---
title: "Inventory Email Notifications"
description: "Automatically notify your store admin by email when products go out of stock or drop below a configured low-stock threshold."
url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/v6/apps-and-extensions/apps/stocknotification"
markdown_url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/v6/apps-and-extensions/apps/stocknotification.md"
last_updated: "2026-10-23T02:33:38+00:00"
version: "J2Commerce 6"
breadcrumbs:
  - title: "Home"
    url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/"
  - title: "J2Commerce 6"
    url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/v6"
  - title: "Apps and Extensions"
    url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/v6/apps-and-extensions"
  - title: "Apps"
    url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/v6/apps-and-extensions/apps"
  - title: "Inventory Email Notifications"
    url: "https://docs.j2commerce.com/v6/apps-and-extensions/apps/stocknotification"
---

# Inventory Email Notifications

The Inventory Email Notifications add-on automatically sends email alerts to your store admin when a product sells out or when its stock drops to a critical level. Instead of discovering inventory problems after orders have already been placed, you get notified in real time so you can restock quickly.

Two separate email types are supported: an out-of-stock alert (sent when quantity reaches zero) and a low-stock alert (sent when quantity drops to or below a per-product notification threshold you configure).

## Prerequisites

- J2Commerce installed and active on your Joomla 6 site
- An admin email address configured in J2Commerce (**J2Commerce** **->** **Configuration** **->** **Store Profile**)
- Inventory tracking enabled on your products (the **Track Inventory** option must be on)
- Joomla's mail settings configured and working (**System** -> **Global Configuration ->** **Server** tab **->** **Mail Settings**)

## What's New in J2Commerce 6

This version of the plugin is a complete rewrite for the Joomla 6 native extension framework. Key improvements include:

- Built on the Joomla 6 event subscriber system for reliable event delivery
- Optional debug logging writes to a dedicated log file (`app_stocknotification.php`) in your Joomla logs directory — no more guessing why emails aren't arriving
- Multiple admin recipients are supported — separate addresses with commas in the **Admin Email** field
- Unprocessed template tags are automatically removed from emails so recipients never see raw `[PRODUCT_NAME]` text if data is missing

## Purchase and Download

The **Stock Notification** app is a separate add-on available from the [Inventory Command](https://www.j2commerce.com/extensions/apps/inventory-command). It is not included with the core J2Commerce 6 component.

**Step 1:** Go to the [J2Commerce website](https://www.j2commerce.com/extensions) -> **Apps**.

**Step 2:** Locate the **Stock Notification** app -> click **View Details** -> **Add to cart** -> **Checkout**.

**Step 3:** Go to **My Downloads** under your profile menu at the top right corner and search for the app. Click **Available Versions** -> **View Files** -> **Download**.

## Install the App

You can install this **Stock Notification** App using the Joomla installer. The following steps help you with a successful installation.

In the Joomla admin, go to **System -> Install -> Extensions**

Upload the `app_stocknotification.zip` file or use the Install from URL option.

![Install extensions](https://docs.j2commerce.com/images/docs/v4/assets/app%20install1%20%281%29%20%281%29.webp)

## Enable the App

After installation, verify the plugin is enabled:

1. Go to **System** **-> Manage -> Extensions**.
2. Search for **Inventory Email Notifications**.
3. If the status icon is gray (disabled), click it to enable the plugin.

## Configure the Admin Email Address

The plugin reads your admin email address from the J2Commerce store configuration. If you have not set this yet:

1. Go to **J2Commerce** **-> Setup -> Configuration**.
2. Find the **Admin Email** field in the **Store Profile** section.
3. Enter the email address where stock alerts should be sent.
4. To notify multiple people, enter addresses separated by commas — for example: `This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.`.
5. Click **Save**.

## Configure Per-Product Notification Quantities

The low-stock alert fires when a variant's quantity drops to or below its **Notification Quantity** threshold. You set this threshold at the product level:

1. Go to **J2Commerce** **-> Catalog -> Products**.
2. Open a product you want to monitor.
3. Click the **Inventory** tab on the product edit screen.
4. Locate the **Notification Quantity** field on the variant row.
5. Enter the quantity level at which you want to receive a warning — for example, `5` means an alert fires when stock reaches 5 units or fewer.
6. To use a store-wide default instead, tick the **Use Store Configuration** checkbox next to the field.
7. Click **Save**.

To set a store-wide default notification threshold, go to **J2Commerce** **-> Configuration ->** **Inventory** and enter a value in **Store Notification Quantity**.

