Record a delivery from your workshop, a damaged piece or a fresh count, with the reason, and see every stock movement a variant has had. You also see what NoqtaShop does for customers who asked to hear when a sold-out variant is back.
Open a variant’s stock history
Each variant keeps its own stock and its own history. Where you open it depends on whether the product has options:
- In the sidebar, open Products, then open the product.
- For a product with sizes or colours, select the Variants tab and scroll to Review generated variants. In Table view, select Stock history in the variant's row. In Card view, select More settings on the variant, then Stock history.
- For a product without options, select the Pricing tab, then Stock history under Stock quantity.
The window shows:
- The variant's name, such as Terracotta / S — or, for a product without options, the product's name in the console's language — and Current stock.
- Adjust stock, where you record a change: the way to enter it, then the quantity and Reason side by side on one line, with Save stock action below them.
- The history, newest first. Each line shows the change in green or red (+1 or −1), the stock before and after (3 → 4), the reason, and the date and time. Reasons NoqtaShop writes itself, such as Order confirmed or Opening stock, show in the console's language; a reason someone typed shows as they typed it.
Current stock is the stock as last saved, not a number you have typed on the page and not saved yet. Stock history appears only for variants that have been saved. A variant you have just generated gets it once you select Save on the product.
Adjust by quantity, or set an exact quantity
- In Adjust stock, choose how to enter the change:
- Adjust by quantity adds or removes units. Type 6 for six new pieces, or −2 for two damaged ones.
- Set exact quantity replaces the stock with the number you counted. The box starts with the current stock.
- Type the number in Adjustment quantity or Exact stock quantity. Use whole numbers: decimals are cut, so 2.5 counts as 2.
- In Reason, say why, for example Workshop delivery, Damaged in storage or Monthly count.
- Select Save stock action.
The change is saved at once, without the product's Save button. The console says Stock updated., the new line appears at the top of the history, and Current stock and the Stock quantity field show the new number. The storefront shows it straight away. Nothing else on the page changes, so a price you typed and have not saved yet stays on screen, ready for Save.
An order placed at the same moment never makes a change fail: it takes its units from the new count.
| Message | When you see it | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Adjustment quantity cannot be zero. | You chose Adjust by quantity and typed 0, or left the box empty. | Type how many units to add or remove. |
| Stock quantity cannot be negative. | You chose Set exact quantity and typed a number below zero, or an adjustment would take the stock below zero on a variant with Allow backorder off. | Check the count. Adding stock always works, even to a variant below zero, and a variant with Allow backorder on can go further below zero. |
| Enter a reason for this stock change. | Reason is empty. | Say why the stock changed. |
| Could not update stock. | The change did not save. | Try again. |
Warning
In Set exact quantity, an empty box counts as 0. Clearing the box and saving with a reason sets the stock to 0, with no warning. Check the number before you select Save stock action.
Anyone whose role can edit products can adjust stock. Anyone who can view products can open the history. See Staff roles: what each one can see and do.
Why every change needs a reason
The reason is what makes the history useful a month later. "−3" on its own tells you nothing. "−3 Damaged in storage" tells you where the stock went and whether to act. Write it so a colleague would understand it without asking you.
The history is kept for the life of the variant, and it cannot be edited. To correct a mistake, record another adjustment with a reason such as "Correction to yesterday's count".
You can also change stock without the window, and it is still recorded — only without your own reason:
| How the stock changed | Line in the history |
|---|---|
| A new product, or a new variant, saved with stock above 0 | Opening stock, from 0 to the number you typed |
| A new number typed in Stock quantity on the product page and saved | Changed on the product page |
| A number in the Stock column of a CSV import | Set by a product import |
A number typed on the product page is saved only if nobody else changed the stock after you opened the page. If an order took units first, your number is not saved, and the page tells you with Saved, except the stock of … — see change a saved product’s price and stock.
How orders, cancellations and returns move stock
NoqtaShop moves stock for you as orders go through their stages, for variants with Track inventory on. Each movement appears in the history with its reason and the order number, such as Order confirmed (ORD-20260624-70A926).
| What happens | Stock | Reason in the history |
|---|---|---|
| An order is confirmed: you confirm it, or a card payment or a recorded payment confirms it. | Taken off | Order confirmed |
| A shipment is created, or its status updated, for an order whose stock was not yet taken. | Taken off | Shipment created or Shipment status updated |
| A confirmed order is cancelled, or comes back as returned. | Put back | Order inventory restored |
| A refund puts items back. | Put back for those items | The refund reason, or Order inventory restored or Order item inventory restored when none was given |
| A return is marked received. | Put back for the returned items | Return received |
| A parcel is marked Returned to sender by the delivery provider. | Put back, every unit it carried | Returned to sender, or the description typed with the update |
When staff change an order's status with a note, the note is used as the reason instead. A new order that is still waiting for confirmation or payment does not change the stock yet.
If a variant does not have enough stock when an order is confirmed, and Allow backorder is off, the confirmation is refused with a message naming the SKU. Adjust the stock first, or turn on Allow backorder for that variant. Variants with Track inventory off are never counted, so they never run out. See Confirm a new order and start preparing it, Cancel an order, Update a shipment and Handle a return.
A variant with no movements yet
A variant whose stock has never changed shows No stock changes yet. under Adjust stock — for example a variant you saved with a stock of 0 and have not stocked since. Its first delivery, typed number or order adds the first line. A variant saved with stock above 0 never looks like this: its history starts with Opening stock, or Set by a product import when an import made it.
If the window shows Could not load data., close it and open it again.
Customers waiting for it: the back-in-stock email
When a variant is sold out on your storefront, its product page says Sold out — we can tell you the moment it is back. and shows a Notify me button. A signed-in customer just presses it. A guest types an email address first. Each customer asks for one variant, so someone waiting for size M is not told about L.
When that variant's stock goes from zero to one or more, NoqtaShop sends each waiting customer one email:
- The subject is the product's name followed by "is back in stock", for example Terracotta linen shirt dress is back in stock.
- It says the item they asked about is available again, with a View the product button.
- It is sent once, in your store's default language, and the request then closes.
How it decides who to tell:
- You restock, with Adjust stock or by typing a new Stock quantity and saving: every waiting customer is told. Raising the stock with a CSV import sends no email — see how an import matches rows.
- A cancellation or return puts units back: only as many customers as there are units, longest-waiting first. One unit back tells one customer. The others keep waiting.
- Stock goes up while there is still some left, for example from 3 to 5: nobody is emailed, because the variant never sold out.
You do not need to do anything to send these emails, and there is nothing to switch on. See Emails your customers get about orders for the other emails your store sends.
Tip
To hear before a variant runs out, rather than after, set a low-stock threshold. Low-stock alerts are on Growth and up: see Set your fulfilment SLA and stock alerts. To find everything low or sold out at once, filter your products list by stock: see Find products in your catalogue.
What to do next
- Edit variants: prices, stock and photos, to change many variants' stock at once.
- See who changed a product and when, for the changes made in the console, stock adjustments included. Stock moved by orders, cancellations and returns is only in Stock history, and a CSV import is only there too — see what is not in the history.