Stockouts are an increasing problem for eCommerce businesses, with merchants failing to acquire new shoppers and losing out on increasing their Shopify sales. Subscribing to in-stock updates with communication channels that require personal information is also too much commitment for shoppers, especially as they get concerned over privacy issues. That’s why it’s important that you allow shoppers to subscribe to stock updates via web push notifications.In this guide, we want to help you understand how you can set up back-in-stock alerts using web push notifications. Follow our steps to maximize revenue from this channel and ensure your shoppers come back to your Shopify store.

The Problem: Negative Impact of Stockouts

Imagine landing on a product that you’ve been looking for everywhere only to find that it’s out of stock. It’s a real downer. But, how often have you gone back to the product to check if it’s back in stock? For most shoppers online, there's a slim chance they’ll go back for an unavailable product. They’ll just find the product somewhere else or not buy it at all. Stockouts are a real problem for retail and eCommerce businesses but with the lack of human communication, eCommerce businesses don’t have the option to reassure and bring back their shoppers when the product is back in stock. In 2011, eCommerce businesses lost $25 billion due to stockouts. This loss also includes losing out on potential customers, low satisfaction rates, and negative word-of-mouth. Your first step to avoiding stockouts is to predict how your inventory moves out of your Shopify store. Understanding the pattern of how your product gets sold can help you stock up your inventory better and avoid long gaps of stockouts.However, it’s hard to control your inventory to the minute details. You’ll surely have a short period of time between when your product goes out of stock and when it is stocked up again. You need to have a system in place during this time to avoid losing your interested shoppers from making a purchase due to product unavailability.

The Solution: Web Push Notifications for In-Stock Alerts

Web push notifications are immediately sent to shoppers directly to their device screens, making it the perfect communication channel for timely updates about product availability. They are short messages, quick to read and with a strong CTA to take shoppers to your website instantly.

Shoppers who don’t want to disclose their personal information like phone numbers or email can easily just subscribe to web push notifications. Since the subscription is through the browser, web push notifications are considered to be more secure. This is also why visitors on your Shopify store are likely to opt-in to web push over other channels. On average, web push notifications have a 7-10% opt-in rate from unique visitors to subscribers.Unlike other channels, web push notifications don’t need an inbox or chat window. Instead, subscribers receive the notification right on their device screen, making them highly visible. They are a new marketing channel but being aggressively adopted by eCommerce businesses.Web push notifications function just like email. You can send abandoned cart reminders, promotional campaigns, welcome notifications, segmented messages, and back-in-stock alerts, to name a few.By setting up back-in-stock alerts using web push notifications, you can allow shoppers to subscribe to in-stock updates without having to part with personal information that they don’t want to.

How to Use Web Push Notifications for Back-in-Stock Alerts

The Back in Stock app is an easy-to-use, powerful tool that helps merchants leverage shopper interest and then brings back the shopper automatically when the product is back in stock. You can set back-in-stock alerts to be sent via web push notifications by following these 4 steps:

Step 1: Integration

Before you can allow subscription to web push or send out notifications about in-stock updates, you need to first integrate Back in Stock app with PushOwl. PushOwl is a web push notification app that allows you to send web push campaigns and set up automated notifications for back in stock, price drop, abandoned cart, and more. This integration can be done by following the steps in our helpdesk.Once integrated, you are ready to set up in-stock notifications!

Step 2: Set up back-in-stock message

Set up your web push notification message within the Back in Stock app. This can be done within the PushOwl card. You can include variables in the message to show the product name and store name so they have a quick recall.You can find best practices for creating high-converting back-in-stock messages via web push notifications below.

Step 3: Subscription

Set up a back-in-stock subscription widget that is shown to shoppers on product pages where the stock is unavailable. For web push notifications, you can show an instruction message that gets shoppers to subscribe. Craft the message to illicit exclusivity to shoppers who subscribe to notifications.Once subscribed, your shopper will see a confirmation message which you can customize on the Back in Stock dashboard. The shopper will then be added to the waitlist.

