How to Set Up Back in Stock Alerts in WooCommerce?

Ever had a product sell out faster than you expected, only to realize later that plenty of customers would’ve grabbed it if they knew it was back on the shelf? It happens to almost every WooCommerce store at some point.

The good news is you don’t have to lose those sales. A simple Back in Stock alert can quietly capture that demand for you.

Adding back-in-stock notifications to your store feels a bit like handing your shoppers a friendly “I’ll let you know first” promise. They get a quick email the moment an item is available again, and you get a steady line of warm leads ready to buy. And with the WebToffee WooCommerce Marketing Automation app, setting this up is surprisingly easy.

Let’s walk through how to get everything up and running.

Back in Stock alerts are simple email notifications that let your customers know when an out-of-stock product becomes available again. Think of it as giving shoppers an easy way to raise their hand and say, “Hey, let me know when you restock this—I’m still interested.”

When a product sells out, most customers don’t come back on their own. They get distracted, forget about it, or move on to another store. A Back in Stock alert catches that interest at the exact moment they care most, and then automatically brings them back when you restock the item.

The way it works is pretty straightforward: a customer enters their email on a sold-out product page, your store gets more stock, and an automated email goes out instantly. No manual follow-ups, no guessing who might still want the item. It’s one of those small features that quietly boosts conversions while making the shopping experience feel a lot more thoughtful.

Stockouts happen, even when you plan for them. But the real loss isn’t the empty shelf, it’s the customers who leave without any easy way to reconnect with your product. That’s where Back in Stock alerts pull their weight.

First, they help you recover sales you would’ve otherwise lost. When someone signs up for a restock alert, you’re capturing genuine buying intent. These aren’t cold leads… they’re people who already tried to buy from you. The moment an item is available again, your store reaches out automatically, giving them another chance to complete the purchase.

They also make your customers’ experience smoother. Instead of refreshing product pages or searching for alternatives, shoppers can simply drop their email and get on with their day. It shows respect for their time, and that small gesture often builds more trust than we realize.

Another perk is that you organically grow your email list with people who actually want to hear from you. And finally, Back in Stock alerts give you a quick pulse on demand. If a product consistently receives many notifications, it’s a clear sign you need to restock more aggressively or even consider expanding the line.

To set up Back in Stock alerts, we’ll be using the WebToffee Marketing Automation app. It’s a simple, free solution that lets you create automated email workflows for your WooCommerce store, everything from abandoned cart reminders to back-in-stock notifications. For this guide, we’ll walk through how to create a Back in Stock alert automation from scratch.

Step 1: Install WebToffee WooCommerce Marketing Automation Plugin

• Log in to your WordPress dashboard, and go to Plugins and select Add New.
• Search for the WebToffee eCommerce Marketing Automation plugin.
• Click on Install Now and then activate the plugin on your WordPress dashboard.
• Once you’ve installed the WebToffee Marketing Automation plugin on your WordPress site, you’re ready to connect your store and get started.

Step 2: Connect Your WooCommerce Store

• From your WordPress dashboard, go to WebToffee Marketing > Connector.

• Click Connect now, and follow the on-screen instructions to link your WooCommerce store with the WebToffee Marketing app.

Step 3: Enable the Back in Stock Alert

• Go to Forms & Widgets and select Widgets
• Select Restock alert.

Then, choose how you want to display the restock alert widget.

• We’ll select the Button + Popup type for the widget.
• Then click on the Continue to customise button.

Step 4: Customize the Back in Stock Widget

• Use the targeting options to control where the form appears—for example, by audience, UTM parameters, specific URLs, or product categories.
• Click Edit template to adjust the main design, button text, success message, and other elements of the form.

• Customize the Back in Stock form using the editor—add or adjust text, change the button style, tweak the email field, or include extra blocks like images, dividers, or legal consent.
• Switch between the Main page and Success page tabs to design both the form customers see and the confirmation message they get after subscribing.
• Use the right-side panel to fine-tune details like font size, colors, alignment, and spacing so the form matches your store’s look.
• Once you’re happy with the design, click Finish editing in the top-right corner to save and apply your changes.
• Publish the widget on your WooCommerce store.

Step 5: Create Email Automation for Back in Stock Alerts

• Now, go to the Automations tab and click on Create from scratch button.

• Select trigger as Restock alert.

• Add a short Delay so the system has time to register the restock and prepare the email before sending it out.
  
• Insert an Email block to create the actual Back in Stock notification that goes to the customer.

• On the right side of the screen, customize the email—update the internal email title, set a subject line like “Your Favorite Item Is Back in Stock!”, and write a friendly pre-header message.
• Adjust the sender details and any other fields you want to personalize so the email feels clean, clear, and on-brand before activating the automation.
• Click on the Edit Content button to edit the email content.

• Use the email editor to build your Back in Stock notification from scratch by dragging in elements like text, buttons, logos, images, and dividers.
• Customize the header area by adding your store logo and adjusting the background color, padding, and font settings on the right panel.
• Edit the main message, update the headline, tweak the font size and color, and rewrite the body text to match your brand’s tone.
• Add a call-to-action button (like “Buy Now”) and personalize its style, including color, spacing, and alignment.
• Fine-tune spacing and layout using the padding controls so everything looks clean and balanced.
• Once you’re happy with the final design, click Send test email to preview how it looks in your inbox.
• Click on Finish Editing and publish the automation.

That’s it! You have successfully set up the back in stock email alerts on your WooCommerce store. From now on, if a customer lands on the product page of an out-of-stock item, they’ll see the “Notify me” form instead of just a dead-end message.

Once they drop in their email and you restock that product, the automation will kick in and send them a Back in Stock email automatically.

Setting up Back in Stock alerts is one of those small improvements that quietly makes a big difference. Instead of losing shoppers the moment a product sells out, you give them a simple way to stay in the loop, and you get a second chance at a sale without lifting a finger. With the WebToffee WooCommerce Marketing Automation app, the whole process is easy to set up and even easier to manage.

Once it’s live, your store automatically collects interested customers, notifies them when items return, and brings them back right when they’re ready to buy. It’s a quick win for sales, customer experience, and inventory insight, all from a single workflow. If you haven’t already, now’s the perfect time to add Back in Stock alerts to your WooCommerce store and turn those missed opportunities into real conversions.

We hope this article has helped you set up back in stock alerts on your WooCommerce store. If you find this post helpful, please share your feedback in the comments.