Back in Stock Alerts and the Metrics They Drive

Ecommerce merchants have one common pain point – how to keep their shoppers engaged so the customers do not switch to the competitor. When shoppers come to your site and are interested in a product only to find it sold-out, the next action would be to check other sites – which means, you are leaving money on the table. Allowing shoppers to subscribe for email alerts when the product comes back in stock, enables merchants to bring back these shoppers to their site and even prioritize their inventory based on the number of subscriptions received. A shopper who subscribes for alerts shows clear intention that they are loyal and are willing to wait. Hence customizing the back in stock app on your site to make sure you bring them back to the product is important.
Here are 17 features that we provide via our Swym’s Back In Stock Alerts app on your store so you get most out of the app and the features it offers.

1)Back In Stock Alerts launch point type

The first step in customizing the appearance of Back In Stock Alerts is to make sure the CTA is clear and easy-to-discover on sold-out product pages. The type of launch point or form type, you choose for your Back In Stock Alerts app typically depends on the number of elements you already have on the product-form. You can choose to display the CTA as a button with the form as a modal/pop-up, or choose the form as an inline-form that gets embedded on the product form.  Having the button next to the sold-out button/text is the preferred option chosen by many merchants. However, merchants with an older audience or the ones who do not have many elements on the product-form prefer the inline-form option allowing shoppers to subscribe for alerts via the product-form. In case you have too many CTAs on the product-form, you can also choose to have the button/pop-up option and have the button as a floating button on the right or left side of the page. Metric: Shopper re-engagement, Prioritize inventory
Plan: Simple customizations (EG: placement, etc) Free plan and above

2)Back In Stock Alerts button customizations

If the launch point type chosen is a button, you can select a suitable button color, text color, and border-radius (if you would prefer the border to be rounded toward the ends, increase the border-radius subsequently) depending on the appearance of the other CTAs on the product form.  Ensure that the button text is clear but crisp – so it the button does not run out of the form. For example, if the width of product-form does not allow for the text long such as ‘Email me when available’, opt for a ‘Notify Me’ instead.  Choosing the button color to be different than that of the main CTA may positively impact the number of subscriptions received. Contact our support desk if you have any queries.
Metric: Shopper re-engagement, Trending products
Plan: Simple customizations (EG: color, placement, etc) Free plan and above

3)Back In Stock Alerts subscription form

Every asset on your site can be used to redirect and navigate customers forward in their shopping journey.  The back in stock subscription form can be customized to include links to other store locations, so shoppers can check for product availability at a location they belong to. This is a clever way of making most out of the stock alert form pop-up and making sure you have your shopper’s attention and optimizing the overall experience of the app on your site. The form’s dimension, text, and appearance can all be customized to suit your store’s branding requirements. Contact our support desk to customize the form, and one of us would be happy to help.
Metric: Re-engagement, Better shopping experience 
Plan: Free plan and above

4) Enable variant selection on Subscription pop-up

If your theme does not allow variant selection of sold-out variants, you can still enable the Back In Stock Alerts button on the parent page and allow shoppers to choose the variant via the back in stock form modal pop-up. This way you would not need to change your theme settings and our app can seamlessly blend in with your site. Contact our support desk to enable this feature and one of us shall certainly help. 
Metric:  Website Optimization, Re-engagement
Plan: Free and above

5) Disable on certain sold-out products

Some products that get sold-out would not be coming back in stock soon or might be discontinued and hence you would not want the In Stock Alert button to appear on these product pages. To disable the Back In Stock Alerts button from specific product pages, you can specify the tag via Swym Dashboard and then simply add this tag on the product details page section via Shopify Dashboard. 
Metric:  Website Optimization
Plan: Pro and above

6) Enable on Pre-order products

Back In Stock Alerts app can be enabled on products marked as pre-order, that is, products that are currently out of stock with the ‘add to cart’ functionality enabled. This functionality comes in handy in case shoppers prefer buying the product only when it is in stock and for merchants to be able to collect these email addresses. Merchants can enable this feature via Swym Dashboard, or contact our support desk for any queries on this feature. 
Metric:  Lead Generation, Re-engagement
Plan: Starter and above

7) Automatic back in stock alert email send

You need not worry about manually triggering the back in stock email alert, with Swym’s Back In Stock Alerts paid versions. With the automatic send feature enabled (via Swym Dashboard), the back in stock alert will be sent to the shoppers as soon as the stock inventory is updated for the product via your Shopify admin console (with Shopify tracking inventory). If you would like the automatic feature to be disabled, you can still trigger the back in stock email manually via Swym Dashboard Back In Stock Alerts Products report. We want to make sure that you have control over when the email is sent, however the automatic feature does provide the convenience of keeping one thing to do out of your list. 
Metric: Re-engagement, Revenue Optimization 
Plan: Starter and above

8) Translating the Back In Stock Alerts app

Swym’s back in stock app supports non-english languages. The button text and the text on the form can be changed into the language you prefer via Swym Dashboard. The content and subject line on the back in stock email can be changed via the Swym Dashboard, email template setting as well. In case you have any queries about translating the back in stock app, contact our support desk and we would be happy to help.
Metric:  Email Optimization, Re-engagement
Plan: Starter and above

