Stock FOMO

Create Instant Urgency With Stock-Based Messaging

When customers can literally see that an item is running low or just sold out, they make decisions faster. Stock FOMO brings that same real-time feedback to your product pages by turning your existing SureCart inventory into clear, timely messages your customers can rely on. Whether you’re promoting limited drops, managing fast sellers, or simply adding some helpful transparency to your store, these notices give shoppers a better sense of what’s happening right now so they feel confident moving forward.

Configuring Stock FOMO Inside The Plugin

Once you open the Marketing For SureCart settings and click the Stock FOMO tab, you’ll see separate tabs for everything this feature offers. These include Products, Stock Notice, Badges, Meter Bar, and Thresholds and Colors. Each tab controls its own part of the feature, making setup straightforward and easy to navigate.

Choose Which Products Use Stock FOMO

You’re always in control of where Stock FOMO appears, and it all starts in the Products tab. Here, you can choose exactly which SureCart products these features should apply to. Select all products if you want Stock FOMO to run storewide, or narrow it down to specific items or collections. Only the products you choose here will display the notices, badges, and meter bar, which makes it perfect for limited releases, seasonal items, or handpicked bestsellers.

Turning On And Configuring Stock Notices

Once you’ve chosen which items should use this feature, enabling the notice is as simple as switching it on. From there, the system automatically checks the product’s inventory in SureCart, and the message appears only when the product is actively tracking stock and has a defined quantity. You never need to manually update anything, because the messages respond entirely to the real stock level in the background.

Deciding Where The Message Appears On The Page

Every product layout is a bit different, so you get full control over where the notice should sit. Some stores prefer it right above the product description to catch attention early, while others place it below to keep things subtle until the customer begins considering adding to their cart. You’re free to choose the position that feels the most natural for your design and the tone you want to convey.

Writing a Helpful Low-Stock Message

This is where you can add a personal voice to your store. Your low-stock message appears when the product is still available but starting to run thin, and it’s a great chance to gently encourage shoppers to act sooner rather than later. You can use the {stock_quantity} variable to automatically pull in the exact number remaining, which adds credibility and a stronger sense of urgency without sounding pushy.

Showing a Clear Sold-Out Message When Inventory Hits Zero

The tone naturally shifts once an item sells out completely. Instead of a low-stock prompt, customers see your out-of-stock message, which helps reduce frustration and sets expectations. Some store owners use this area to reassure people that restocks are on the way, suggest similar products, or just clearly acknowledge that the item is unavailable for the moment.

Bold, Flexible Stock Badges That Stand Out Anywhere

Badges are the fastest way to make shoppers instantly aware of low inventory or sold-out items. They’re visual, compact, and incredibly effective, especially for shoppers who scan quickly through grids, lists, or long product pages. With complete control over where badges appear, how they look, and what they say, you can customize the urgency to fit your brand and layout.

Once you open the Badges tab in the Stock FOMO settings, you’ll see options that make everything easy to configure. Whether you want badges only on product pages, only in your shop grid, or everywhere at once, you control exactly where they display and what they say.

Show Badges Exactly Where You Want Them

You decide where the low-stock and out-of-stock badges appear:

On the product page:

Turn on badges for individual product pages when you want them front and center for shoppers who are fully exploring a product.

The badge placement on the product page is completely flexible, and you can place them above the product title for high visibility (default), or you can move them below the price, description, etc.

On shop and archive pages:

Great for quicker browsing, badges can also appear in store grids, category archives, search results, or any layout using a product loop. Shoppers instantly know what’s running low without clicking into each product.

On shop and archive pages, the badges are placed in the top corner of the featured image, which is standard and looks nice.

Write Badge Text That Matches Your Brand

You control the full message displayed in each badge. For example:

• “Only {stock_quantity} left!” for low stock
• “Out of stock” when inventory hits zero

You can switch them to something softer, louder, more playful, or longer, whatever fits your voice. Dynamic variables like {stock_quantity} allow the badge to stay up to date automatically.

Full Badge Shortcode Support For Custom Layouts

If you’re designing landing pages or completely custom templates, you can place a badge anywhere using the shortcode (see below) using these attributes:

show_badge=”true”
badge_low_text=””
badge_out_text=””

This lets you, for example, show the badge near your hero image while placing the meter or notice somewhere else. Every piece is modular, and you can use multiple shortcodes on the same page if needed.

A Customizable Visual Meter Bar That Builds Real Urgency

If you want to go beyond text and badges, the stock meter bar provides shoppers with a clear visual snapshot of how much inventory remains. It instantly communicates urgency without feeling aggressive, and it works beautifully for both low-stock nudges and sold-out messages. Think of it as a progress bar for inventory — clean, modern, and extremely effective.

Inside the Meter Bar tab of the Stock FOMO settings, you’ll find simple controls and previews that show how your bar will look and behave as stock levels change.

Enable the Meter Bar on the Product Page

The meter bar is designed specifically for the product page, sitting right within the core purchase flow. You can toggle it on or off depending on your preferences for your specific store.

Because every store layout is different, you can choose exactly where the meter sits in the product page structure. Whether you want it below the description or above the Add to Cart button, the placement dropdown gives you clear options.

