Joshua Franklin Wiedeman

Pre-Order & Back-in-Stock

Pre-orders and back-in-stock alerts capture interest when a product is not yet available or is sold out, then turn that interest into sales when it becomes available. Back-in-stock messages tend to perform well because they reach people who already wanted the product, at the moment they can buy it. Pre-orders bring in revenue before the product ships and help you forecast demand.

How it works

A sold-out page with no next step loses the visitor. A “notify me” form turns that visit into a contact you can reach later with one automated message. Pre-orders go further: the customer commits or pays now, and you ship later. Both turn a dead page into a record of demand.

How to do it

  1. On every out-of-stock product page, replace the disabled add-to-cart button with a “Notify me when it is back” form for email or SMS.
  2. Save the exact product and variant the customer wants.
  3. Trigger an automated message when inventory is restocked. Send it within minutes, with the product image and a direct add-to-cart link.
  4. Send a confirmation when someone joins the waitlist, with an expected restock date if you have one. Send an update if the date slips.
  5. For upcoming products, add a “Pre-order” button that either charges in full with a clear ship date or takes a deposit and charges the balance at shipment.
  6. Send pre-order customers regular production and shipping updates.
  7. Report which products and variants collect the most signups. Use this in inventory planning.

What to measure

  • Waitlist signup rate: signups divided by visitors to out-of-stock pages.
  • Back-in-stock conversion rate: notified customers who buy within 48 hours, divided by customers notified.
  • Pre-order share of launch revenue: pre-order revenue divided by first-week revenue for the product.

Best practices

  • Trigger the alert directly from your inventory system so there is no delay.
  • State real stock limits if they exist (“Restocked in limited quantities”). Do not invent scarcity.
  • Give waitlisted customers a short early-access window before the general release.
  • Use waitlist counts when negotiating order quantities with suppliers.

Common pitfalls

  • Leaving out-of-stock pages as dead ends. Every sold-out page should have a signup form.
  • Alerting people who already bought the product. Remove recent buyers from the list before sending.
  • Missing pre-order dates. If “ships in 4 to 6 weeks” becomes 12 weeks, expect chargebacks and bad reviews. Give conservative dates.