Back-in-stock alerts
Let shoppers ask to be told when a sold-out product returns, then message them all automatically the moment it does.
A shopper wants something that's out of stock. Instead of losing them, you let them leave their number — and when you restock, Enscale messages everyone waiting.
This is the highest-converting automation in Enscale, and it isn't close. The customer explicitly asked to hear from you about this exact product. They're not being marketed to; they're being told something they wanted to know.
How someone joins the waitlist
| Where | How it happens |
|---|---|
| Your storefront | A "notify me" form replaces the add-to-cart button on sold-out products |
| In conversation | An AI agent offers to add them when they ask about something sold out |
| From an automation | A flow adds them based on some other signal |
Variants matter
If someone signs up for medium in navy, they're only told when that comes back. If they sign up at the product level, any variant returning satisfies them.
This is what you want — nobody's happy to be told their item is back only to find it's back in a size they can't wear.
What happens when you restock
Shopify tells Enscale
Enscale watches your inventory and sees the count go above zero.
It finds everyone waiting
Enscale looks up who's on the waitlist for that product or variant.
Your automation runs for each of them
The Back In Stock trigger fires once per waiting customer.
Their waitlist entry clears
They come off the list. When someone's last entry clears, the waitlist tag comes off their contact too.
Build the alert
Trigger: Back In Stock
→ Fetch Product
→ Format link (the product URL, tagged for tracking)
→ Template Message: "The [product] you wanted is back — [link]"Two things that aren't optional:
- It has to be a Template Message. The customer hasn't messaged you, so no 24-hour window is open and a normal message won't deliver. See the 24-hour rule.
- Use Format link, don't paste the URL. Otherwise the resulting sales won't show up in Revenue attribution and you'll conclude this automation earns nothing, when it's probably your best performer.
Add urgency when stock is genuinely low
Trigger: Back In Stock
→ Fetch Product
→ Condition: is available quantity under 10?
→ Yes: "Back in stock — only a few left"
→ No: "Back in stock"Worth doing, and worth doing honestly. "Only a few left" when you've restocked 400 units trains customers to ignore you.
Confirm the signup too
The Back-in-stock Subscribed trigger fires when someone joins the list, separately from the restock.
Use it to send a quick "got it — we'll message you when it's back". It costs almost nothing and it reassures the shopper the form actually worked, which stops them signing up three more times.
It's also the natural moment to capture WhatsApp consent, since they've literally just asked you to message them.
The waitlist tag
Everyone on a waitlist carries the back-in-stock-waitlist tag. It's how Enscale finds them, and it's removed automatically when their last entry clears.
Don't remove this tag by hand. The contact silently stops getting alerts — no error, no warning, they just never hear from you.
You can build a segment on it to see everyone currently waiting on anything.
Consent, and the mistake to avoid
Back-in-stock signups are a legitimate opt-in, recorded as Storefront stock notify.
But treat that consent as scoped to what they asked for. Someone who wanted to know about one sold-out jacket did not sign up for your weekly promotions.
Blasting your waitlist with general marketing is one of the fastest ways to generate opt-outs and damage your quality rating — and you'll lose the highest-intent list you have.
Common questions
Next steps
- What can start an automation — the triggers involved.
- Segments — finding everyone currently waiting.
- Revenue attribution — proving this one earns its keep.