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A sold-out product is demand you’ve already earned and can’t yet fill. When shoppers ask to be notified, they’re telling you they’re ready to buy the instant it’s available. A back-in-stock automation closes that loop on its own: the moment inventory returns, the people waiting hear about it first — often converting within minutes, before the item sells out again.

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When to use it

  • You carry popular products that sell out and get restocked.
  • You let shoppers request a “notify me when available” alert on out-of-stock items.
  • You want to recover sales that would otherwise quietly vanish when an item runs out.

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How it works

1

A shopper asks to be notified

On an out-of-stock product, a shopper submits their email through a “notify me” signup form. They’re added to a list tied to that product.
2

The product is restocked

When inventory returns, your store fires the Product back in stock event for that item.
3

The alert goes out immediately

Everyone waiting gets an email right away: “It’s back — and going fast.” One click takes them straight to the product.
4

Urgency does the rest

A short follow-up to non-buyers reinforces scarcity — restocked favorites often sell out again quickly.

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Set it up

  1. Add a “notify me when available” signup form to your out-of-stock product pages, feeding a waitlist list.
  2. Create an automation with the Product back in stock trigger (see Triggers).
  3. Filter to the right audience — the contacts who asked about that product.
  4. Write the alert email with the product block and a direct shop link.
  5. Publish.

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The proven sequence

Send the first alert the instant stock returns, not on a schedule. Back-in-stock emails convert because they’re timely — a restocked best-seller can sell out again in hours, and the waitlist is racing everyone else to it.

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Make it work harder

  • Capture the waitlist well. The flow is only as strong as the list feeding it — make the “notify me” form prominent on every out-of-stock page.
  • Keep it product-specific. Alert only the people who asked about that item. A blast to everyone reads as noise; a precise alert reads as a favor.
  • Lean on scarcity, honestly. “Limited quantities” works because it’s true — restocks are often smaller than the original run.

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Measure it

Open the automation’s analytics to see how much of the waitlist converts and the revenue recovered from restocks. This is demand that would otherwise have disappeared the moment the item sold out — every order here is a save.