Instant v.s. Scheduled: What's the difference?

Stockie gives you two ways to receive low stock notifications — instant and scheduled.

Both send alerts when products reach their low stock thresholds, but they work a little differently depending on how you like to manage inventory.

Scheduled notifications

Scheduled notifications batch all low stock items into one clean summary email at a time you choose.

This is the default option and works best if you want a simple daily, weekly, or monthly overview.

How it works

• All low stock products are grouped together into a single email.
• You decide when it’s sent — for example, every morning at 9 AM.
• Perfect for reviewing inventory in bulk and planning reorders in one place.

Instant notifications

Instant notifications send an email the moment a product variant drops to or below its threshold.

This is useful if you need to act quickly on stock changes or track fast-moving products in real time.

How it works

• Each product variant that crosses its threshold triggers a separate email.
• You’ll only receive another instant notification for that same product or variant after its inventory rises back above the threshold and then falls below it again.
• Emails are sent immediately — there’s no batching or delay.
• Works best for smaller catalogs or high-priority items that need close monitoring.

Things to keep in mind

• You might receive multiple emails if several variants sell down around the same time.
• To avoid inbox clutter, some merchants use instant notifications only for urgent products and scheduled notifications for everything else.

Choosing the right option