Style the Meter Bar to Match Your Preferences

This is where the fun part comes in! The meter bar gives you a highly visual way to show progress toward low-stock levels on the product page. It’s fully customizable so you can match your store’s style and decide exactly how bold or subtle the indicator should be.

• Bar Thickness – Choose the prominence of the meter with Thin (subtle), Medium (default, balanced), or Thick (bold and eye-catching).
• Bar Style – Control the visual fill of the bars by selecting either a single-color Solid fill, Striped for extra emphasis, or Gradient for a smooth, elegant look.
• Animation Options – Add motion by animating the bar into place when the page loads, drawing immediate attention with Animate on Load for an initial effect or Animate Continuously to bar pulses or move  on a loop, keeping the customer’s eye on stock levels.

Dynamic Labels for Low Stock and Sold Out

The meter bar automatically switches between your two states:

Optionally Show Stock Meter Bar Label

Choose to display the label above the stock meter bar. If disabled, only the meter bar will be shown without any text above it. This is optional and serves a similar purpose to the Low Stock Notice Message, so it is generally not needed to use both at the same time.

Low Stock Label

Customize the exact phrasing customers see when inventory is running low.
Use variables like {stock_quantity} and {stock_total} to show real counts.
Example: “Only {stock_quantity} of {stock_total} remaining.”

Out-of-Stock Label

Displayed instantly when a product hits zero inventory.
Use {product_name} to personalize it.
Example: “{product_name} is currently sold out.”

These labels keep your messaging accurate and fully on-brand.

Full Stock Reference For Meter Bar

The meter bar requires you to set a reference stock value used to calculate the meter bar fill amount. This number is not the actual current stock, but rather it is simply used to determine how filled the meter bar appears relative to the current stock. This does not affect the thresholds you set in the settings; it simply represents the bar’s full amount. So if you have 5 items left, and you set the stock refercen to 100, the bar would fill 25%. If you set the stock refence to 10, then the bar would fill 50%.

Shortcode Support for Complete Layout Freedom

If you’re building custom pages, hero sections, comparison tables, or advanced layouts, you can drop the meter anywhere using the provided shortcode (see below) and use attributes for the meter bar such as:

show_meter=”true”
meter_low_label=””
meter_out_label=””

This gives you total control. Want the badge near the title, the notice near the button, and the meter under a feature list? No problem! Each can be placed independently with its own shortcode.

Thresholds and Colors

Control exactly when your stock notices, badges, and meter bars appear, and how they look, so every visual cue feels consistent, clear, and on-brand.

Set Smart Thresholds

Decide when each notice, badge, or meter bar should trigger based on your inventory. You can define a low-stock threshold to start showing urgency messages early (“Only 10 left”) or wait until the final items remain (“Only 3 left”). The out-of-stock threshold automatically triggers when inventory hits zero. These settings apply across notices, badges, and the meter bar, keeping everything perfectly synced.

Choose Colors That Fit Your Store

Colors make a difference when creating urgency. Pick tones for low stock, out of stock, and the meter bar fill that suit your store’s design. Keep it subtle with neutral shades, bold for high-impact urgency, or match your brand colors.

These options make it easy to ensure your Stock FOMO indicators are noticeable, consistent, and integrated seamlessly into your store’s look and feel.

Using The Stock FOMO Shortcode Beyond The Product Page

If you’re building custom landing pages, promotional layouts, or product highlights outside the default SureCart template, you can still display all Stock FOMO elements with the [surelywp_product_stock] shortcode. Just include the product ID, and you can show the stock notice messages, meter bar, and badges exactly as they appear on the main product page.

You can even control each element individually using the show_notice, show_meter, and show_badge attributes, and override the text for any notice, meter label, or badge for that instance. This makes it easy to highlight low stock, sold-out status, or visually emphasize urgency wherever you want in your design, without being limited to the default product template. This flexibility allows you to display each Stock FOMO element exactly where and how you want, making it easy to highlight stock urgency on any custom layout or page.

Example usage:

[surelywp_product_stock
product_id=”123″
show_notice=”true”
show_meter=”true”
show_badge=”false”
low_message=”Hurry, only {stock_quantity} left!”
out_message=”Sorry, {product_name} is currently out of stock.”
meter_low_label=”Only {stock_quantity} of {stock_total} remaining”
meter_out_label=”{product_name} is sold out”
badge_low_text=”Only {stock_quantity} left!”
badge_out_text=”Out of stock”
]

Instant Checkout Pages

Stock urgency shouldn’t stop at the product page. With support for SureCart Instant Checkout pages, you can also display your stock notices, badges, and meter bars directly where the purchase decision happens, reinforcing urgency at the most critical moment.

Keep Urgency Visible At The Point Of Purchase

Whether customers land directly on an instant checkout link or move quickly through your funnel, your low stock and sold-out messaging stays visible and consistent. Notices, badges, and meter bars all carry over seamlessly, helping customers clearly understand availability without needing to navigate away.

Fully Compatible With Your Existing Settings

All Stock FOMO elements on instant checkout pages use your existing thresholds, colors, and display settings. There’s nothing new to configure, and everything stays perfectly in sync with your product page experience, making this a natural extension of your current setup.