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Back-in-stock alert

A back-in-stock alert is an automated message that tells shoppers who asked to be notified that a sold-out product can be bought again.

How it works

When a product sells out, its page can show a “notify me when available” button. The shopper leaves an address and joins the waiting list. Once stock is back above a set minimum, the platform sends the alert. When few units return for a long list, it can notify in batches: in Klaviyo, the store sets how many subscribers to notify per restocked unit and how long to wait before the next batch.

The list keeps a record of demand that a stockout would otherwise lose without trace. Ads run separately: Google learns about the restock from the feed’s availability attribute, not from the alert. The guide to back-in-stock and price-drop alerts covers sold-out bestsellers.

Where you see it

  • GetProfit portal: Products and labels lists products that dropped out of impressions, with the reason (such as out of stock), the days out and the revenue lost per month.

Example

Example store, not client data.

The tableware shop’s best-selling dinner set sold one a day at 600 and was out of stock for 12 days: 7,200 of revenue not booked. Meanwhile, 30 shoppers joined the waiting list. When 10 sets arrive, at one subscriber per unit, the 10 earliest sign-ups hear first. In the end, 6 of the 30 order: 6 × 600 = 3,600.

Not to be confused with

  • Price-drop alert — the same kind of message, triggered by a lower price on a product the shopper viewed or took to checkout.
  • Abandoned cart email — triggered by the shopper leaving a cart, not by stock returning.

Right and wrong readings

  • Wrong: “The set is back and the alert went out, so the ads will pick it up by themselves.” Right: Google reads stock from the feed, so the feed has to say in stock again. Google’s automatic item updates switch a product back to in stock only if a separate setting allows it.
  • Wrong: “30 people signed up, so 30 sets are sold.” Right: a sign-up is a request to be told, not an order. In the example 6 of the 30 bought.

Sources