Out-of-stock alerts for food delivery, sent with every refresh
Out-of-stock alerts for food delivery are short notices that tell your team when something on delivery apps needs action, such as your items showing as unavailable, availability dropping, a combo rate falling or a competitor gaining listings; they are sent with each monthly data refresh, in selected markets. Know the month your product drops off a menu, not the quarter after: the people who can act get the change and the outlet list, without opening a dashboard.
The trusted intelligence layer for teams selling to Hospitality & Retail
Know what changed without opening the dashboard
Most eCommerce teams do not lack data; they lack time to look at it. A dashboard that is opened only before a quarterly review shows a delisting three months after it happened. By then the outlet has been selling a competitor all quarter.
Alerts turn the question around. Instead of you checking the data, the data tells you when a number you care about moves past a line you set. The questions alerts answer:
- Did my availability drop in any city or on any app since the last refresh?
- Did a key account remove my product from its combos?
- Is a competitor suddenly listed in many new outlets?
- Did listing quality slip, with images or names going missing?
Alerts you can set
Each alert has a measure, a scope and a threshold you choose:
| Alert | Fires when | What comes with it |
|---|---|---|
| Availability drop | Your share of category outlets listing you falls by more than your threshold, in a city or on an app | The outlets that delisted you |
| Key account delisting | A SKU disappears from locations of a named account | The locations and the SKU |
| Out of stock | Your items show as unavailable at more outlets than your threshold, on apps that mark items unavailable | The outlets and the items |
| Combo rate decline | Your combo inclusion rate falls in a city or at an account | The outlets whose combos dropped you |
| Competitor spike | A competitor gains listings or combos above your threshold | The outlets it entered |
| Listing quality slip | Image or name compliance falls | The listings that changed |
Thresholds can be set as a change in percentage points or as a number of outlets, so a small city does not trigger an alert on two outlets.
Who gets which alert
Alerts work when they reach the person who can act, and only that person:
- Key account managers get the delisting and combo alerts for their own accounts.
- Country or city leads get availability and competitor alerts for their market.
- The eCommerce lead gets a short digest of everything that fired, as a read on where the channel moved.
Alerts arrive with each data refresh, which is monthly. Available in selected markets. Ask us about yours. For the full picture behind an alert, the same lists are in listing and availability tracking and combo and meal deal tracking.
Worked example: one digest, three actions
After the latest refresh, the eCommerce lead for a soft drink brand in one country receives this digest:
| Alert | Change since last refresh | Sent to |
|---|---|---|
| Availability drop, first city, one delivery app | 64% to 57% of category outlets, 48 outlets delisted | First city lead |
| Combo rate decline, a burger chain account | 48% to 39% of locations with your brand in a combo | Key account manager |
| Competitor spike, second city | A rival brand listed in 85 new outlets | Second city lead |
The first city lead opens the 48 outlets: 31 belong to one group that changed its drinks supplier, which is one conversation. The key account manager finds that the chain launched a new meal deal with the rival brand as the only drink, and raises it at the next account call with the location list attached. The second city lead checks the 85 outlets and finds most are new listings on the app, not switches, so they go onto the new-listing list for the field team.
What alerts are not
Alerts arrive with each monthly data refresh. They report what changed on the menus, not why: a delisting can be a supplier switch, a menu clean-up or an out-of-stock, and the outlet list is where you find out.
Frequently asked questions
Are delivery app alerts instant?
No. Alerts come with each monthly data refresh, and each one is dated.
What can I get alerts on?
You can get alerts on availability drops, key account delistings, combo rate declines, competitor spikes and listing quality slips, each for the cities, apps and accounts you choose.
Can I get an alert when my product is out of stock on a delivery app?
Yes, on apps that mark items as unavailable: the alert lists the outlets where your items showed as unavailable at the latest refresh, above the threshold you set. It reports what the app showed at that check, not the cause.
Can I set my own thresholds?
Yes. You choose how big a change must be before an alert reaches you, so small cities do not raise alerts on tiny changes.
Who receives the alerts?
You choose. Most teams send account alerts to key account managers, market alerts to country or city leads, and a digest of everything to the eCommerce lead.
Is alerting available in every market?
Available in selected markets. Ask us about yours.
Do alerts tell me why my availability dropped?
Alerts tell you what changed and where, with the outlet list. The reason, such as a supplier switch or a menu clean-up, comes from looking at those outlets or asking them.
Related reading
The business case for your Head of eCommerce
When the question is whether alerts are worth setting up, three points:
- Faster reaction: delistings, lost combos and competitor gains reach the responsible person at the next refresh, not at the next quarterly review.
- Less time in dashboards: the team acts on the changes that cross a line, with the outlet list attached, instead of searching for them.
- Clear ownership: each alert goes to the manager who owns the account or market, so nothing waits for someone to notice.