The Benefits of Personalized Out-of-Stock Notifications on Shopify
Explore how personalized out-of-stock notifications are an easy way to boost customer satisfaction, engagement, and conversions.
Published February 13, 2024.
If one of your products is sold out, your customers may leave and buy it from another online store. That's unless you have a strategy to turn the shopping experience around for your customers and offer a personalized out-of-stock notification.
This personal touch can improve how your customer interacts with your store by offering useful info and options that won't disappoint them.
» Out-of-stock products affecting your bottom line? Try this approach to decrease losses
Meet the Expert
Courtney Sharp is a seasoned professional with over 10 years in the field, founder of her own marketing agency, and a specialist in branding and social media strategy across Europe's fashion and beauty sectors. Her profound expertise offers invaluable perspectives on how influencer marketing elevates e-commerce brand visibility.
What is a Personalized Out-of-Stock Notification?
Personalized notifications in Shopify refer to tailored messages sent to customers when a product is out of stock. It goes beyond generic alerts by leveraging customer preferences, purchase history, and behavior data to deliver messages that resonate individually.
5 Ways Personalized Out-of-Stock Alerts Can Benefit Your Shopify Store
Personalization greatly affects your customer experience and can increase your sales. A recent study noted how 73% of e-commerce customers expect personalized attention to their needs.
1. Elevated Customer Experience
Personalized out-of-stock alerts are key to building and boosting customer loyalty programs.
Let’s say a loyal customer is waiting for their favorite beauty product to be back in stock. Instead of a standard alert, they get a personalized message with other products they might like, recognizing their loyalty, and giving them first dibs on the restocked item.
This personal touch goes beyond just buying and selling. It treats the shopper as an individual, not a statistic. This way, an out-of-stock item becomes a chance to make the brand-customer relationship stronger and helps the brand grow and last.
» Use these approaches to increase customer lifetime value
2. Conversion Optimization
You can increase your average order value (AOV) and conversion rates by adding personalized cross-sells and upsells to your restock alerts.
- Upsells persuade the customer to go for a pricier item than the one they originally picked.
- Cross-sells encourage customers to add more items that go well with their first choice.
Adding cross-sells and upsells turns these alerts from just restock news into personalized shopping suggestions.
When customers get alerts with product suggestions just for them, they not only check out the restocked item but also look at other products. This makes for a more complete shopping experience.
» Incorporate this into your Shopify store instantly with the best cross-sell and upsell apps
3. Engagement Boost
Personalized out-of-stock alerts don’t just boost sales. They also improve key engagement metrics like click-through rates (CTR), time spent on your site, and conversion rates. By making these alerts fit each customer’s tastes, you can get them to check out other things like:
- Curated alternatives to the sold-out product
- Loyalty programs
- Customer rewards programs
These measurable improvements in KPIs show how well personalized alerts work. You keep customers interested and guide them on a unique, dynamic journey.
4. Strategic Marketing Opportunities
Personalized alerts and flows open up new ways for you to market your brand strategically. They do more than just tell customers when a product is back in stock. They become a key part of your bigger marketing plan.
Put strategic marketing bits in your alerts to let customers know and push related products. You can also add special deals and upcoming items to make the most of each customer touchpoint.
» Try these tips for your next email marketing campaign
5. Insights for Growth
Restock notifications, beyond their immediate function of updating customers about product availability, serve as invaluable tools for data collection, analysis, and strategic decision-making.
Each interaction with a restock notification provides a wealth of information about customer preferences, behaviors, and demand patterns. By systematically evaluating this data, businesses can gain actionable insights. These inform not only inventory management but also marketing strategies, enhancing overall e-commerce efforts. Types of useful data and insights that can be gathered include:
- Customer preferences for specific products
- Peak demand times
- Indications of emerging trends in the market
How to Create Custom Stock Alerts
Get Alerted When Items Go Out of Stock
Simplify your customer’s shopping journey with Out-of-Stock Police. This efficient tool manages your products by hiding out-of-stock items or pushing them to the end of a collection. This not only improves your store's SEO but also prevents 404 errors and keeps products searchable. Stay ahead of your inventory with automated alerts about low-stock products.
Personalized Back-in-Stock Email Alerts with Klaviyo
Expand your Shopify capabilities beyond the basic email app. Consider using Klaviyo for enhanced back-in-stock notifications. It provides personalized, automated email and SMS notifications, along with an intuitive design interface.
Plus, it integrates seamlessly with your Shopify storefront, significantly improving your store’s functionality. Learn more about setting up back-in-stock notifications with Klaviyo and elevate your customer’s shopping experience.
» Learn more about back-in-stock notifications and how to set them up
Out of Stock but not Out of Mind
Just because your items occasionally get snapped up doesn't mean your customers have to leave disappointed. Give them opportunities to get their hands on the products they want and use the opportunity to delight them with personalized recommendations they'll love.
With Out-of-Stock Police, you'll be kept updated when your big sellers are about to run dry, helping you keep up with the demand and placing back-in-stock items in shoppers' hands quickly.
