Restock email did not arrive
Follow a single shopper and exact variant from signup to delivery. A successful email template test checks only part of this flow.
Record the test details
Note the product URL, selected size or colour, signup email, signup time and restock time. Keep the same variant throughout the test. Increasing stock for another size does not satisfy this subscription.
- 1
Verify the subscription
Open the sold-out variant on the storefront and use Notify me when back. Make sure the email was submitted successfully. Saving a product-level card alone is not proof of an exact-variant restock signup.
If double opt-in is enabled, open the confirmation email and follow its link. Check spam for that confirmation before investigating the later restock message.
- 2
Verify the rule
In Alerts, enable Send back-in-stock alerts. Read the delivery mode: Batch hourly waits for an hourly processing cycle and can group several eligible products into a digest. Immediately still requires the app to receive and process the inventory change.
- 3
Check the inventory transition
In Shopify, restock the subscribed variant from unavailable to available using tracked inventory. Verify that the same variant is available on the storefront. A variant that was already available is not a fresh sold-out-to-available test.
- 4
Open Alert log
Look for the product, alert type and approximate time. Scheduled means queued work; Sent indicates a successful sending result, not an inbox receipt; Failed needs investigation. An hourly batch may not have created a log row yet.
- 5
Check recipient eligibility
Confirm the shopper has a usable email and has completed required confirmation. Unsubscribed shoppers and subscriptions already marked purchased are not a fresh waiting test. The app also limits normal alerts to 3 per shopper in a rolling 24 hours and suppresses repeated same-variant alerts.
- 6
Separate delivery from the trigger
Send a template test from Email to your own inbox. If using SMTP, run Settings → Email delivery → Test connection, then its direct SMTP test. A template test may arrive via the built-in fallback even when your server failed.
Search spam and filters for the customer message. If a recorded delivery failed, fix the cause before using Retry in Alert log.
Use the log to choose your next action
| Observation | What to do |
|---|---|
| No row | Recheck signup, variant, inventory transition, batch timing and eligibility; Retry cannot create a missing subscription. |
| Scheduled | Allow processing and check again. Record how long it remains scheduled if contacting support. |
| Sent but no email | Check recipient address, spam and mailbox filtering. A sending result cannot confirm inbox placement. |
| Failed | Inspect the error, test the server and retry recorded failed deliveries after fixing it. |
| No recipients or nothing to retry | Recheck eligible subscriptions; retrying a log cannot manufacture a deliverable recipient. |
Repeated tests can be suppressed
The same shopper, variant and alert type normally have a 24-hour repeat window; price-drop alerts use 7 days. Restock events are also debounced. Repeatedly setting the same stock value is not a reliable fresh test.
Send useful details to support
Provide the store, variant, alert mode, signup and restock times, confirmation status and the Alert log result. Include the latest visible delivery error without sharing SMTP credentials. These details let support identify the stage that stopped.
Need help?
Open the chat bubble in the Shopify app, or contact us with your store address and what you are stuck on.