How to Use Back-in-Stock Notifications to Enhance Your Shopify Marketing Strategy

Running an online store on Shopify comes with its own set of challenges and one of the most frustrating challenges is stockouts. Statistics from global research company IHL Group show that over $1 trillion of revenue was lost during stockout situations in 2023 for businesses. This equates to lost sales, potentially unhappy customers and missing out on acquiring new customers. 

Back-in-stock notifications can transform this potentially negative experience into powerful marketing strategies that drive incremental revenue for your store. In this guide, we will discover how back-in-stock notifications can enhance your Shopify marketing strategy.

Why Back-in-Stock Notifications Matter for Shopify Stores

Your regular customer has just found out that their most frequently bought item at your Shopify store is out of stock. They become frustrated, find a competitor’s site and buy a similar item there. This increases the chances of your regular customer losing faith in your store and continuing at another’s. This is where back-in-stock notifications for Shopify stores play a big role in your marketing strategy.

According to a study by Barilliance, in 2023, there was an average open rate of over 65% and a click-through rate of over 25%. This proves that back-in-stock notification strategies really work for businesses.

Let’s explore deeper. Back-in-stock notifications can:

• Recover Lost sales – a customer interested in a sold-out product can complete a quick sign-up for a back-in-stock notification on the item page. The customer would then receive an email with a link directly back to your product’s page. This will bring those customers back to your store the moment the item is available, leading to an immediate conversion. 

• Enhance Customer Experience – instead of leaving customers frustrated and wondering when a product will return, you keep them informed. This proactive communication shows you value their interest and reduces the likelihood they’ll seek the product from a competitor.
  
• Create Urgency & Demand – restock alerts can create a sense of urgency, especially if you emphasize limited quantities using fear of missing out (FOMO). This can encourage customers to make a purchase quickly, driving sales and preventing future stockouts.
  
• Improve Marketing & Retargeting Strategies – when customers sign up for back-in-stock notifications, they provide valuable data. This information can be used for targeted email and SMS marketing campaigns, allowing you to personalize your messaging and offer relevant promotions.

In these ways, we can alter the direction of negativity towards your store into a positive interaction, a rise in customer lifetime value (CLV) and profit growth.

Best Practices for Using Back-in-Stock Alerts to Boost Sales

There are a series of practices that you can leverage to optimize your back-in-stock notification system. Some of the best practices are:

1. Segment & Personalize Notifications

Don’t send the same generic message to everyone! Your customers will notice sweeping statements and mass SMS’s. Segment your audience based on their past purchases or browsing behaviors, tailoring your notifications and information accordingly. For example, your back-in-stock product has just arrived and you want to offer a discount to your loyal customers who waited for it to return. This will encourage your customer to return to your Shopify store and make the long-awaited purchase.

2. Leverage Urgency & Scarcity

Use language that conveys a sense of urgency. Phrases like, ‘Get it before it’s gone – AGAIN!’ or ‘Back-in-stock while supplies last!’ can encourage immediate action. These phrases also leverage on the fear of missing out (FOMO), where customers are genuinely worried that this new stock will run out fast. To increase this sense of scarcity, use a countdown timer in the notification or on the product page. 

3. Sync with Email & SMS Marketing 

Integrate your restock alerts with your overall marketing by strategy using follow-up emails or SMS messages. In addition to this, you can personalize SMS messaging and email notifications by using data collected from your customer’s accounts, purchase history and browsing habits. This can also help you create more targeted promotions to grow customer loyalty.

4. Use Social Proof & Reviews

Include customer testimonials or reviews in your restock notifications to build trust and credibility with your new customer. Seeing that other clients are happy with the products and your store’s services will in turn help them feel that they can depend on you.

Why Choose Back In Stock for Your Shopify Store?

Are you looking for a robust and reliable back-in-stock notification solution? 

Back in Stock by AMP offers a user-friendly interface and seamless integration to your Shopify store. This app gives you the benefit of multi-channel notifications, such as email, SMS, and push notifications, ensuring your customers never miss an update. 

Additionally, you can replace the out-of-stock buttons with restock notification buttons which are fully customizable in layout and design to fit your site’s needs. The messages can also be customized based on customer preferences, device type and languages. 

Data collected will help you grow your database, analyze sales for popular out-of-stock inventory management, and accrue a better forecast on customers’ demands. This app is compatible to sync with email providers such as Klaviyo, Mailchimp and many more leading apps, with 24/7 assistance for any issue you may have.

The app has all the useful information for us to know the customers’ demands, drive sales, and it looks great with the theme. The support is really responsive and helpful! Great service! – Miniso USA

Back-in-stock notifications are a powerful tool for recovering lost sales, improving customer satisfaction and boosting your Shopify marketing efforts. By implementing these strategies, you can turn stockouts into true avenues of growth and customer lifetime value (CLV) Don’t let another potential sale slip away.