Back In Stock Requests¶
Menu Location: Reports > Products > Back In Stock Requests
Last Updated: 2026-09-08
Overview¶
The Back In Stock Requests page shows every shopper who has asked to be emailed when an out-of-stock product comes back. Shoppers can sign up right on the product page, so this report is also a per-product demand signal for what to restock.
The whole feature is switched on and off from this page, so there is one place to manage it.
Primary Features¶
- Feature on/off toggle at the top right of the page. Turning the feature off stops the "Email me when this is back in stock" box from showing to shoppers and stops all notification emails; requests already collected are kept.
- Waiting now (by product) - a count of shoppers currently waiting on each product, biggest demand first. This is the restock-priority list.
- Requests list with filter tabs for Pending (default), Notified, Expired, and All, showing the 500 most recent requests.
How It Works¶
When a product is out of stock, shoppers see an "Email me when this is back in stock" box on the product page (guests type their email; logged-in customers get theirs filled in). The request is tied to the product itself, not a single week's menu, so it survives the weekly menu rebuild.
Each time the store's cron runs, it checks pending requests against live availability. When a product is back, everyone waiting gets one email, and their request moves to Notified. Customers who cannot act on it yet (no open order or Shop Anytime off) are not emailed; the request is held until they can use it.
Guests (shoppers without a customer account) must confirm their email address before any back-in-stock alert is sent: they get a "confirm your email" message with a link, and the request stays Pending until they click it. Requests that sit unfulfilled past the store's cutoff (365 days by default) are marked Expired so the active lists stay current. Nothing is deleted; expired requests can still be seen on the Expired tab.
Reading the Report¶
Waiting Now (by Product)¶
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Product | The product shoppers are waiting on |
| People waiting | Number of shoppers currently waiting (pending only) |
Requests Table¶
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Product | The out-of-stock product the shopper asked about |
| Email address the notification will be sent to | |
| Customer | Linked customer account, or "Guest" for non-account shoppers |
| Requested | Date and time the shopper signed up |
| Status | Pending (still waiting), Notified (emailed when it returned), or Expired (aged out before it came back) |
The Pending / Notified / Expired / All tabs at the top switch which requests the table shows, with counts on the first three tabs.
Common Use Cases¶
- Decide what to restock. Open the report and sort by the "Waiting now (by product)" table; the products with the most people waiting are the ones shoppers most want back.
- Confirm notifications went out. Switch to the Notified tab to see which shoppers have already been emailed and when.
- Review aged-out requests. The Expired tab shows requests the store stopped tracking after the cutoff, keeping the active Pending count focused on current demand while preserving the history.
- Temporarily stop the feature. If a product page should not offer back-in-stock signups (for example during a seasonal pause), click the top-right toggle to turn it off. No requests are lost and the feature can be turned back on the same way.
Troubleshooting¶
The "Email me when it's back" box is not showing on an out-of-stock product¶
Check:
- The feature is turned ON (top right of this page should say "Feature is ON"). While it is OFF, the box is hidden everywhere.
- The product actually shows as out of stock. The box only appears on out-of-stock items.
A shopper was never emailed even though the product is back¶
- Emails only go out on the store's cron runs, so allow for the next cron pass after inventory returns.
- Requests are only fulfilled for shoppers who can act on it (an open order, or Shop Anytime on). If they cannot, the request stays Pending until they can.
- Guests must confirm their email address before they can be notified. An unconfirmed guest request stays Pending and is not emailed, even once the product is back.
- A request that has been waiting past the store's cutoff (365 days by default) is marked Expired and will not be emailed. Expired requests show on the Expired tab.
- Check the request's Status on this report: Pending means it has not been emailed yet.
Recent Updates¶
2026-09-08¶
- Initial documentation created for the new Back In Stock Requests report (back-in-stock waitlist feature).
- Added an Expired status and filter tab. Requests that sit pending past the store's cutoff (365 days by default) are now marked Expired instead of deleted, so they leave the Pending count and "Waiting now" table but stay viewable on the Expired tab with the date they aged out.
- Non-customer (guest) requests now require double opt-in: the shopper must click a confirmation link before any back-in-stock alert is sent. Unconfirmed guest requests stay Pending and are never emailed.