Facing stockouts on your Shopify store is common. This would be frequent especially as shoppers are buying in bulk or with slower manufacturing in factories. However, this doesn’t mean you should lose out on shoppers interested in these products. This is where Back in Stock Alerts help.
Let’s look at what these alerts are and how you can set them up to avoid losing shoppers due to product unavailability.
What are Back in Stock Alerts?
With Back in Stock Alerts, you can smartly capture shoppers interested in an unavailable product and send automated messages to them. These alerts can be set up and automated so that shoppers receive the message instantly and can come back to your store as soon as the product is stocked.
Here’s how back in stock alerts work:
- The shopper lands on an unavailable product. They see a sign-up widget that allows them to subscribe to be notified when the product is back in stock
- The shopper can subscribe to the alert via different channels— SMS, email, web push, or Facebook Messenger.
- Once the product is back in stock, the shopper receives the back in stock alert via the channel they subscribed using.
- The shopper will return to your store and make the purchase.
Why Do You Need Back in Stock Alerts for your Shopify Store?
In 2011, stock-outs caused a projected $25 billion in losses for individual businesses every year. This number is likely to have inflated in the last 9 years. Besides the financial loss, eCommerce stores also see long-term negative impacts due to product unavailability— customer loss, low satisfaction rates, and negative word-of-mouth.
By setting up Back in Stock Alerts, you can minimize this loss and provide your interested shoppers with an option to subscribe so that they can buy the item when it is in stock.
6 Steps to Set up Back in Stock Alerts that Convert Interested Shoppers
If you’re looking for ways to set up back-in-stock alerts and recapture interested shoppers, here are 6 steps you can take to successfully set up these automated alerts on your Shopify store.
1. Set up a subscription on unavailable products
First off, you need to enable the subscription widget on unavailable products. Apps like Back in Stock – Restock Alerts are built to allow merchants to bring back shoppers to unavailable products.
This widget can be customized to your needs, from its design to its copy. Ensure that the copy within the widget reflects your brand’s personality.
2. Enable automated email and display recommendations
With high conversions, email is a must-have communication channel for your back-in-stock alerts. You can customize the email template available on your back in stock app, personalizing it to the customer and the product they are interested in.
Besides personalizing the copy, you can also enhance the email by displaying personalized recommendations. Back in Stock – Restock Alerts app integrates with Wiser to display personalized recommendations on the back in stock email. With this, you can increase your click-throughs and bring back more shoppers.
Further Reading: How to Set Up Back In Stock Alerts Using Email to Bring Back Shoppers
3. Set up SMS to allow shoppers to subscribe using another channel
Provide shoppers more communication channels to choose from when subscribing to back in stock alerts. With a 98% open rate, SMS is a channel you can’t miss! This channel can easily be added to your back in stock subscription widget.
When setting up the SMS copy, ensure that it is aligned with the tone of your brand and that the copy is personalized to the shopper. You can also use urgency phrases like “Stocks are limited” or “Don’t miss out!” to make shoppers take action.
Read more about how you can send back in stock alerts via SMS.
4. Set up Facebook Messenger alerts
With 1.3 billion Messenger users, Facebook Messenger is a favorite for most shoppers. You can enable this channel for your back in stock alerts and capture shoppers who prefer Messenger as their communication channel.
With Messenger, your back in stock alerts sends a message that automatically generates the image of the product that the shopper subscribed to. This way, shoppers have instant recall and will be enticed to make their purchase quickly.
Learn more about enabling Facebook Messenger for your back in stock alerts.
5. Integrate with your web push app to send SMS
With a 15% opt-in rate, web push is a great channel to enable on your Shopify store. The short and sweet message and the low permission requirements make it a favorite among shoppers.
You can set up a web push subscription for your back in stock alerts as well! The Back in Stock app integrates with PushOwl to allow you to send back in stock messages via web push.
Further Reading: How to Set Up Back In Stock Alerts Using Web Push Notifications
6. Analyze their performance and optimize your tactics
Lastly, once set up, it’s important to review the performance of your back in stock alerts and optimize them accordingly. For instance, you may find that a larger number of shoppers convert when they subscribe through Facebook Messenger than via SMS.
You can also test different types of copy, like adding a first name parameter or adding a discount for shoppers who shop the product, to understand how shoppers respond to them.
Recover Shopify Sales with Back in Stock Alerts
These 6 steps allow you to start automating your back in stock messages and ensure you don’t lose interested shoppers to stockouts. We hope this helps you set up and see an increase in Shopify sales through back in stock alerts.
The Back in Stock – Restock Alerts app is built to help you recover sales from stockouts. With multiple communication channels, local language support, and powerful analytics, the app allows you to set up back in stock messages and capture interested shoppers in minutes. The app also integrates with top Shopify apps like Klaviyo so that you can easily power automated back in stock messages with the app of your choice.
Get the app and bring back shoppers to previously unavailable products.
