When you sell products in eCom (E-Series), you can set a rule for how items should appear when their stock reaches zero:

• Show out-of-stock on storefront: The default setting your products get when you create an online store. When stock reaches zero, customers will still see the product and its variations in your store, but won’t be able to purchase them, as the Buy Now or Add to Bag button will be hidden. The product will have a Sold Out label to indicate zero quantity.
• Hide out-of-stock from storefront: Products won’t appear in your store until they are in stock again. If the product has variations, the out-of-stock variation will be greyed out and unselectable. For example, if you're out of blue skirts in size L, shoppers won’t be able to select "L" after choosing the "blue" color.
• Show out-of-stock on storefront and allow customers to pre-order.

You can change the default out-of-stock behavior on the Cart & Checkout page in your eCom admin. Once updated, all new products created afterwards will have the specified behavior. You can also change the behavior for existing products and their variants from the Catalog > Products page.

Changing default out-of-stock behavior for new products in eCom

When you create an online store, the Show out-of-stock on storefront behavior is enabled by default. This means new products with or without variations added to your catalog will appear on your website when their stock reaches 0, but they won’t be available for purchase.

To change the default out-of-stock behavior that will apply to all new products and their variations afterwards:

1. In your eCom admin, navigate to Settings > Cart & Checkout.
2. In the Default out of stock products behavior dropdown, select your option.
3. Save the changes.

Now when you create a new product and specify its quantity in stock, the behavior you specified on the Cart & Checkout page will apply.

If you had products in your store before changing the default setting, the new behavior won’t apply to existing products automatically. You can assign the same behavior to multiple products in bulk, or assign different behaviors to multiple products in bulk.

Changing out-of-stock behavior for existing products in bulk

You can change out-of-stock behavior for a product or its variation in bulk using the Mass Update tool. The tool allows you to apply the same behavior for any number of products and their variations.

To change the out-of-stock behavior for products and variations in bulk:

1. In your eCom admin, navigate to Catalog > Products.
2. Select products to edit.
3. Click Mass Update > Update Stock > Set out-of-stock behavior for Products or Set out-of-stock behavior for Variations and select the rule.
4. Click Change to save changes.

Now selected products will have the behavior you’ve specified.

Assigning different behavior to different products in bulk

You can assign different behavior for different products and their variations in bulk to ensure specific items or their variations have their own unique behavior that differs from your default behavior.

To assign different behavior for different products and variations in bulk:

1. In your eCom admin, navigate to Catalog > Products.
2. Check the boxes of products you want to update.

3. Click Bulk Edit Selected.

   

4. In the side menu on the left, click Inventory > Out-of-stock behavior.

   

5. In the corresponding column in the table, specify the behavior.
6. Click Save.

Changing the out-of-stock behavior for a specific product

All new products that you create in your store have the out-of-stock behavior that is specified on the Cart & Checkout page. You can change behavior for specific products so that it differs from the default behavior.

To change out-of-stock behavior for a product:

1. In your eCom admin, navigate to Catalog > Products.
2. Next to the product you want to edit, click Edit Product.

3. Scroll to the Stock Control section on the right, then use the When out of stock dropdown to select the behavior.

   

4. Click Save.

The behavior you set for a specific product overrides the default behavior applied across your catalog.

You can set up the same behavior for several products in bulk, or specify different behavior for different products in bulk.

Setting up out-of-stock behavior for a product variation

Product variations are groups of similar products that have different combinations of options, such as size or color. Examples include shirts that come in different colors and sizes or candles that come in different scents.

You can specify the behavior for out of stock variations to:

• Show on storefront
• Make inactive on the storefront
• Show and allow pre-order

To set up the out-of-stock behavior for a product variation:

1. In your eCom admin, navigate to Catalog > Products.
2. Next to the product you want to edit, click Edit Product.

3. Click the Options tab.

   

4. Click Variations.

   

5. Click the pencil icon near the variant you want to edit.

6. Click the arrow under Stock Control.

   

7. Click the When out of stock dropdown and select the behavior for the unavailable variant.
8. Click Ok > Save.

The behavior you set up for that specific product variation overrides the default behavior applied across your catalog.

You can set up the same behavior for several products in bulk, or specify different behavior for different products in bulk.