---
id: "low-stock-threshold"
lang: "en"
title: "Low-stock alerts: the default threshold"
summary: "Set the stock level at which Zero POS warns you that a product is running low. It applies to every product that has no threshold of its own."
area: "Settings & account"
kind: "task"
url: "https://zeropos.shop/help/low-stock-threshold"
alternate: "https://zeropos.shop/help/low-stock-threshold?lang=es"
markdown: "https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/low-stock-threshold.md"
screens: ["/backoffice/settings/inventory-defaults"]
where_to_find: ["MANAGE › Settings › Inventory defaults"]
related: ["products-and-stock","notifications-and-alerts","purchase-orders","adjust-stock"]
updated: "2026-10-16"
---

# Low-stock alerts: the default threshold

Set the stock level at which Zero POS warns you that a product is running low. It applies to every product that has no threshold of its own.

Each product can carry its own **Low-stock alert threshold**. This screen holds the fallback for every product whose own threshold is 0.

Where to find it: MANAGE › Settings › Inventory defaults.

## Before you start

- Changing it needs the permission to edit inventory settings: owners and administrators by default. Managers can read it.

## Steps

1. Open [MANAGE › Settings › Inventory defaults](https://app.zeropos.shop/backoffice/settings/inventory-defaults).
2. Under **Stock defaults**, type the **Default low-stock threshold**: the number of units at which a shop counts as low. 0 switches the fallback off.
3. Tap **Save**.
4. For a product that needs a level of its own, open it in [BACKOFFICE › Inventory › Products](https://app.zeropos.shop/backoffice/products) and set its **Low-stock alert threshold**.

## What happens next

- When a sale or a stock change takes a shop's stock of a product from above the threshold to it or below, Zero POS sends one low-stock alert.
- It stays quiet until that stock goes back above the threshold and falls again.
- Who receives it is set under **Low stock** in [Notifications: sale alerts and other events](https://zeropos.shop/help/notifications-and-alerts). The email copy is sent only if **Low stock alert** is turned on in **Email templates**.
- The Products list's **Low Stock** tab goes by the same level: the shop's own, else the product's, else this default ([Products and stock](https://zeropos.shop/help/products-and-stock)).

## The Reorder list

[BACKOFFICE › Inventory › Reorder](https://app.zeropos.shop/backoffice/inventory/reorder) works from each product's own threshold, not from this default. To see a product there, give it a threshold of its own ([Order from a supplier and receive it](https://zeropos.shop/help/purchase-orders)).

## Common questions

### Does a product that is low stop selling?

No. It is only a warning: sales are never blocked.

### Is the threshold checked per shop?

Yes. Each shop's stock is checked on its own, so one shop can be low while another isn't.

## If you see this

- “No low-stock alert arrived” — What to do: Check that **Low stock** is **Enabled** in [Notifications: sale alerts and other events](https://zeropos.shop/help/notifications-and-alerts) with your role ticked, and that the stock really crossed the threshold: an alert only fires on the way down.

## Good to know

- Set the default to what a typical product sells in a few days, then give your fast sellers a higher threshold of their own.

## Related guides

- [Products and stock](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/products-and-stock.md)
- [Notifications: sale alerts and other events](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/notifications-and-alerts.md)
- [Order from a supplier and receive it](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/purchase-orders.md)
- [Correct stock by hand (Stock adjust)](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/adjust-stock.md)