Get Your ‘Back in Stock Emails’ Right: Best Practices, Tips, and Examples For a Triumphant Reunion
Back-in-stock emails are a powerful tool to rekindle customer interest and drive sales.
Ever had customers express disappointment that their favorite products vanished from your store? Then, they clicked on the little ‘notify me’ button to let them know as the product becomes available.
This is where you use a back-in-stock email to re-engage subscribers and possibly upsell a complementary product.
This guide will delve into creating compelling back-in-stock emails, from subject line strategies to real-world examples.
What Are Back-in-Stock Emails?
Back-in-stock emails are automated messages sent to notify customers that a previously out-of-stock item is available for purchase again.
These emails contain the following information:
- Details about the product, such as its name, image, etc.
- A compelling CTA to guide users to complete the purchase.
Back-in-stock emails help improve customer experience, trust, and loyalty. Let’s explore more reasons to use them.
Why Are Back-in-stock Emails Special?
Back-in-stock emails hold a special place in the e-commerce world for the following reasons:
- Access to the pre-qualified audience: Unlike a generic marketing email, back-in-stock emails have a pre-qualified audience, increasing the chances of engagement.
- Ability to use urgency and scarcity: Creating a scarcity effect for subscribers’ favorites excites most customers and increases sales.
- Fosters re-engagement opportunities: Back-in-stock emails potentially re-ignite the buying journey and encourage customers to pick up from where they left off.
- Is a valuable data source: Tracking back-in-stock emails can give you insights into customer behavior, product demand, and the effectiveness of your marketing strategy.
Back-in-stock emails are a targeted way to convert interested shoppers and create a sense of excitement.
However, it’s easy to confuse ‘out-of-stock’ emails with ‘Back-in-stock’ emails. Both may sound alike, but they play different roles in re-engaging customers.
Out-of-stock vs. Back to Stock Emails
Out-of-stock emails inform customers that the current product is not available for purchase. While a back-in-stock email alerts customers that the out-of-stock product is available again.
Here’s an in-depth comparison between them.
| Aspect | Out-of-stock emails | Back-in-stock emails |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Notify customers that a product is unavailable for purchase | Notifies customers that the previously out-of-stock product is available for purchase again |
| Email content | May include apologies for unavailability, reasons for product shortage, other options, or offers | Includes product name, description, image, and link to the product |
| Timing | Is sent when a product goes out of stock | Sent when a product is back in stock |
| Customer reaction | Might lead to disappointment | Leads to excitement and willingness to purchase |
| Goal | Manage customer expectations and decrease dissatisfaction | Re-engage customers, increase sales and enhance customer experience |
| Marketing strategy | Used to promote related products or encourage sign-ups for back-in-stock emails | Ability to capture customer engagement anddrive immediate sales |
By utilizing both, you can maintain transparency and clear communication with customers. However, to ultimately drive sales, you must know how to write an interesting back-in-stock email, which starts with the subject line.
A Quick Guide to Back-in-Stock Email Subject Lines
Although subscribers have already shown interest, it’s safe to remind them why you’re sending the email.
The subject line is a critical component that determines your open rates.
Here’s a quick guide to crafting the perfect back-in-stock email subject lines:
- Use keywords like ‘Back in stock’ or ‘Restocked’ to increase curiosity.
- Mention the product name to increase interest.
- Create a sense of urgency by mentioning product demand.
- Use humor and inject your brand personality to keep it real.
- A/B test your subject lines to know what works best for your audience.
Now, let’s go over some back-in-stock subject line examples to give you an idea of how it’s done.
Back-in-stock Email Subject Line Examples
- Good news, we heard you – [product name] is back
- Restock alert – [Product category] available and ready to ship
- Don’t miss out. [Product name] is back in stock and selling fast
- The wait is over: [product name is back], and we’re not kidding
- Did you miss us? [Product name is back] and better than ever
- Back in stock with 15% off. Get it before it’s gone
- You asked, we heard: [Product name] is available for purchase at 10% off
While the subject line is the starting point, a back-in-stock email has more components that work in tangent to achieve the expected results.
Let’s review the typical process of writing a back-in-stock email, along with examples.
Building the Perfect Back-in-Stock Email: Tips and Examples
To build a perfect back-in-stock email, sending relevant and targeted content is critical.
With these actionable tips below, we’re sure you’ll be able to target the right people with the right information.
Simple and Informative Email Content
Once you give subscribers a compelling reason to open the email, you must retain their interest with good email copy.
