A shopper gets a restock alert

From the sold-out product page to the purchase, in the shopper’s shoes.

Who: a shopper on your store · Goal: buy a product that is sold out today

1. The shopper finds a sold-out product

   On a product page, the shopper picks a variant that is sold out. Notifylyst shows a Notify me when available button — where you placed it in the theme editor, or as a tab on the edge of the screen if you turned on the floating button. Both appear only while the selected variant is sold out, and disappear when the shopper picks one that is in stock.

   
2. They open the form

   The button opens the sign-up form for the selected variant. It shows:

   • the headline NOTIFY ME WHEN AVAILABLE and We’ll notify you when available.
   • the product and a variant list — only the sold-out variants, each marked (Sold Out)
   • one tab per channel you have switched on (Email, Web Push, SMS, WhatsApp)
   • Quantity required, set to 1
   • any custom fields you added
   • the Notify me button and We don’t share your information with others.

   A logged-in customer finds their email already filled in.

   
3. They fill it in

   The form checks the answers before anything is sent. Typical messages:

   Problem	Message the shopper sees
   Email not valid	The email address you entered is invalid
   Phone missing or not valid	Phone number is required. / The phone number you entered is invalid.
   Quantity not a number above zero	Quantity must be a number greater than zero.
   A required custom field is empty	This field is required.

   

   For web push, the browser asks for permission. If the prompt doesn’t appear within a few seconds, the form says: Choose “Allow” in your browser’s notification prompt. Don’t see one? Click the bell icon in the address bar. On an iPhone, push works only after the shopper adds your store to their Home Screen.

4. They see the confirmation

   The form shows Your notification has been registered. and closes itself after a moment.

   

   No confirmation email is sent. The message in the form is the shopper’s only confirmation. The sign-up appears straight away in Analytics → Sign-ups and on your Dashboard.

5. The product comes back

   When stock for that variant goes above zero in Shopify, Notifylyst works out who to alert:

   • shoppers still waiting for that variant;
   • if your delivery rule is Wait for the full quantity, only those whose requested quantity is now in stock;
   • if you filter by location, only those whose locations have the stock;
   • minus anyone who unsubscribed, whose email bounced, or who already bought it.

   The product must be Active and published to your online store. If you set a draft product to Active later, the waiting shoppers are alerted then.

6. The alert arrives

   The first message goes out straight away, on the channel the shopper chose. Follow-up messages (up to four in total, depending on your plan) go out after the delays you set — a delay of a day or more lands in the shopper’s local morning.

   

   Every email ends with Manage Notifications and Unsubscribe links. The message uses the shopper’s storefront language when you have a translation for it.

7. They click and buy

   The button takes the shopper to the product page with their variant selected. If they buy:

   • the order counts as Direct when it comes through the alert link, or Assist when the same shopper (matched by email, phone or customer account) buys after getting an alert;
   • any follow-up messages still waiting are cancelled, so they aren’t reminded about something they own.

   The sale appears on your Dashboard and in Analytics → Successful orders. A cancelled order removes its revenue again; a refund lowers it.

​

What happens behind the scenes

Shopify tells Notifylyst whenever inventory changes, so there is nothing to schedule. Before each message goes out, Notifylyst checks again that the app is still installed, the channel is still on, that step is still on your plan, and the variant can still be bought. If any of these fails, the message is skipped.

​

Where it can go wrong

Symptom	Why	Fix
No button on a sold-out product	The Notifylyst Restock Widget app embed is off	Turn it on: Storefront widget
No button on a product with zero stock	The variant is set to continue selling when out of stock (pre-order), so Shopify treats it as available	Expected — shoppers can still buy it
You have already registered for a notification for that item.	The shopper is already waiting for that variant	Nothing to do
This alert option isn’t available right now. Please choose another.	That channel was switched off after the page loaded	Turn the channel on, or the shopper picks another
Too many sign-up attempts. Please wait a minute and try again.	More than 5 sign-ups a minute from one contact	Wait a minute
The form spins and nothing happens	A server error; the form shows nothing	Try again; contact support if it repeats
Shopper chose WhatsApp and heard nothing	WhatsApp alerts aren’t being sent yet	Ask shoppers to use another channel until WhatsApp is live

A shopper manages their alerts

Unsubscribe, the Manage page, and turning alerts back on.

Message templates

Change the wording, the steps and the delays.