Low Stock & Urgency Notifications

A low stock notification tells visitors that availability is limited. A typical message reads: "Only 3 left in stock" or "Selling fast — limited availability." When inventory on a product drops below your configured threshold, Activly automatically shows the notification on that product's page. When stock is replenished above the threshold, the notification stops appearing.

This type of urgency is most effective because it is grounded in fact. It does not manufacture pressure — it reports it.

Requirements

Low stock notifications require live inventory data from a connected store. Activly supports Shopify and WooCommerce for inventory sync. If your store is on a different platform, this notification type is not currently available via native integration — contact support to discuss webhook-based options.

Setup steps

1. Connect your store. Go to Integrations in your Activly dashboard and connect Shopify or WooCommerce. Make sure inventory tracking is enabled in your store for the products you want to cover. Activly cannot read inventory for products that do not have inventory tracking turned on in your platform.

2. Create a new notification. Click New Notification and choose Low Stock.

3. Set the threshold. This is the unit count below which the notification activates. A threshold of 10 units is a reasonable starting point for most products. For slower-moving inventory, you might set this lower (3-5). For fast-moving products, higher (15-20) gives visitors early warning.

4. Configure the message. Two message styles work well:

   • Specific count: "Only left in stock." Use this when the number itself is meaningful — single digits feel urgent.
   • General scarcity: "Limited stock remaining — order soon." Use this if you prefer not to expose exact inventory numbers.

5. Target to product pages only. Set page targeting to your product detail pages using a URL pattern like /products/* for Shopify. Low stock notifications do not belong on your homepage, blog, or checkout pages.

6. Activate. Activly will check inventory levels in real time and only display the notification for products that are currently below your threshold.

A note on ethics

Only use real inventory numbers. Displaying "Only 2 left" when you have hundreds in stock is deceptive, and visitors who discover the deception will not return. Fake scarcity erodes exactly the trust that social proof is designed to build.

Activly pulls directly from your platform's inventory — it will display only accurate data. If you need to limit what is displayed, use the general scarcity message format instead of showing a specific count.

Tips

• Combine low stock notifications with recent purchase notifications for maximum effect. A visitor who sees "12 people bought this today" followed by "Only 4 left" gets a clear picture: demand is high, supply is limited.
• For products that are perpetually in low stock (handmade goods, limited editions), consider whether a persistent low stock label on the product page is more appropriate than a popup notification.
• Review your threshold setting periodically as your sales velocity changes.

What's next

• Setting Up Recent Purchase Notifications
• A/B Testing Your Notifications