Inventory Management makes Appstle check your stock before it places each recurring order. If a product is out of stock, Appstle skips the order, so the customer isn't charged for something you can't ship.
You choose what happens next: skip the whole order, place a partial order without the missing items, retry the order a few days later, and decide when customers get the out-of-stock email. The settings apply to every subscription in your store.
Before you start
Inventory Management is included in the Business plan and higher. On other plans, the settings are locked with an upgrade link, and Appstle doesn't check stock even if the check was turned on before.
In Shopify, turn on Track quantity for the products and variants you want checked. Appstle never treats a product without tracked quantity as out of stock.
Let Appstle read your inventory. Without that permission, Appstle can't compare quantities, count specific locations or check products set to continue selling. If it's missing, Inventory Locations to Check shows a grant permissions here link.
How the stock check works
Before each recurring order, Appstle adds up the quantity of each variant on the subscription and compares it with the stock Shopify shows as available. A variant is out of stock when the subscription needs more than is available.
A product or variant that's been deleted from Shopify also counts as out of stock. A variant that's set to continue selling when it's out of stock is checked only if you turn on the matching switch (see below).
Turn on Inventory Management
In your Shopify admin, go to Appstle Subscription → More → Inventory Management.
Turn on Check inventory before processing subscription orders. While it's off, Appstle places orders even when products are out of stock, and the settings below it are saved but not used.
Under What Appstle checks, choose the locations to count and turn on any extra checks you need. See Choose what Appstle checks below.
Under When a product is out of stock, choose whether to place partial orders and whether to retry skipped orders.
Under Customer notification, choose when customers get the out-of-stock email.
Click Save in the bar at the top of the page.
Inventory Management with the check turned on and retries set to 3 attempts, 2 days apart. On the right, What happens at renewal previews your settings on a sample order.
Choose what Appstle checks
Locations
With All locations, Appstle adds up the stock at every location. With Selected locations, click Select locations, tick the locations to count and click Done. Until you choose one, stock at all locations is counted. Locations that don't fulfill online orders are marked "(doesn't fulfill online orders)" in the list.
Appstle counts the stock at your selected locations, but Shopify decides which location ships the order. If Shopify picks a location where the product is out of stock, or one that doesn't fulfill online orders, the order fails. Appstle then retries it on your Failed Payment Recovery schedule, and the customer gets the out-of-stock email instead of the failed payment email.
Pre-orders and products set to continue selling
Turn on Also skip orders for products set to "Continue selling when out of stock" to check those products too. This suits pre-orders: new customers can still order at 0 stock, but renewals for existing subscribers are skipped until there's stock.
Items inside fixed pricing Build-A-Box bundles
Turn on Also check inventory of items inside fixed pricing bundles to check each item in a fixed pricing Build-A-Box. If one item is out of stock, Appstle skips the whole box, even when partial orders are on. With this switch off, Appstle checks only the box itself, not the items inside.
Choose what happens when a product is out of stock
Skip the whole order
This is the default. Appstle doesn't place the order and doesn't charge the customer. The subscription moves on to its next billing date, and the customer gets the out-of-stock email (see Choose when customers get the email below).
Place partial orders
Turn on Place partial orders (excluding out-of-stock items)? to place the order with the items that are in stock and leave out the rest. The missing items stay on the subscription for the next order. The customer gets the out-of-stock email with the partial order. If every item is out of stock, Appstle skips the whole order.
Retry skipped orders
Turn on Retry orders when products were out of stock? to have Appstle try a skipped order again. When partial orders are on, this switch is named Retry orders when all products are out of stock?, because orders with some items in stock are placed without the missing ones.
Set Maximum Retry Attempts (1 to 10) and Days Between Retry Attempts (1 to 10). The page shows when the last retry happens, for example "Last retry on day 6 after the skipped order".
Retries stop when the order goes through, when the maximum is reached, or when the subscription's next order has already been processed.
