Send market based notifications in STOQ

STOQ supports Shopify Markets for back-in-stock alerts. When market-based notifications are enabled, customers receive restock alerts only when products are restocked in inventory locations assigned to their specific Market. This is useful if you sell in multiple countries or regions and use Shopify Markets to manage product availability across different geographies. Without this feature enabled, customers receive alerts whenever any location is restocked, regardless of whether that location serves their Market.


Why Send Market-Based Notifications


There are several reasons to enable market-based notifications for your store.


  • Accurate alerts for multi-market stores. If you sell across multiple Shopify Markets (e.g., United States, Europe, India), customers should only receive restock alerts when inventory is available in their region. Market-based notifications prevent customers from receiving alerts about restocks in locations that do not serve their Market.
  • Reduce irrelevant notifications. Without market-based alerts, a customer in India might receive a notification when a product is restocked in a US-only warehouse. This leads to confusion and poor customer experience.
  • Align with Shopify's market structure. If you already use Shopify Markets to manage pricing, currencies, languages, and shipping by region, market-based notifications ensure STOQ respects those same boundaries.
  • Improve conversion rates. Notifications that match a customer's actual purchasing region are more likely to result in a sale, since the product is available to ship to them.
  • Market-specific reporting. When enabled, STOQ reports show which Market a customer signed up from, helping you understand demand by region.


How to Enable Market-Based Notifications


Follow these steps to set up market-based back-in-stock notifications.


  1. Open the STOQ app in your Shopify admin.
  2. Go to Back in stock alerts from the left menu.
  3. Click on the Notifications tab.
  4. Scroll down to the Markets and Locations section.
  5. Select Multiple markets to indicate that you sell in more than one Shopify Market.
  6. Turn on the Market-based alerts toggle.
  7. Under Settings, select a Market from the dropdown (e.g., "India", "United States").
  8. Select one or more locations linked to that Market using the location search field.
  9. Click Add to create the market-to-location mapping.
  10. Repeat steps 7–9 for each Market you want to configure. Each added mapping displays as "Market → Location" in the list below.
  11. Click Save to apply your changes.




Important: Match the market-to-location mapping exactly as configured in your Shopify admin under Settings > Shipping and delivery > General shipping rates. If the mapping does not match, the feature will not work as expected. For example, if you have a Market called "India" linked to a location called "Indian warehouse" in Shopify, make sure to link them the same way in STOQ.


How to Disable Market-Based Notifications


If you no longer sell in multiple Markets or want to revert to standard alerts, you can disable market-based notifications.


  1. Go to Back in stock alerts > Notifications tab.
  2. Scroll to the Markets and Locations section.
  3. Turn off the Market-based alerts toggle.
  4. Click Save.




When disabled, customers receive alerts whenever any location is restocked, regardless of Market.


You can also switch back to Single market mode if you only sell in one country. This disables market-based alerts and lets you optionally use location-based alerts instead.


How to Edit or Remove a Market-Location Mapping


You can update your market-location configuration at any time.


  1. Go to Back in stock alerts > Notifications tab.
  2. Scroll to the Markets and Locations section and click See settings to expand the configuration.
  3. To remove a mapping, click the X button next to the "Market → Location" entry you want to delete.
  4. To add a new mapping, select the Market, choose one or more locations, and click Add.
  5. Click Save to apply changes.




Note: You must have at least one market-location mapping configured when market-based alerts are enabled. STOQ shows a validation error if you try to save with the toggle on but no mappings added.


Known Limitations


Keep these points in mind when using market-based notifications.


  • Market-based alerts require a paid STOQ plan. The toggle is disabled on the free plan.
  • Market-based alerts and location-based alerts cannot be used together. Selecting "Multiple markets" automatically disables location-based alerts, and selecting "Single market" automatically disables market-based alerts.
  • If you change the locations assigned to a Market in Shopify or change the number of Markets on your store, market-based alerts may stop working. Update your configuration in STOQ whenever you update Markets or locations in Shopify.
  • Each market-to-location pair must be unique. Duplicate combinations are rejected with an error message.
  • STOQ fetches your Markets and locations from Shopify. If a Market or location was recently created in Shopify, it may take a moment to appear in STOQ's dropdown.
  • When you disable market-based alerts, existing market-location mappings are removed. You need to reconfigure them if you re-enable the feature.


Troubleshooting


Problem

Solution

Market-based alerts toggle is greyed out

This feature requires a paid STOQ plan. Upgrade your plan to enable the toggle.

Customer received an alert for a product not available in their Market

Verify that the market-to-location mapping in STOQ matches the configuration in Shopify admin under Settings > Shipping and delivery. Mismatched mappings cause incorrect notifications.

No Markets appear in the dropdown

STOQ fetches Markets from your Shopify store. Confirm that you have created Markets in Shopify admin under Settings > Markets. Reload the page if they were recently added.

"Please add at least one market location before enabling market-based alerts" error

You turned on the toggle without adding any market-location mappings. Select a Market, choose locations, click Add, then save.

Alerts stopped working after changing Markets in Shopify

Update the market-location configuration in STOQ to match your new Shopify Markets setup. Remove outdated mappings and add new ones.

Cannot use both location-based and market-based alerts

These features are mutually exclusive. Choose "Single market" for location-based alerts or "Multiple markets" for market-based alerts. You cannot enable both simultaneously.

Duplicate market-location error when adding

The combination of Market and location you selected already exists. Choose a different location for that Market or select a different Market.


FAQs


Q:- What is the difference between market-based alerts and location-based alerts?


A:- Location-based alerts are designed for stores that sell in one Market but use multiple inventory locations. They send notifications only when specific locations are restocked. Market-based alerts are for stores that sell in multiple Shopify Markets. They send notifications only when a product is restocked in a location linked to the customer's Market. You can use one or the other, but not both at the same time.


Q:- Do I need Shopify Markets set up before enabling this feature?


A:- Yes. Market-based notifications rely on Shopify Markets. You must have at least two Markets configured in your Shopify admin under Settings > Markets before this feature is useful. Read through Shopify's documentation on Markets to understand how they work before setting up market-based alerts in STOQ.


Q:- How does STOQ know which Market a customer belongs to?


A:- When a customer signs up for a back-in-stock alert on your store, STOQ records the Shopify Market associated with that signup. This is based on the storefront context (domain, subfolder, or language) the customer is browsing from when they submit the alert form.


Q:- Can I link multiple locations to one Market?


A:- Yes. You can add multiple location mappings for a single Market. When any of those locations receives inventory for a product, customers in that Market are notified.


Q:- What happens to existing signups when I enable market-based alerts?


A:- Existing signups that already have a Market ID associated with them will follow the market-based alert rules. Signups that were created before Markets were enabled and do not have a Market ID may not be filtered by Market.


Q:- Can I see which Market customers signed up from in reports?


A:- Yes. When market-based alerts are enabled, STOQ reports show the Market associated with each customer signup. This helps you understand which Markets generate the most demand for restocked products.


Q:- Does market-based alerting work with SMS notifications?


A:- Yes. Market-based alerts apply to both email and SMS notifications. Customers receive notifications through whichever channels are enabled, but only when their Market's linked locations are restocked.


Q:- Will notification links point to the correct market-specific URL?


A:- Yes. When market-based alerts or market URLs are enabled, STOQ generates product links that respect the Market's web presence configuration, including subfolders or custom domains set up in Shopify Markets.


Updated on: 14/04/2026

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