You can use the following tips to create an effective email body copy:
- Start with a friendly greeting to show customers you value them.
- Immediately inform recipients about the product they are interested in.
- Include essential details about the product, including the name, image, and specifications.
- Clearly tell subscribers what you want them to do next. For example, “Claim 15% off on this order.”
- Thank subscribers for their time and re-direct them to other brand resources if need be.
- Provide an easy unsubscribe option.
Athletic Brewing’s back-in-stock email starts with a high-resolution product image, immediately introduces the product, and shares brand history. The ”Customer Reviews” section is a well-calculated move to instill trust in re-engaging subscribers.
Focus on a Single Product
Customers may wish to receive restock updates on different items. This doesn’t mean you club everything in an email. A back-in-stock email is always about a single product with benefits and steps to the purchase section.
Keep your emails to the point and give customers a strong reason to buy the product.
This could be through:
- Incentives such as discounts, email coupons, or deals.
- Compelling visual narratives.
- Bold and attention-grabbing headlines.
- Showcasing limited product availability.
- Including positive customer reviews and testimonials.
Row 7 emphasizes Beet Seeds and explains its value through intriguing email copy. The brand keeps customers’ interests by including the “Interested in more seeds” and “Coming soon” columns.
A Strong Call-to-Action
The call-to-action is your final chance to get subscribers to purchase. Most recipients may get distracted and leave before reaching the CTA button. But for those who stick on, you can incentivize them to help them move closer to the purchase.
These tips will help you craft CTAs that get responses:
- Use clear language: Be clear and direct with your wording. For example, “Get purple highlighter at 15% off” is better than “Get this now.”
- Highlight product benefits: Tell customers what they’d miss if they don’t act quickly. For example, “Get yours today and enjoy free shipping.”
- Create urgency: Phrases like “Limited stock available” or “Deals end tonight” perform better with subscribers who are already interested in the product.
- Offer incentives: Consider including free gifts, discounts, or other ways to give back to subscribers’ loyalty.
- Optimize for mobile: Ensure that the CTA is easily viewable on mobile devices since most customers view emails on smartphones.
Rael’s CTA — “Meet your acne solution,” is straightforward and targets customer pain points.
Below, we’ll discuss practical strategies to enhance your back-in-stock email campaigns.
Advanced Back-in-Stock Email Strategies to Increase Conversions
Most customers are usually disappointed with an out-of-stock email. Stockouts were the cause of a negative shopping experience for 30% of the buyers. Around 31% of the shoppers don’t return to the same brand or make a purchase at all.
While stockout messages can be a frustrating experience for you and your customers, it can be overcome with a good back-in-stock email.
So, we’ve laid out the strategies to help you craft a great-looking email that gets more responses.
| Email Strategy | What To Do | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Personalization | Segment audiences to help you send relevant information and use merge fields to personalize emails | Subject: “[Customer name] your favorite product is back, get 10% off now |
| Scarcity and urgency | Highlight limited stock items and include time-sensitive offers | Body: Only 15 units left. Don’t miss out on the [product name] |
| Pre-order option | Offer a pre-order option to capture interest and secure inventory | Subject: “Pre-order your [product name] today” |
| Social proof | Showcase customer reviews, testimonials, and ratings to build trust with customers | Body: “Quote from a product review – see why everyone loves the [product name] |
| Countdown timer | Integrate a countdown timer to explain the urgency | Subject: “This offer expires in 24 hours, use your 10% off now” |
| Cross-selling and up-selling | Recommend complementary products or upgrades to increase the average order value | Body: Looking for a perfect outfit? Shop our matching [accessory name] now |
| FOMO (Fear of missing out) | Highlight the negative consequences of not having the product | Body: Don’t let everyone else win over your looks. Shop [product name] now |
| Retargeting | Retarget customers who opened the back-in-stock emails but never took action with ads or follow-up emails | Follow-up email: “The [product name] is still waiting for you. Don’t miss out” |
Use these strategies ethically and avoid creating fake urgency or misleading customers with false information. Track your results and adapt to what works best for your audience.
Additionally, you can use these bonus tips for a more engaging back-in-stock email campaign.
3 Bonus Tips For a Better Back-in-stock Email Campaign
The structure of your back-in-stock email will depend on your marketing goals. However, the approach to creating these emails must be consistent across all emails in the campaign.
Always start with proper segmentation strategies to send highly relevant and valuable content.
