Back in stock
A restock subscription belongs to a variant, such as Navy / Medium. Configure delivery timing, expose the notify action and verify that a shopper can subscribe before replenishing that variant.
Enable the email and the signup action
- 1
Enable sending
Open Alerts → Back in stock, check Send back-in-stock alerts, choose Send, and save. Start with Immediately when diagnosing a first test so hourly timing is not an extra variable.
- 2
Enable storefront signup
In Display → Shopper wishlist, turn on Show “Notify me when back” on out-of-stock variants and save. Open a product whose selected variant is unavailable and confirm the action is visible.
- 3
Review the email
In Email, select Back in stock. Review the saved subject, body and branding. If you chose hourly batching, inspect the Hourly digest preview as well as Single.
Choose delivery timing
| Choice | How it behaves | What to expect in a test |
|---|---|---|
| Immediately | Processes eligible waiting subscribers after the inventory event reaches the app. | Allow time for the event and email handoff; it is not a synchronous send from the inventory form. |
| Batch hourly | Collects eligible available variants by shopper and sends a digest on the hourly run. | One shopper waiting on several returned items can receive one digest. A row may not appear in Alert log before the run. |
For example, if a shopper waits for a blue shirt and a black jacket and both become available before the hourly run, the app can include both in one message. The digest still checks per-variant repeat rules and shopper eligibility.
Follow the subscription lifecycle
| Stage | What it means |
|---|---|
| Waiting | The shopper requested this variant and has not yet been successfully notified for this request. |
| Notified | A successful restock send completed that waiting request. |
| Purchased | An identified purchase matched the variant; the app stops treating that request as waiting. |
| Cancelled | The request is no longer waiting, for example after an unsubscribe. |
Another restock is not another automatic email
A successfully notified request is no longer waiting. Repeated stock updates do not send endlessly to the same completed request. A new notification request and sending limits determine later eligibility.
Run a controlled test
- Choose the exact unavailable variant on the storefront, not only the product.
- Submit Notify me with an address you control and confirm it if required.
- Restock that same variant with positive sellable quantity.
- Inspect the matching product and variant in Alert log, then the inbox.
Common mismatches
- Restocking Small does not notify someone waiting for Medium.
- A product-level save from a collection card does not itself identify the size for a restock subscription.
- Stock that still leaves the item unavailable online is not a useful positive restock test.
- Rapidly repeating stock changes can hit the 30-minute debounce, daily limit or repeat suppression.
Need help?
Open the chat bubble in the Shopify app, or contact us with your store address and what you are stuck on.