> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.samita.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.samita.io/samita-countdown-timer-bar/stock-countdown/inventory.md).
# Inventory tracking and the stock slider
Choose where the stock number comes from, when the bar appears, and how the scarcity slider is scaled.
Three settings in the **Settings stock** section decide what a stock countdown actually reports: where the number comes from, when it's allowed to appear, and how full the slider looks.
The three settings that control what the stock countdown reports.
## Inventory tracking method
### Variant's Quantity
The default. The message reports the stock of the variant the shopper currently has selected, and updates as they switch between them.
Use this when variants sell at different rates — which is most of the time. A shopper looking at size XL should see XL's stock, not a total that's propped up by a well-stocked size M.
### Product's Quantity
Reports the product's stock across all its variants as a single figure.
Use this when the product is the unit that sells out, or when variant-level numbers would be misleadingly small — a print available in three frame options, where what matters is how many prints are left.
### Estimated Quantity (Not using shopify for inventory)
For stores that don't track inventory in Shopify. Instead of reading a real figure, the app generates a number between a **Min** and a **Max** you set. The defaults are 10 and 100.
{% hint style="warning" %}
This number isn't your stock — it's a number in a range you chose. Shopify's App Store rules expect urgency features to reflect real conditions, and shoppers who compare two products and see implausible figures notice. Use it only where you genuinely can't read inventory, and keep the range defensible.
{% endhint %}
## The low-stock threshold
**Only show if stock qty is equal or less than** takes a number — 10 by default — and hides the countdown entirely while stock is above it.
This is the setting that keeps the message credible. "Almost sold out" on a product with 350 units in stock teaches shoppers to discount everything else your site tells them.
Pick a threshold that matches how the product sells:
| Product sells… | A sensible threshold |
| --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| A few a week | 3–5 |
| Steadily, a few a day | 10–20 |
| In volume | Higher, or use a per-collection countdown with its own threshold |
{% hint style="info" %}
One threshold doesn't fit a whole catalogue. Create separate stock countdowns for different collections and give each the threshold that suits it — see [Display conditions](/samita-countdown-timer-bar/where-countdowns-appear/conditions.md).
{% endhint %}
## The stock slider
**Use stock slider** adds a bar under the message showing the remaining stock against a total, described in the app as "Create a sense of urgency by showing the real stock quantity vs total stock".
The total defaults to 100. It's the value the bar is scaled against, not a reading of anything — remaining stock of 7 against a total of 100 draws a nearly empty bar.
Choose the total to match the threshold you set, so the bar tells the same story as the number:
* Threshold 10, total 100 → the bar is always nearly empty. Dramatic, but it says the same thing whether 9 or 2 are left.
* Threshold 10, total 20 → the bar moves visibly as stock falls from 9 to 2. More informative.
{% hint style="info" %}
A slider whose bar never moves stops carrying information. If shoppers see the same near-empty bar on every product, set the total closer to your threshold.
{% endhint %}
## Colors and animation
The **Design** section styles the result: **Alignment**, and separate colors for the message text, the slider, the stock figure, and the background.
**Animation** offers **None**, **Flash**, or **Pulse**. Both animated options repeat indefinitely while the shopper is on the page, so try the whole page before committing — on a product page with a carousel and a sticky bar, a third moving element is one too many.
## Next steps
* [Create a stock countdown](/samita-countdown-timer-bar/stock-countdown/create.md)
* [Stock countdown overview](/samita-countdown-timer-bar/stock-countdown/overview.md)
* [Design a countdown](/samita-countdown-timer-bar/design-and-translation/design.md)
* [Display conditions](/samita-countdown-timer-bar/where-countdowns-appear/conditions.md)
---
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