Display Stock Levels on Shopify Product and Collection Pages

Are you looking to enhance your Shopify store by showing stock levels on your collection and product pages? This guide will walk you through the process of displaying inventory quantities, particularly when stock is running low. Whether you’re using the Minimal theme or any other Shopify theme, we’ve got you covered with step-by-step instructions and code snippets to implement this feature.

Understanding the Importance of Displaying Stock Levels

Creating Urgency

Showing stock levels, especially when inventory is low, can create a sense of urgency among shoppers. This can encourage quicker purchasing decisions and potentially boost sales.

Improving User Experience

Displaying stock information upfront allows customers to make informed decisions without the frustration of discovering an item is out of stock later in the purchasing process.

Managing Expectations

By clearly showing how many items are left, you set realistic expectations for your customers regarding product availability.

Implementing Stock Level Display on Collection Pages

Accessing Theme Files

To begin, you’ll need to access your theme files:

1. Log in to your Shopify admin panel
2. Navigate to “Online Store” > “Themes”
3. Find your current theme and click “Actions” > “Edit code”

Modifying the Product Grid Item

Once in the theme editor, follow these steps:

1. Locate the product-grid-item.liquid file
2. Find the appropriate section to add the stock level display (usually around line 28)
3. Insert the following code snippet:

{% if product.first_available_variant.inventory_quantity > 0 %}
  <div class="items-left">
    Left {{ product.first_available_variant.inventory_quantity }}
  </div>
{% endif %}

Styling the Stock Level Display

To style the stock level indicator:

1. Open the timber.scss.liquid file
2. Scroll to the bottom of the file
3. Add the following CSS:

.items-left {
  position: absolute;
  bottom: 20px;
  background: #ccc;
  padding: 4px 5px;
  z-index: 3;
  border-radius: 0 5px 5px 0;
  font-size: 12px;
  font-weight: bold;
  box-shadow: 0 0 1px #ddd;
}

Displaying Stock Levels on Product Pages

Challenges with Product Pages

Implementing stock level display on product pages can be more complex, especially for products with variants. It often requires JavaScript modifications to update the inventory quantity when variants are selected.

Basic Implementation

For products without variants, you can add a similar code snippet to your product template file. However, for a more robust solution that works with variants, you may need to consider custom JavaScript or a Shopify app.

Advanced Stock Level Display Techniques

Showing Total Inventory Across Variants

For products with multiple variants, you might want to display the total inventory instead of individual variant quantities. Here’s a code snippet that achieves this:

<div id="variant-inventory">
  {% assign total = 0 %}
  {% for variant in product.variants %}
    {% capture i %}{{ total | plus:variant.inventory_quantity }}{% endcapture %}
    {% assign total = i %}
  {% endfor %}
  {% unless total > '3' %}
    <div class="items-left">{{ total }} in stock</div>
  {% endunless %}
</div>

This code calculates the total inventory across all variants and displays it if the total is 3 or less.

Customizing the Threshold

You can easily adjust the threshold for when the stock level is displayed. In the code above, change the number ‘3’ to your desired threshold.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Stock Not Displaying

If you’ve implemented the code but don’t see the stock levels:

1. Ensure you’ve added the code to the correct file
2. Check that your products have inventory tracking enabled
3. Verify that the inventory quantities are set correctly in your Shopify admin

Styling Conflicts

If the stock level display doesn’t look right:

1. Inspect the element using your browser’s developer tools
2. Check for any conflicting CSS styles
3. Adjust the CSS in the timber.scss.liquid file as needed

Enhancing Your Stock Level Display

Using Color Coding

Consider adding color-coding to your stock level display. For example:

.items-left {
  /* ... existing styles ... */
  color: white;
}

.items-left.low-stock {
  background: #ff0000;
}

.items-left.medium-stock {
  background: #ffa500;
}

.items-left.high-stock {
  background: #008000;
}

Then modify your Liquid code to add the appropriate class based on the inventory level.

Implementing Localization

If your store serves multiple languages, consider using Shopify’s translation features to display stock levels in the customer’s preferred language.

By implementing these techniques, you can effectively display stock levels on your Shopify store’s collection and product pages. This not only improves the shopping experience for your customers but can also help drive sales by creating a sense of urgency for low-stock items. Remember to test thoroughly after implementation and adjust as needed to fit your specific theme and store requirements.