How to add ‘Notify Me When Available’ for any product on your Shopify store
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How do you keep customers engaged when your bestsellers run out? Many shoppers click away the moment they see 'Out-of-Stock', leaving brands with lost demand and zero visibility. But it does not have to be this way.
By adding preorders, backorders, or restock alerts, you can give customers the chance to secure products before they return to shelves. This lets you capture intent right when it is strongest, ensuring customers stay connected until your inventory is ready. Done right, these tools can transform stockout problems into revenue opportunities.
In this blog, we explain the importance of the ‘Notify Me When Available’ feature and how STOQ makes it easy to launch waitlists and manage preorders, all while matching your brand’s style and needs.
What is ‘Notify Me When Available’ on Shopify?
The ‘Notify Me When Available’ option on Shopify lets shoppers request an alert when an out-of-stock product comes back. It usually appears as a button or form on the product page, where customers enter their email or phone number. Once the item is restocked, an automated email, SMS, or push notification is sent.
For example, imagine a customer wants to buy a specific ceramic coffee mug from your store, but it's currently sold out. They can enter their email address next to the product. As soon as you restock that mug, Shopify automatically sends them a message letting them know it’s ready to buy.
Now, do note that this ‘notify me when back in stock’ feature isn’t built into Shopify by default. You may have to rely on third-party apps to enable such buttons.
Fun Fact: Research from Barilliance shows that these emails achieve the highest open rates of any campaign type, reaching about 65%. The impact does not stop there. Barilliance also reported that back-in-stock messages convert at an average rate of 14%, compared to just over 8% across all other email campaigns. This makes them one of the most effective tools for turning interest into sales!
Why adding ‘Notify Me When Available’ is essential for your store?
Adding a ‘Notify Me When Available’ option on your store can turn out-of-stock into a smart opportunity that benefits both your customers and your brand. Wondering how? Read below:
- Creates a valuable pre-order waitlist
This feature automatically builds a highly targeted list of potential buyers. Each email address represents a confirmed, ready-to-purchase customer for a specific product.
Not to mention, this list is incredibly valuable for gauging demand before you place a large restock order. In other words, you can use this data to make smarter inventory decisions, ensure you prioritize items with the highest number of waiting customers, and reduce the risk of overstocking less popular products.
- Builds immediate trust and customer confidence
Showing a 'Notify Me' option can help build immediate trust. It communicates to your customers that you are organized and proactive about restocking. This transparency tells them you value their interest enough to keep them informed, rather than leaving them to guess if an item will return.
- Enhances SEO and user experience signals
From an SEO perspective, a 'Shopify notify me when this product is available’ option improves key user experience metrics on a product page. It gives visitors a positive action to take, which can reduce the page's bounce rate, a signal Google considers when ranking pages.
Keeping users engaged on your site, even when a product is unavailable, shows search engines that your page provides value. This can help maintain the page's search visibility until the item is back in stock, protecting your organic search rankings.
- Higher conversion rates
The primary business benefit is the generation of guaranteed sales. The automated email sent upon restock goes directly to a warm lead who has already expressed a strong intent to buy. This results in a high conversion rate, often significantly higher than a standard marketing newsletter.
It effectively recovers sales that would have been permanently lost and provides a quick return on investment for your restocking efforts.
Read More: Stoq X Klaviyo: Secure Integration For Back In Stock & Preorder Emails
Key features to look for in ‘Notify Me When Available’ apps
Looking for the best app to alert customers when your products come back into stock? Here are the essential features to consider when selecting a solution for your store:
- Platform compatibility and easy setup
A strong app should integrate directly with your Shopify admin, allowing you to manage everything without any coding. Ideally, it must also easily integrate with Shopify POS, Flow, Pagefly, and other page builders.
Look for an app that lets you add a 'Notify Me' button or a preorder widget to your out-of-stock products in just a few minutes. This ease of use is crucial for store owners who want to implement a solution quickly and efficiently. Apps like STOQ are built for this, offering a straightforward setup process that gets your waitlists active right away.
- Email, SMS, and push notification options
The ability to reach customers through their preferred channel is key. While email alerts are standard, the best apps also support SMS and browser push notifications. This multi-channel approach ensures a higher delivery and open rate for your restock alerts
Pro-tip: Sending a back-in-stock SMS alert can be particularly effective for driving immediate purchases from waitlisted customers.