Choose when customers get the email
If retries are off, customers get the out-of-stock email when the order is skipped. If retries are on, pick one of two options under Customer notification. With either option, customers can get the email more than once for the same order:
After all retry attempts are exhausted: customers get the email on the last retry, and also on the attempt just before it. If Maximum Retry Attempts is 1, the first email goes out as soon as the order is skipped.
On the first failed attempt: customers get the email as soon as the order is skipped, and again on the last retry and the attempt just before it.
Once the order goes through, no more out-of-stock emails are sent for it.
To edit the email, click Customize notification next to Out-of-stock email. On the Notification Settings page that opens, the email is named Out Of Stock.
See which orders were skipped
To list the orders skipped for stock, open Subscriptions and, next to Reports, click Inventory Skipped. The report is titled Orders Skipped By Inventory Check.
On a subscription's Past Orders tab, a skipped order has the status Skipped Inventory Mgmt, and Attempt Needed: Yes means a retry is still due. Open the order's Actions menu to:
Click Retry Order to try the order again now. It shows only while Attempt Needed is Yes, and it's unavailable when the subscription isn't active, an order is already in progress, or your plan doesn't include retrying orders.
Click Disable Auto Retry to stop automatic retries for that order, or Enable Auto Retry to turn them back on. If the order's retry day has already passed, it isn't retried automatically, so click Retry Order instead.
Orders skipped while retries were turned off don't have these actions.
To see why an order was skipped, open the subscription's Activity Logs tab. The Inventory check failed entry shows which products were out of stock, how many were needed and available, and which locations were checked.
Things to know
The check runs before every order Appstle places for a subscription, including orders placed early and payment recovery retries. For a prepaid subscription, that's the renewal order, not each delivery it covers.
When you turn retries on, Maximum Retry Attempts and Days Between Retry Attempts both start at 1.
Changes apply to orders Appstle processes after you save. Skipped orders that are already waiting for a retry follow your current retry settings. Orders skipped while retries were off aren't retried when you turn retries on later.
A plan's Inventory Policy (On Sale or On Fulfillment) only decides when Shopify reduces stock. It doesn't turn this check on or off.
FAQs
Why wasn't an order skipped when the product is out of stock?
Check these, in order:
The Check inventory before processing subscription orders switch is on and saved.
Your Appstle plan includes Inventory Management.
In Shopify, Track quantity is on for the variant. Untracked variants are never checked.
The variant isn't set to continue selling when out of stock. If it is, turn on Also skip orders for products set to "Continue selling when out of stock".
Appstle has the permission to read inventory. Without it, Appstle only sees whether a variant is available for sale, so a subscription that needs 3 isn't skipped when 2 are left.
The locations you count are really out of stock. Appstle adds up the stock across all of them, so the order goes ahead when another location covers it.
For items inside a fixed pricing Build-A-Box, Also check inventory of items inside fixed pricing bundles is on.
Why was an order skipped when the product is in stock?
Appstle compares the quantity the subscription needs with the available stock at the locations you chose. A subscription with a quantity of 3 is skipped when only 2 are available. Stock at a location you haven't selected doesn't count, and a variant deleted from Shopify counts as out of stock. The subscription's Activity Logs tab shows the numbers Appstle used.
Why didn't the customer get an email?
With retries on and After all retry attempts are exhausted selected, the email waits until the last retry or the attempt just before it, so an order that goes through sooner sends none. Also check that the Out Of Stock email shows Active on the Notification Settings page.
Why did a customer get the out-of-stock email more than once?
With retries on, the email can go out on more than one attempt for the same order (see Choose when customers get the email). Each renewal that's skipped also sends its own email.
Can I charge customers only for the items that are in stock?
Yes. Turn on Place partial orders (excluding out-of-stock items)?. The missing items stay on the subscription for the next order. A fixed pricing Build-A-Box is still skipped whole when you check the items inside it and one is out of stock.
Where can I read more about handling stock problems?
See Avoiding "out of stock" situations for using the delivery forecast and product swap automation to prepare before stock runs out.
Need help?
Email [email protected] or message us through the chat widget in the app. We're available 24×7×365.