## Configure the Email Templates

Open the plugin settings to customize the emails that get sent:

1. Go to **J2Commerce** **->** **Apps**.
2. Find **Inventory Email Notifications** and click its name to open settings.

### Configuration Fields

**No Stock Email Subject:** Subject line for the out-of-stock email. Supports template tags.

**No Stock Email Body:** Body content for the out-of-stock email. Supports template tags and HTML.

> **Tip:** **Tip:** Customize the subjects and bodies to match your store's language and tone.

**Low Stock Email Subject:** Subject line for the low-stock email. Supports template tags.

**Low Stock Email Body:** Body content for the low-stock email. Supports template tags and HTML.

**Debug Mode:** When enabled, writes detailed activity logs to `logs/app_stocknotification.php` in your Joomla logs directory. Disable this in production.

## Template Tags

Both the subject and body fields support the following tags. These are replaced with real values when each email is sent.

`[PRODUCT_NAME]`**:** Product name

`[PRODUCT_SKU]`**:** Product SKU

`[PRODUCT_QUANTITY]`**:** Current stock quantity at the time of the alert

`[NOTIFY_QUANTITY]`**:** The notification threshold configured for this product

`[STORE_NAME]`**:** Your store name from J2Commerce Configuration

> **Info:** **Note:** The `[PRODUCT_QUANTITY]` tag shows the quantity remaining after the triggering order was placed. In a no-stock email, this value is typically zero.

## How the Alerts Work

### Out-of-Stock Alert

An out-of-stock email is sent when a product variant's quantity reaches zero or below after an order is completed. This fires regardless of any notification threshold — it triggers automatically when stock is exhausted.

### Low-Stock Alert

A low-stock email is sent when a variant's quantity drops to or below its **Notification Quantity** value. For example, if the threshold is set to 5 and a customer purchases 3 units leaving 4 in stock, the alert fires immediately after that order.

Both alerts are sent to the email address configured in **J2Commerce** **-> Configuration ->** **Admin Email**. If that field is empty, no emails are sent.

## Tips

- Keep **Debug Mode** off in production — it adds log entries for every notification trigger and can create large log files on busy stores.
- If a product has multiple variants (sizes, colors, etc.), each variant triggers its own notifications independently. You will receive separate emails for each variant that goes out of stock.
- Use `[STORE_NAME]` in the subject line to make it easy to identify which store sent the alert when managing multiple J2Commerce installations.
- The low-stock alert fires once per qualifying inventory drop. If a customer buys 10 units and stock falls from 15 to 5 in a single order, only one low-stock email is sent for that event.

## Troubleshooting

### No emails are being received

**Cause:** The admin email field is empty, or Joomla's mail system is not configured.

**Solution:**

1. Go to **J2Commerce** **->** **Configuration** and confirm the **Admin Email** field contains a valid address.
2. Go to **System** **->** **Global Configuration** **-> Server ->** **Mail Settings** and click **Send Test Mail** to verify Joomla can send email.
3. Enable **Debug Mode** in the plugin settings, trigger a stock change, then check `logs/app_stocknotification.php` in your Joomla logs directory for error messages.
4. Check your spam folder — stock notification emails may be filtered by your mail provider.

### Low-stock emails are not firing even though stock is low

**Cause:** The **Notification Quantity** field on the product variant is empty or set to zero, or inventory tracking is not enabled for that product.

**Solution:**

1. Open the product in **J2Commerce** **-> Catalog -> Products** and switch to the **Inventory** tab.
2. Confirm the **Track Inventory** option is enabled for the variant.
3. Confirm the **Notification Quantity** field has a value greater than zero, or tick **Use Store Configuration** and confirm the store-level threshold is set in **J2Commerce ->** **Configuration** **-> Inventory**.

### Emails arrive but contain raw tag text like `[PRODUCT_NAME]`

**Cause:** This should not happen with the current version — unprocessed tags are automatically removed. If you are seeing raw tags, your site may be running an older version of the plugin.

**Solution:** Update to the latest version from the J2Commerce Extensions Store. After updating, go to **J2Commerce** **-> Apps -> Inventory Email Notifications** and save the configuration to reinitialise the plugin.

### Debug log file is growing very large

**Cause:** Debug Mode is enabled on a store with frequent orders.

**Solution:** Go to **J2Commerce** **-> Apps -> Inventory Email Notifications** and set **Debug Mode** to **No**. Delete or archive the existing log file at `logs/app_stocknotification.php` in your Joomla logs directory.