9) Enabling button on Collections pages

The Back In Stock Alerts button can be enabled on collections pages. The default button is an icon, however, we can customize and change the button type to a text so you have a clear CTA that is easily understood by your shoppers. The placement and appearance of the button can be customized further to suit the store’s branding and site’s theme. 
Metric:  Increase Adoption, Re-engagement
Plan: Starter and above

10) Facebook and Instagram Pixel integration

Shoppers interact with your store via various channels and social media is a top contributor. The Back In Stock Alerts facebook and instagram pixel integration sends subscriber events to the store’s facebook analytics page allowing merchants to create audience segments and re-engage with them using dynamic ads. Merchants can show related products or alternate products as dynamic ads to the back-in-stock subscribers. The facebook/instagram pixel integration can be enabled via Swym Dashboard or contact our support desk and we would be happy to get that going for your store.
Metric: Social Media marketing, Re-Engagement
Plan: Pro and above

11) Add to mailing list

With the add to mailing list feature enabled, shoppers can opt in to receive marketing emails and newsletters while subscribing for a back in stock alert. This is a great way to turn those first-time visitors to leads and then leads to loyal customers via your email marketing strategy. The email list can be any newsletter list or an all-new list meant to nurture the shoppers opting in for a back in stock alert. You can integrate your ESP and provide the email list ID via Swym Dashboard to start pushing the subscribers to the list, or, contact us if you have further queries. We currently integrate with MailChimp, Klaviyo and SendGrid for this feature. 
Metric:  Lead Generation, Re-engagement
Plan: Starter and above

12) Recently Back in Stock widget

The ‘Recently Back in Stock’ widget educates shoppers on the products that have been recently re-stocked, a great way to make sure the inventory you have replenished converts to orders soon. Shoppers who miss viewing the email alert are informed of the product they were waiting for via the widget, which could lead to happy and loyal customers. The widget can be enabled on homepage, or any other page as per your preference. You can initiate a request via Swym Dashboard and one of our support agents would be happy to help. 
Metric:  Website Optimization, Re-engagement
Plan: Pro and above

13) Triggered Emails

The Back In Stock Alerts app allows you to send 3 types of triggered email, the automatic ‘Back in stock Reminder Email’, the ‘2nd Reminder Email’ and the ‘Alternate Product in stock email’. The Reminder emails remind the shopper that the product is back in stock, simple yet an effective way to educate and convert into sales. The ‘Alternate Product in Stock’ email allows you to send an alternate product in the email in case you come to know that the product subscribed for would not be re-stocked (any time soon), why loose out on potential sales if you have another product that could match the shopper’s requirements. You can initiate a request to get these triggered emails enabled via Swym Dashboard, and one of us would be happy to help. 
Metric:  Re-engagement, Revenue Optimization
Plan: Pro and above

14) Custom Email Templates 

The better your emails look, the better they convert. All Back In Stock Alerts emails can be customized to include your store’s logo, customize the content, button color, include header or footer or customize the layout of the email as well. You can make some of these customizations (such including logo, changing the content) via Swym Dashboard, via the ‘Manage’ button for the email type. For email template customizations that involve including a header/footer or changing the layout etc, you can contact our support desk and we would be happy to take the next steps. 
Metric:  Re-engagement, Revenue Optimization
Plan: Premium and above

15) ESP Integration

We understand that merchants prefer sending emails to their shoppers via one tool,  their ESP, so that all emails align to your store’s overall branding. Back In Stock Alerts integrates with some popular ESPs  such as Klaviyo, Mandrill (MailChimp), SendGrid, Optimizely etc, allowing stores to centralize all emails sends leading to better email conversions. To integrate with your ESP, you can share your ESP’s API key via Swym Dashboard and one of us shall get back to you with the next steps.
Metric:  Email Conversions, Email Marketing, Revenue Optimization
Plan: Premium and above

16) Multi-Locations feature

Back In Stock Alerts app supports Shopify’s multi-location feature, in that, if you have multiple store locations, but you would only like to send them back in stock email when you restock the inventory on the ‘Shipping Origin’, enabling you to fulfill orders efficiently. Our support desk can enable the ‘multi-location support’ feature for your store, so the back in stock email alerts only get sent out as per the shipping origin and stock level you would like set. 
Metric:  Email Conversions, Inventory management
Plan: Premium and above

17) Custom Button implementation 

At Swym, we understand the need for custom implementations so buttons, forms, pop-ups and other assets on your site behave the way you want them to. You can customize the appearance and the logic of the Back In Stock Alerts button, form and fields to align them with the site’s overall theme. Make use of our Javascript API library to customize the back in stock alert launch point and form on your site or contact us to learn more.
Metric:  Re-engagement, Revenue Optimization
Plan: Premium and above

A back in stock app can lead to a small bump in repeat traffic and conversions but can also help you make informed decisions on which products should you be re-stocking and hence manufacturing. You can download the Back In Stock Alerts Products report and import the same into your inventory management tool to send the list of products and the number of user waiting for those products to your supply chain manager. Swym’s Back In Stock Alerts app also gives you a quick list of users waiting for products from you, so you can import that list into your email marketing tool and keep them engaged in the meantime. And do not forget customizing the back in stock email template, emails are clearly one of the most dependable marketing strategies, given they can be personalized and customized. 
For more information about the features and reports covered in this post contact our support desk, or schedule a demo call with us for a quick demo.