If you add inventory to a product that is already published and active, STOQ will check if the stock meets the minimum quantity and send alerts if there are pending signups. The restock itself triggers a product update that STOQ monitors.

Q: Do I need to unpublish a product first for this to work?

A: No. You do not need to unpublish and republish a product. This setting monitors all product update events. If a product is already published and you restock it, alerts will still be evaluated. The main benefit is for merchants who add inventory while products are hidden or in draft, and then publish when ready.

Updated on: 30/04/2026