Walmart has been a staple store for Americans since the 50s. The company was also an early adopter of online selling, setting up their online site in 2007. With their constant innovation and smart marketing strategies, it's safe to say that Walmart is a great example for any merchant looking to find tips and tricks to sell better.One strategy in particular that Walmart has set up is back-in-stock alerts. In this blog, we'll dissect what Walmart does right with its back-in-stock alerts and how you can set it up to lower losses from stockouts.
How Walmart Uses Back in Stock Alerts
With its large inventory and multiple variants, Walmart is sure to face stockouts frequently. While they have been able to lower stockouts, there are always a few variants that run out sooner than predicted. This is why Walmart has set up back-in-stock alerts on its online store. Shoppers who land on a stocked out product can instantly click on the ‘Get in-stock alerts’ button. From here, shoppers enter their email address and subscribe. Once they receive the email that the item is back in stock, shoppers can come back and purchase from Walmart’s online store. Seamless, right?
Walmart has set up a back-in-stock automation strategy with simple and straightforward functionality. Let’s dive into Walmart’s marketing strategy for back in stock alerts:
- Communication channels used: Walmart allows shoppers to only subscribe using email.
- Subscription design and message: For products that aren’t in stock, a red message ‘Out of Stock’ is shown under the price. For these products, shoppers see a 'Get in-stock alert’ button instead of an 'Add to Cart' button.
- Interaction with the subscription: Once clicked, a small dialog box is shown next to the button so that shoppers can enter their email address.
- CTA for Subscription: A simple ‘Submit’ button is shown next to the email address field.
- Post subscription: Once subscribed, shoppers see this message in the dialog box— ‘Thanks! We'll send you an email when this item is back in stock.’
Install Back in Stock – Restock Alerts app on your Shopify store to increase sales just like Walmart
Set Up Back in Stock Alerts Better Than Walmart
As an online store owner, it's crucial to take inspiration from Walmart. But, when setting up back-in-stock alerts just like Walmart, we'd suggest optimizing them to provide more functionality and flexibility to your shoppers.Here are 5 best practices to keep in mind when setting up back-in-stock alerts like Walmart:
1. Give shoppers more communication channels to choose from
You need to provide your shoppers with more flexibility with your communication channel. While Walmart has only sent up email, you can add up to 4 channels that your shoppers can choose to subscribe to— email, SMS, web push, and Facebook Messenger. With so many options, your shoppers can pick their preferred channel via which they want to subscribe to these restock messages and ensure that aren't providing details they don't want to.You can easily set up multiple communication channels for your back-in-stock alerts. Install Back in Stock – Restock Alerts app to capture shoppers who are interested in your stocked out products.
2. Automate back-in-stock messages
Manually sending a back-in-stock message to your shoppers every time a product is stocked up is too time-consuming. This is why you need to automate sending these alerts.The Back in Stock – Restock Alerts app is built to send automated alerts. Merchants can set up these messages with parameters and different templates. Once the product is back in stock, the automated engine triggers the communication message to be sent to all the shoppers who subscribed to that specific product.Install Back in Stock – Restock Alerts app on your Shopify store to automate in-stock messages and increase sales.
3. Use urgency
One of the best copy tactics to increase clicks on your back-in-stock messages is urgency. With urgency, shoppers will be driven to take quicker action and shop the item sooner in case it goes out of stock again.Build urgency with these words and phrases:
- Act now!
- Get them while stocks last.
- Product availability is subject to demand.
- Limited stock, get it now!
Install Back in Stock – Restock Alerts app on your Shopify store to increase sales just like Walmart
4. Ensure your back-in-stock messages are crisp and optimized
When setting up your back-in-stock messages, ensure that your copy is crisp and optimized to reflect your brand voice. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Give more context within your emails, you can even build a narrative since there is no limit on word count.
- Use your messages on web push, SMS, and Facebook Messenger to deliver all the information within the short copy, including product name, product price, and product image.
- Use parameters to include the name of the product for easier recall.
Install Back in Stock – Restock Alerts app on your Shopify store to increase sales just like Walmart
5. Make your subscription mobile-optimized
When setting up your subscription form for stocked out products, ensure that it is optimized for mobile. Since a majority of shoppers buy on mobile, these forms need to be easy to use on mobile. The Back in Stock - Restock Alerts app is designed to ensure that your sign-up form is optimized on both desktop and mobile.Learn everything about back in stock alerts with this extensive guide.
Walmart Marketing Strategies: Set Up Back in Stock Alerts to Increase Shopify Sales
As an online store, you need to pick up tips from top eCommerce stores like Amazon, Tesla, and Walmart. Through this guide, you can understand how Walmart sets up this simple automation to allow shoppers to stay in the know about items they are interested in and then successfully bring them back when the item is in stock.There’s no doubt that stockouts are common, even for stores with a large inventory management team. But, with the right strategy in place, lowering stockouts is easy. The Back in Stock - Restock Alerts app allows you to set up back-in-stock alerts on your Shopify store:
- Customizable sign-up form.
- Multiple communication channels for shoppers to choose from.
- Integrations with top Shopify apps to supercharge your alerts.
- Customizable back-in-stock messages.
- Powerful analytics to understand the impact of your alerts.