1. Prioritize Segmentation and Email Tracking
Segmentation allows you to divide your email list into smaller and more targeted groups based on customers’ past behavior, purchase history, and preferences.
This step makes it easier to send hyper-personalized content to each segment, increasing overall engagement. Generally, segmented emails notice a significant increase in open and click-through rates compared to non-segmented emails.
You can figure out what works best through A/B testing or email tracking. Email tracking is the process of monitoring key campaign metrics to determine the success of back-in-stock emails.
Email tracking provides campaign insights, optimization opportunities, and a way to continuously improve your emails.
By prioritizing email segmentation and tracking, you can deliver more closely targeted emails based on customer interests and increase engagement.
2. Provide a Back-in-stock Form
If you don’t want your customers to leave your site disappointed, give them a way to stay updated about their favorite product.
Try to use a combination of these elements in your back-in-stock forms:
- A clear headline. For example, “Get notified when the product is available again.”
- An email address field prompting customers to enter their email IDs.
- The product image along with size or color selection.
- Display estimated re-stock time if applicable.
- Offer a checkbox and link to your privacy policy regarding data usage.
- Use the double opt-in method to let users confirm their email addresses.
3. Send an Email Sequence
The probability of all your customers engaging with your back-in-stock emails is usually low. Customers could be busy or forget to complete the purchase. The best way to stay on their minds is to send a series of emails paced out properly.
For example, you can follow the below steps or customize them according to your goals:
- Initial notification: This is the primary notification as soon as the item is back in stock.
- Follow-up reminder: Send a follow-up email typically a week or two later to gently nudge customers to purchase.
- Last chance alert: Send a final reminder with time-sensitive discounts to customers to let them know that the product is in high demand.
- Post-purchase thank you message: Send a thank you email after a customer makes a purchase to show you value their loyalty and time.
Using these elements and best practices together with an automation system will help you create compelling back-in-stock emails.
Streamline Back-in-stock Emails With Automation
Imagine manually tracking and sending back-in-stock emails to customers. While it’s not impossible, it makes little sense when you have a better alternative: automation.
Automation is the process of setting up triggers to automatically send emails to interested customers. Additionally, automation allows you to segment, personalize, and optimize email campaigns.
A good automation system will help you with the benefits shown in the table below.
| Automation Benefit | How it Helps You |
|---|---|
| Efficiency and scalability | ‣ Saves time and resources compared to the manual process ‣ Automatically sends restock notifications to customers who signed up for it |
| Improved customer experience | ‣ Sends instant messages to keep customers informed about products ‣ Reduces customer frustration from delayed notifications Capitalize on initial customer interest |
| Reduced risk of human error | ‣ Eliminates the possibility of sending delayed or incorrect information ‣ Ensures consistency and accuracy |
| Improved workflow | ‣ Integrates the automation system with your e-commerce platform ‣ Saves time by automating repetitive tasks |
Aside from the above, you can utilize merge tags to provide relevant and personalized information in back-in-stock emails. Merge tags are dynamic content, placeholders in emails that automatically insert specific customer information such as name or personal interests.
Common Merge Tags in Back-in-stock Emails
- Customer name,
- Product name,
- Estimated restock time,
- Link to the product page.
You can use merge tags in the subject lines and email body copy to enhance customer experience and increase open rates.
Even though you do everything correctly, you may not achieve the desired results. A major reason for this is low email deliverability rates, which means your customers may not even receive your messages in the first place.
While you can implement sending best practices to increase inbox placement rates, the quickest way to achieve this is to use a reliable platform.
Get Your Back-in-stock Emails to Customer’s Inboxes With Campaign Refinery
Campaign Refinery’s delivery rate exceeds 99%, and combined with the highest inbox placement rate, we ensure your emails reach intended recipients.
This is possible because of our good email-sending practices and powerful email marketing system.
As our client, you can enjoy the following premium tools and features to ensure your back-in-stock emails achieve the best results:
- An automatic email list-cleaning tool that eliminates harmful and inactive email addresses to improve and maintain email deliverability rates and sender reputation.
- Automatically added authentication protocols such as DKIM to maintain your sender reputation.
- Powerful segmentation and automation that allows you to personalize emails for better conversions.
- Pre-built email campaign templates to help you get started.
- Engagement gamification and evergreen flash sales to increase interest and create urgency.
- Transparent pricing system — purchase ‘X’ number of credits and use them as you wish instead of paying for your email list size.
Automate your back-in-stock emails and improve conversions with Campaign Refinery – apply to become a client today!
