# Guide

## How to create an alert on Merchbees?

### Step 1: Open the Create Alert Wizard

1. Go to **List Alerts** page in your Merchbees dashboard.
2. Click **Create Alert**.
3. Open the **Filter and input thresholds** tab (first tab).

***

{% hint style="info" %}
**Tab 1 - Filter and input thresholds**

In **Filter and input thresholds** tab , you need to define your items based on your needs and set your thresholds.
{% endhint %}

### Step 2: Define Which Products You Want to Track

####  👉🏻 If you want to track **all products**

 You don’t need to use any filters. On default, all items are selected.

#### 👉🏻 If you want to track **only selected products**, you have two options:

**Option A — Select products using Filters**

1. Click **Add Filter**.
2. Choose a filter type (e.g., Product, Variant, Vendor, Tag, Product Type, Location).
3. Select the values you want.

> If you add multiple filters, only products that match **all filters** will be included.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Useful Filtering Options**

* **Location**\
  Use the *Location* filter to track stock per location.
* **Exclusion filters**\
  You can exclude products using **Tag, Product Type, Product, or Variant** filters
  {% endhint %}

**Option B — Select products using Excel (Bulk Excel Upload)**

1. Click **Bulk Excel Upload**.
2. Download the file (it will include the products currently in your table).
3. Keep only the products you want to track (or leave others without thresholds—see hint below).
4. Upload the updated file.

### Step 3: Set Thresholds

#### 👉🏻 If you want to apply the same threshold to all products

Enter values in only:

* **Default Min** – minimum stock threshold
* **Default Max** – optional, used for automatic reorder calculations

#### 👉🏻 If you want to set product-specific thresholds, you have two options

**Option A — Set thresholds directly in the table**

* Enter threshold values for individual products.

**Option B — Set thresholds via Excel (Bulk Excel Upload)**

1. Click **Bulk Excel Upload**.
2. Download the Excel file.
3. Enter threshold values in Excel.
4. Upload the file again.

{% hint style="info" %}

#### How Default Thresholds Work

* If a product does not have a specific threshold, Merchbees applies the **Default Min / Default Max** values.
* If **Default thresholds are empty** and the product has **no specific threshold**, **no alert email will be sent** for that product — even if it appears in the table.
  {% endhint %}

### Step 4: Configure Advanced Settings (Optional)

Click **Advanced Settings** if you need more control.

Here you can:

1. Enable **incoming stock consideration** for low-stock alerts
2. Switch from **variant-based tracking** to **total product inventory tracking**

Click **Continue** to move to the **Frequency** tab.

***

{% hint style="info" %}
**Tab 2 - Frequency**

In Frequency tab, you define **how often** your alert should run and **when** notifications should be sent.
{% endhint %}

### Step 5: Define Alert Frequency

#### Alert Sending Frequency

You can choose to receive notifications **instantly (real-time)** or as **scheduled reports** (daily, weekly, or monthly).

👉🏻 **Instant (Real-Time Alerts)**

Select **Instant** if you want to be notified **immediately** when an inventory level changes.

* Inventory levels are tracked **in real time**.
* When a stock change matches your alert conditions, a notification is sent instantly.
* Each notification includes **only one item**, since it is triggered by a single stock change.
* After you receive a notification for an item, you will **not receive another notification for the same item** until its stock level goes **above the threshold again** (or the alert is edited).

This option is ideal if you want to react quickly to low stock situations.

👉🏻 **Scheduled (Daily / Weekly / Monthly Reports)**

Select **Scheduled** if you prefer to receive **summary reports** instead of real-time notifications.

* Choose how often the alert should run: **daily, weekly, or monthly**.
* Select the **day(s)** and **time** you want to receive notifications.
* At the selected time, you will receive **one notification** that includes **all low stock items**, based on your alert settings.

**Optional Frequency Settings ( for only scheduled)**

* **Send notification only if there is at least one item**\
  When enabled, the system will not send an email or Slack message if there are no items matching your alert. This helps prevent empty notifications.
* **Do not send the same items in the following reports until the item’s stock is higher than the threshold again**\
  When enabled, items that already appeared in a scheduled report will not be included again until their stock level goes above the threshold. This prevents repeated notifications for the same low-stock items.

Click **Continue** to move to the **Notification** tab.

***

{% hint style="info" %}
**Tab 3 - Notification** 

In this step, you define **how** and **where** you want to receive notifications from Merchbees.
{% endhint %}

### Step 6: Notification Details

#### Choose Notification Channel

👉🏻 **Email**

When selected, Merchbees sends alert notifications via **email**.

* **Recipients**\
  This is the **To** field of the email.\
  Enter one or more valid email addresses and press **Enter** after each one.
* **Email Subject**\
  This is the **Subject** line of the email notification.
* **Customize Email**\
  You can customize the email content using:

  * The built-in editor, or
  * Your own custom HTML

  You may also use **Handlebars variables** to personalize the content.\
  A custom email template can be provided upon request — please contact **support** for details.
* **CSV Attachment**\
  Enable this option if you want the system to attach a **CSV file** containing low-stock items to the email.\
  This is useful if you want to sort, analyze, or process data in **Excel or spreadsheets**.
* **Send from your own email address (SMTP)**\
  If you want emails to be sent from your **company email address** instead of `info@merchbees.com`, enable this option.

  To use this feature, you must configure **SMTP settings** on the Settings page.\
  For more information, refer to the documentation: <https://docs.merchbees.com/setting-up-smtp>
* **Sort Type**\
  Select how items should be **sorted in the email** (for example, by stock level, product name, etc.).

👉🏻 **Slack**

When selected, Merchbees sends alert notifications to **Slack**.

1. Click **Add to Slack**.
2. Choose the Slack workspace and channel.
3. Low-stock items will be sent directly to the selected channel.

#### Alert Name

* Enter a name for your alert.
* This helps you easily **identify and manage alerts**, especially if you have multiple alerts.

**As a final step, click Submit to save your alert.**

**Your alert is ready! From now on, you’ll stay ahead of low stock and never miss a sale again.**


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