Checkout, shipping & store settings

How to track stock and get low-stock alerts

September 15, 2026
How to track stock and get low-stock alerts

To track stock in your TeleportHQ store, give each product a Quantity, then open E-Commerce Settings → Stock Management → Stock Settings. There you choose whether shoppers can order items that are out of stock, whether sold-out products are labelled or hidden, how many units of one product fit in a cart, and when you get a low-stock email. Stock goes down by itself every time an order is placed.

Before you start

  • Your project needs an online store. See How to add a store to an existing project.
  • Stock Management is on by default in the E-Commerce Setup panel. Its Stock Settings link only shows while it's on.
  • For low-stock emails, you need an account with an email sending service (SendGrid, Resend, Mailgun, Postmark or MailerSend) and its API key. If your project already sends email through one, TeleportHQ fills it in for you.
  • Stock tracking comes with every TeleportHQ store. It needs no extra plan.

Steps

1. Set stock on your products

  1. In the left sidebar, click E-commerce. If you don't see it, click Plugins, then E-commerce, then Open next to E-commerce panel.
  2. In the Products list of the E-Commerce panel, click a product. Its form opens beside the panel.
  3. In Quantity, type how many you have, for example 50.
The Quantity field in the product form of the TeleportHQ E-Commerce panel
  1. For products with sizes or colours, click Variants further down the form and fill in Stock for each combination. See How to add sizes, colors and other variants.
  2. Click Save Changes.

A product whose Quantity is empty isn't tracked: it never runs out and never triggers an alert.

2. Choose your stock rules

  1. At the top right of the E-Commerce panel, click the gear (E-Commerce Settings). The E-Commerce Setup panel opens.
  2. On the Stock Management row, click Stock Settings. The Stock Management panel opens beside it.
The Stock Management row of the TeleportHQ E-Commerce Setup panel, with its Stock Settings link highlighted
  1. Allow Backorders is on by default: shoppers can buy items that have no stock left. Switch it off to stop overselling.
  2. With Allow Backorders off, Out of Stock Behavior appears. Choose Show as Out of Stock (shoppers see the product but can't buy it) or Hide Product (it disappears from the storefront until you restock it).
  3. Optional: switch on Maximum Cart Quantity and type how many units of one product a shopper can add to the cart, for example 10.
  4. In Low Stock Threshold, type the number of units that counts as low, 1 or more, for example 5 (the default).
The TeleportHQ Stock Management panel with the Allow Backorders and Low Stock Threshold settings highlighted

3. Get low-stock emails

  1. In the same panel, switch on Low Stock Email Alerts.
  2. Under Email Provider, choose your sending service. If your project already has one, TeleportHQ picks it and says "Email provider auto-detected from your existing notification settings."
  3. Under Credentials, paste the service's API key, or connect a key already saved in your project's secrets.
  4. Under Sender Details, fill in From Email (an address your sending service lets you send from, for example shop@mybakery.com) and From Name. Reply-To is optional.
  5. Under Alert Recipients, check the list. The workspace owner's email is already there, and you can have up to 5 addresses.
  6. Optional: under Email Content, change the Subject, or open the Body template to change its design.
The low-stock email settings of the TeleportHQ Stock Management panel, with the Low Stock Email Alerts switch and the Email Provider choices highlighted
  1. At the bottom of the panel, click Save Stock Settings. The button shows once you've changed something.
  2. Publish your site so the new rules reach your live store.

Check that it worked

  • The message Stock management settings saved. appears.
  • With Allow Backorders off, product cards in the Products list show the stock, for example "Quantity: (50)".
  • On your live site, a product with no stock left shows Out of stock, or is hidden, depending on your choice.
  • When an order takes a product from above your threshold to the threshold or below, the recipients get an email such as "Low stock alert — 1 product(s) below 5". A product that was already low doesn't send a new alert with every sale.

Troubleshooting

A "Products Quantity Updated" window appeared You switched off Allow Backorders while some products had no Quantity. TeleportHQ set those products to 10 units straight away, even before you save, so they can be tracked. Click Got it, then type each product's real Quantity.

A warning icon shows next to Stock Management "Low stock alerts are enabled but missing email provider configuration. Open Stock Settings to complete the setup." Open Stock Settings, choose an email provider and fill in From Email.

Shoppers see "Only 3 in stock. You already have the maximum in your cart." They tried to add more units than you have. This works as intended.

Checkout says "Some items are out of stock: …" With Allow Backorders off, an order can't take more units than you have. The message names each product with what the shopper asked for and what's left, for example "Sourdough loaf (needs 4, has 2)".

"Maximum cart quantity must be at least 1." or "Low stock threshold cannot be negative." Fix the number, then click Save Stock Settings again.

"Maximum of 5 emails allowed" Remove a recipient before you add another.

Good to know

  • When stock goes down. Stock is taken as soon as an order is placed, whatever the payment method. If an online payment fails, or its payment page expires, the store cancels the unpaid order and puts its items back in stock as soon as the payment provider reports it. That needs the payment webhook: see How to set up the payment webhook.
  • Unpaid online orders give their stock back after 60 minutes. When a shopper closes the payment page without paying, the payment provider reports it late or never. So your published TeleportHQ store cancels an online order that is still unpaid 60 minutes after the shopper was sent to pay: its items go back in stock and its payment page closes. The store checks every 15 minutes. This needs an active trial or a paid plan: on a workspace whose trial or subscription has ended, an unpaid order keeps its items until you cancel it from the orders page. See How to accept payments with Stripe or PayPal.
  • Cancellations and refunds can put items back too: tick Put the items back in stock in the Cancel Order or refund window. See How to cancel an order.
  • Quantities live in your store's database. A Quantity you change in the editor reaches your live store without publishing again. Changes in Stock Settings need a publish.
  • Variants have their own stock. Each size or colour combination draws on its own Stock, and low-stock emails name the product and the variant.
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