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First-time Setup & First Detection

What happens after install, when data appears, and how to run your first detection with confidence.

Last updated: February 21, 2026

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Right after installing StockSweep, the app needs time to import your sales history before detection can produce accurate results. This guide walks you through what happens automatically and the steps to get your first actionable dead stock list.

Estimated time: 5–10 minutes

What you'll accomplish

  • Know exactly what happens during the first hour after install
  • Confirm detection settings (threshold + auto-detection schedule)
  • Run your first detection and validate results
  • Know what to do if you see "sync in progress" or "no data"

Requirements

  • Shopify store admin access
  • StockSweep installed and opened at least once
  • At least some order history (new stores with no orders will legitimately show "no data")

What happens after install

Step 1 — Initial sales history sync (automatic)

Immediately after install, StockSweep queues a background job to import your last 90 days of Shopify order history. This is required so detection has enough sales data to produce meaningful results without waiting weeks for new orders.

How it works:

  • Orders are imported in batches of 50 at a time to respect Shopify API rate limits
  • For each order, StockSweep records the last sale date per variant
  • The UI shows sync progress: orders processed and variants updated

What you will see in the UI during sync:

  • A status indicator showing "Syncing..." or "Import in progress" with a progress percentage
  • Dashboard numbers and charts filling in gradually as data arrives
  • The "Run Detection" button is temporarily disabled until sync completes (to prevent false results from incomplete data)

Important: Large stores (10,000+ orders in 90 days) can take longer due to Shopify rate limits. This is normal — progress will advance steadily.

Step 2 — Real-time sales tracking begins

In parallel with the initial sync, StockSweep registers Shopify webhooks for orders/created and orders/paid events. From this point forward, every new sale updates the "last sold" date for the relevant variants in real time — you never need to re-import manually.

Step 3 — Confirm detection settings

  1. Open Settings → Detection
  2. Turn on Auto-detection (recommended — runs daily at 2:00 AM)
  3. Pick a threshold:
    • 60 days — recommended for most stores
    • 30 days — more aggressive, catches slow sellers earlier
    • 90 days — more conservative, reduces noise for seasonal inventory

Quick checklist (before you run detection)

  • Initial sync status shows Completed (not "In progress" or "Queued")
  • Threshold is set to 30, 60, or 90 days
  • Auto-detection is enabled
  • You have not applied filters on the dead stock list that might hide results

Step 4 — Run your first detection

Click the "Run Detection" button on the Dashboard page. This button is available once the initial sync is complete.

What happens:

  1. StockSweep evaluates every variant with inventory on hand against your threshold
  2. Items where days without sale >= threshold are flagged as dead stock
  3. Results populate the Dead Stock table and all dashboard metric cards
  4. Color-coded severity badges appear: yellow (30–59 days), orange (60–89 days), red (90+ days)

Detection typically completes within a few seconds to a few minutes depending on your catalog size.

What success looks like

You are "set up and ready" when:

  • System Status shows sync as Completed and last detection run has a recent timestamp
  • The Dashboard shows metric cards with numbers (frozen capital, dead stock count, average days without sale)
  • The Dead Stock Table loads with results (or shows "0 results" if your store genuinely has no qualifying items)
  • The Aging Bucket chart displays distribution across 0–30, 31–60, 61–90, and 90+ day segments

Troubleshooting (symptom-first)

"Sales history sync is still running after a long time"

Likely cause: large store with many orders — Shopify rate limits slow the import. Fix: wait and refresh periodically. Check the progress percentage — if it is advancing, the sync is working normally. How to confirm: orders processed count increases over time. Status eventually changes to Completed.

"Run Detection button is disabled"

Likely cause: initial sync has not completed yet. Detection is intentionally blocked to prevent false results from incomplete data. Fix: wait for sync to complete, then the button will become active. How to confirm: sync status shows Completed and the button is clickable.

"Detection is already running"

Likely cause: you clicked "Run Detection" while a previous run is still processing. Fix: wait a few minutes. Avoid starting multiple runs back-to-back. How to confirm: the dead stock list updates and the "last detection run" timestamp changes.

"No data / empty dashboard"

Likely cause: sync not finished, nothing qualifies at your current threshold, or filters hide results. Fix: see No data / Empty dashboard for the full checklist. How to confirm: results appear after sync completes or after lowering the threshold temporarily.

FAQ

When does auto-detection run?

Auto-detection runs daily at 2:00 AM in your store's timezone. You can also run detection manually at any time from the Dashboard.

I changed the threshold — do I need to re-run detection manually?

No. Changing the threshold automatically triggers a re-detection run within 1 hour, so results will reflect your new sensitivity without manual action.

What if my store is brand new with no order history?

StockSweep will show an empty dashboard, which is correct — there is no dead stock to detect if there are no historical sales. As orders come in, detection will start flagging items that stop selling.

How often should I check the dashboard?

Once per week is enough for most stores. Enable email digests (daily or weekly) to get a summary delivered to your inbox — see Email Digests.