Low stock alerts
A low stock alert tells you that a product is below its Minimum stock level, the amount that you want on the shelf. The product shows in Needs attention on Home, and the team gets a push when a count takes it below that level. Low stock alerts are on every plan, including Free.
Set the minimum stock level
The Minimum stock level is the par for a product. Par is the amount below which you want to reorder. Owners and managers set it when they add or edit a product on Products. See Configure a product.
A product is low when:
- The product's counted stock is less than its minimum stock level. Stock that is equal to the minimum is not low.
- The product is status-tracked and its latest count is LOW or OUT.
- The product was never counted and its minimum stock level is more than zero.
A quantity-tracked product with a minimum stock level of 0 never shows as low.
A product that you count in more than one storage area is judged on its total. For example, butter with a minimum of 10 lb is not low when the bakery fridge holds 3 lb and the walk-in holds 20 lb. See count a product in more than one place.
Where low stock shows
Home
Low stock products show in the Needs attention card on Home. Each row shows the stock and the minimum, for example 3 / 10 lb:
- Out (red) means the stock is 0 or less, or the latest status count is OUT.
- Low (orange) means the stock is above 0 and below the minimum.
Out of stock rows come first. You cannot dismiss a low stock row. It goes away when the stock is at or above the minimum again, for example after you receive a delivery.
The Low stock card at the top of Home shows how many products are low. Owners, managers and staff can tap it to open the order list in Order to par mode. That mode orders what each low product needs to get back to its minimum.
Push notification
The Low Stock Alert push names the product, its stock and its minimum. For example: "Ground Beef is below minimum stock (4 / 10 lb)". Every role gets it: owners, managers, staff and viewers. Tap it to open Products.
Each person can turn off the Low stock push in Kitchen settings → Notifications. This setting changes only your own phone. See push notifications.
To keep the push but stop the buzz during service, use the phone's own settings. A Focus on iPhone can silence all notifications or allow only the apps that you pick. Android has Modes and Do Not Disturb for the same job.
When does the low stock push go out?
The push goes out only when a saved count takes a product from at or above its minimum to below it. A product that gets low in any other way shows on Home, but it sends no push:
- The product was already low. The push does not repeat on each count while the product stays low.
- Waste, prep or a transfer took it below the minimum. The next count then starts from a number that is already low, so that count sends nothing.
- Nothing was on record before this count. A new product's first count, with no delivery logged before it, has no earlier stock to compare with.
- The minimum stock level is 0. This includes a status-tracked product at LOW or OUT that has no minimum.
- The count was not part of an inventory session. Only counts in a session send the push.
If none of these fit, open your notification history. A row marked push off or no device tells you why your phone stayed quiet.
Here is how one product plays out over a week. Ground Beef has a minimum of 10 lb:
- Monday's count is 14 lb. The product is not low.
- Wednesday's count is 4 lb. The count took it below 10 lb, so the team gets "Ground Beef is below minimum stock (4 / 10 lb)". Home shows an orange Low row that reads
4 / 10 lb. - Thursday's count is 3 lb. The product is still low, so no new push goes out.
- Friday's delivery of 20 lb brings the stock to 23 lb. The row leaves Home without a count.
- Next Tuesday's count is 8 lb. The stock went from 23 lb to below 10 lb, so the push goes out again.
Orders you already placed
When a pending order covers a low product, the product leaves the Low stock count and the Needs attention list. You already dealt with it.
If the order passes its expected delivery date and you did not receive it, the product comes back as a red Delivery overdue row. See overdue deliveries.
Prepped products that count toward a purchased product
A prepped product can be linked to the product that you buy. For example, diced onions can be linked to whole onions. To link them, set Purchased product in guided setup, or Source product in the quick form, on the prepped product.
In the Needs attention list, Rinvy then adds the prepped product's stock and minimum to the purchased product's stock and minimum. The row shows the purchased product, with the prepped product on a line below it. This stops an alert for whole onions when you have a full tub of diced onions. If the purchased product is low, the prepped product shows only as the line below it, not as its own row.
Rinvy can add the prepped stock only if its unit converts to the purchased product's unit.