Step 4: Monitor performance

Now that you’ve set up your back-in-stock workflow, you just need to sit back and monitor its performance. When the product is back in stock, shoppers who expressed interest will receive an automated message via web push notification, informing them about the stock update. You need to keep a close eye on how many shoppers are converting their interest into a purchase. You can view open rate, click rate, and revenue generated within the Back in Stock dashboard. Use this data to optimize your back-in-stock message so that you can maximize conversions and increase sales.

How to Use Web Push Notifications for Back-in-Stock Alerts

The Back in Stock app is an easy-to-use, powerful tool that helps merchants leverage shopper interest and then bring back the shopper automatically when the product is back in stock. You can set back-in-stock alerts to be sent via web push notifications by following these 4 steps:

Step 1: Integration

Before you can allow subscription to web push or send out notifications about in-stock updates, you need to first integrate Back in Stock app with PushOwl. PushOwl is a web push notification app that allows you to send web push campaigns and set up automated notifications for back in stock, price drop, abandoned cart, and more. This integration can be done by following the steps in our helpdesk.Once integrated, you are ready to set up in-stock notifications!

Step 2: Set up back-in-stock message

Set up your web push notification message within the Back in Stock app. This can be done within the PushOwl card. You can include variables in the message to show the product name and store name so they have a quicker recall.

You can find best practices for creating high-converting back-in-stock messages via web push notifications below.

Step 3: Subscription

Set up a back-in-stock subscription widget that is shown to shoppers on product pages where the stock is unavailable. For web push notifications, you can show an instruction message that gets shoppers to subscribe. Craft the message to illicit exclusivity to shoppers who subscribe to notifications. Online casino games take many mainstream deposit methods, with more getting added all the time. We have covered all such intuitive and innovative methods, including Trustly and BankID.Once subscribed, your shopper will see a confirmation message which you can customize on the Back in Stock dashboard. The shopper will then be added to the waitlist.

Step 4: Monitor performance

Now that you’ve set up your back-in-stock workflow, you just need to sit back and monitor its performance. When the product is back in stock, shoppers who expressed interest will receive an automated message via web push notification, informing them about the stock update. You need to keep a close eye on how many shoppers are converting their interest into a purchase. You can view open rate, click rate, and revenue generated within the Back in Stock dashboard. Use this data to optimize your back-in-stock message so that you can maximize conversions and increase sales.

3 Best Practices for Back-in-Stock Updates Via Web Push Notifications

When setting up your back-in-stock notification, ensure that you've kept these 3 best practices in mind to successfully grab your shopper's attention.

1. Craft a compelling ‘Push Notification Label’

Your back-in-stock subscription widget has a default web push notification label that will be shown to shoppers to nudge them to subscribe. Customize this copy to reflect your brand voice. Use exclusivity within your copy so that shoppers know that they will be the first to know when the product is back in stock. A well-crafted label can help you increase in-stock subscriptions.

2. Optimize web push notification copy

Your web push notification for in-stock updates needs to be crisp and highly relevant to the product that was just stocked. Use the product title parameter to remind the shopper about the product they showed interest in. A great tactic you can use is to add urgency phrases like “Act now”, “Limited stocks” and “Only for 24 hours”. Urgency is a great way to push your shopper to take action on their interest.

3. Ensure timely updates

Your in-stock updates must be sent as soon as the product is back in stock. This timely update can help you re-engage shoppers and the use of urgency in your copy will make them rush to your store to shop the product instantly.Our app sends back-in-stock notifications automatically. Our automation process ensures that the interested shoppers get an update about the product as soon as it’s back on your store. This ensures that you don’t have to manually let your shoppers know, saving you time and making your in-stock updates efficient.

Have you set up Web Push Notifications for In-Stock Updates?

By setting up web push notifications, you can give shoppers more communication channels to pick from. We hope this guide helps you set up web push notifications for back-in-stock alerts. Setting up your in-stock alerts is easy and once you do, you can avoid losing shoppers to product unavailability. Leverage their interest and bring them back in a timely manner!