- Multi-language and theme support
For stores with a global audience, the app must communicate in your customers' language.
Full multi-language support ensures the sign-up form, buttons, and alert messages are displayed correctly. This is especially important for themes, as the widget must integrate visually without disrupting your store's design. Apps like STOQ support over twenty languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), and more, helping avoid any mismatch in experience.
- Customization
Your restock alerts should feel like a natural part of your store. Look for an app that allows deep customization of the notification button, the sign-up form, and the email or SMS templates sent to customers.
The ability to match your brand's colors, fonts, and tone of voice maintains a consistent shopping experience. STOQ, for example, provides extensive customization options to ensure everything from the preorder button to the alert message aligns with your brand identity.
- Integration with popular marketing tools
To maximize the value of your waitlist, your app should connect with important marketing platforms.
Integration with a popular tool like Klaviyo allows you to automatically sync your subscriber list. This lets you add these highly engaged leads to specific segments for future marketing campaigns, turning a simple restock notification into an actual, powerful customer retention tool.
- Analytics and GDPR compliance
Many merchants miss out on accounting for GDPR compliance, which can lead to significant legal risks. A strong 'Notify Me' app handles data collection and storage responsibly, ensuring customer information is managed in line with privacy regulations.
Also, a good analytical dashboard is non-negotiable, which provides insight into waitlist performance, shows demand levels, and conversion rates. Solutions like STOQ include built-in analytics to track these metrics and are designed with GDPR compliance from the start, helping you avoid potential issues while optimizing your restock strategy.
Remember, in the end, the best apps go beyond basic functionality to offer a super smooth experience for you and your shoppers always.
Read More: How To Sell Preorders On Shopify Without Losing Customers?
How to add ‘Notify Me When Available’ to a Shopify store using STOQ?
Let's assume you want to add a 'Notify Me When Available' button to your out-of-stock or pre-order products. This process is straightforward with the STOQ app and requires no coding. You can set it up quickly through your Shopify admin and the STOQ dashboard.
First, in your Shopify admin, go to your Products section and select a specific product or variant. In the Inventory area, you will need to enable the checkbox for 'Continue selling when out of stock'. This step is important for the next part of the process.
Now, here is how you will program STOQ:
- Click on 'Back in stock alerts' from the menu.
- Then, navigate to the Signup Widget section and select 'Customize button'.
- Under the Products tab, you will find an option labeled 'Show Notify me button on Pre-order products'.
- Simply enable this checkbox and click 'Save'.
And that’s it! The button will now be active for pre-order items, allowing you to build a waitlist and send automatic alerts upon restock.
Why STOQ is the smarter way to capture preorders and back-in-stock sales
Every time a product goes out of stock, you risk losing a customer. STOQ helps you bridge that gap by giving shoppers the choice to preorder, backorder, or join a waitlist with a simple click. It is not just about notifications; it is about capturing intent and converting it into sales.
From partial payments to automatic ‘notify me when back in stock’ alerts, STOQ makes it easy to keep customers engaged until their product arrives. You can customize buttons to match your brand, connect with tools like Klaviyo, and even manage preorders across markets and languages. With 24/7 support, analytics, and reminders built in, STOQ adapts to your brand and customers.
If you want to stop leaving money on the table, sign up for free today with STOQ, your smartest partner in growing preorder revenue and customer loyalty.
Install once, scale forever…
FAQs
Will this feature hurt my SEO?
Absolutely not. On the contrary, a well-implemented 'notify me when back in stock' feature keeps users engaged on your site even when a product is out of stock, which can reduce bounce rates. This positive user interaction signals to search engines that your page offers value. Additionally, it helps maintain page relevance until you restock, protecting your search rankings.
Can I customize notifications for different pages?
Yes, you can customize notifications for different products or collections. A good app will let you change the button text, form fields, and success messages for specific items. For example, you might want a different message for a high-demand sneaker release compared to a restocked kitchen item. This flexibility helps maintain a consistent brand experience across your entire store.
How to handle multi-language or multi-location stores?
Apps like STOQ are specially built and designed for this, offering support for over 20 languages and seamless integration with multi-location Shopify setups, ensuring a smooth experience for every customer.
Can I customize the alerts and messaging?
Of course. You have full control over the alert messaging. You can customize the email and SMS templates that are sent to customers, matching your brand's voice and style. This includes the subject line, body text, and even the timing of the alert.
