A shopper visits your store. Falls in love with a jacket. Hits “add to cart.” Sees the size they want is sold out. Closes the tab. Gone forever.
Back-in-stock emails fix that. The shopper saves the item, you fire an email the moment it returns to inventory, and they come back to buy. It’s the simplest recovery flow in ecommerce, and one of the highest-converting.
This guide shows the free way to set it up on Shopify. No code. One minute. Works with any theme.
Quick answer:
- Install Magic Wishlist from the Shopify App Store.
- Toggle the app embed on in your theme editor.
- Open Emails in the dashboard and switch on Back in Stock Alert.
The email fires automatically when a saved item returns to inventory. The trigger is variant-level, so a shopper who saved Size M only gets the email when Size M is back.
Why back-in-stock emails convert so well
Most ecommerce emails work hard for a 2–4% conversion rate. Back-in-stock alerts often hit 15–25%. The reason has nothing to do with copywriting.
The trigger is the offer.
When you tell a shopper “the item you wanted is back in stock,” you’re not asking them to want something. You’re telling them they can finally have something they already wanted. The decision was made weeks ago. The email just removes the obstacle.
Three more reasons these emails work:
- Specific item, specific shopper. No segmentation needed. The trigger handles it.
- Time-sensitive by nature. Urgency is real, not manufactured.
- No discount required. You don’t need to give margin away to get the conversion.
Three ways to set up back-in-stock alerts on Shopify
You have three real options. They’re not equal.
Option 1: Native Shopify (no, it doesn’t exist)
Shopify’s storefront includes an inventory tracker. It does not include back-in-stock email alerts. There is no native way to do this without an app or custom code. Don’t waste time looking. Shopify decided this was an app-store feature, not a platform feature.
Option 2: Klaviyo or another email tool ($)
Klaviyo can fire back-in-stock emails if you build the flow yourself. You’ll need a custom event source (a separate app to detect inventory changes), a Klaviyo flow with the right filters, and an email template. This works but requires Klaviyo’s paid plan and an additional inventory-tracking app.
Total cost: $20–$60/month for Klaviyo plus whatever the inventory app charges.
Option 3: A free wishlist app (recommended)
A wishlist app gives shoppers a way to save the exact variant they want. When that variant returns to inventory, the app fires an email automatically. No custom flow, no inventory tracker, no monthly cost.
This is the path we recommend. Setup is one minute. The email runs forever after that.
Step-by-step: free back-in-stock alerts with Magic Wishlist
Magic Wishlist is free, includes back-in-stock alerts by default, and works with any Online Store 2.0 theme.
Step 1: Install the app
Open the Shopify App Store and click Add app. Approve the permissions. Install takes thirty seconds.
Step 2: Enable the app embed
Open Online Store → Themes → Customize → App embeds. Toggle Magic Wishlist on. Save. The heart button now shows on every product card and product page.
Step 3: Turn on the back-in-stock email
In the Magic Wishlist dashboard, open Emails. You’ll see four email types pre-built: abandonment reminder, price drop alert, low stock alert, back in stock alert.
Toggle the back-in-stock alert on. The default copy works fine, but most stores edit the subject line to include their brand voice. Send a test email to your own inbox to preview it.
Step 4: Test on a real product
Pick a product variant that’s currently sold out. Save it from your storefront in incognito mode (use a real email address). Then go into Shopify admin and add inventory back to that variant.
Within a few minutes, the back-in-stock email lands in the inbox you used. That’s the entire flow working.
Step 5: Watch your analytics
In Analytics → Wishlist Recovery you’ll see how many back-in-stock emails fired, how many were opened, and how many led to a sale. This is how you know the setup is working without manually testing.
Variant-level vs product-level alerts
This is the detail most setups get wrong.
Imagine a shopper saves “Linen Jacket, Size M, Blue.” Three weeks later you restock Size L only. A naive system fires the email. The shopper opens it, sees Size M is still sold out, and gets annoyed. Trust gone.
Magic Wishlist tracks the exact variant. Saved Size M Blue? You only get the alert when Size M Blue is restocked. Saved a different variant? Different trigger.
This sounds obvious. It’s not. Most older wishlist apps only track at the product level. Check before you commit to one.
Best practices for back-in-stock email copy
The trigger does most of the work. Don’t over-design the email.
Subject line. Short, specific, no clickbait. Examples that work:
- “Back in stock: {{ product }}”
- ”{{ product }} is back, and limited”
- “Good news. Your {{ product }} returned.”
Keep the variant out of the subject (it’s clutter). Put it in the preheader.
Body. Lead with the product image at full size. Then the title, the variant the shopper saved, and the price. One CTA button: “Buy now” or “View {{ product }}.”
Urgency. If stock is genuinely low (under 10 units), say so. “Only 7 left.” Don’t fake urgency. Shopify shoppers are seasoned, and fake scarcity tanks trust.
Discount. Optional. We see no measurable lift from including a discount in back-in-stock emails. The trigger is enough. Save the discount for the abandonment reminder.
Combining back-in-stock with other alerts
Back-in-stock is one of four wishlist email types. The full set:
- Abandonment reminder: sent X hours after a save, with optional discount code
- Price drop alert: fires when a saved item’s price decreases
- Low stock alert: fires when a saved item drops below a threshold
- Back in stock alert: fires on restock
Most stores turn all four on. They don’t compete; they cover different recovery moments. A shopper who saved a sold-out item gets:
- Abandonment reminder at 24h (still sold out, soft re-engagement)
- Back-in-stock alert weeks later (the unlock email)
Two chances to recover the same shopper. Both automatic.
For deeper setup details on the other three emails, see our Klaviyo integration guide or the main wishlist guide.
Recover the sale you already earned
A shopper who saved a sold-out item already wanted to buy. The only thing standing between you and that sale is whether you remembered to email them when stock returned.
Set up back-in-stock alerts once. They run forever after.
Install Magic Wishlist free. Your first restock email can fire this week.