Back-in-Stock Email Examples

You probably have more than one popular product in each merchandise category, and you probably reorder more than one sold-out product. So why send an email with just one product? Adding related products that have just been restocked gives your email a wider appeal. If one product doesn’t persuade your customer to come back, a related one might.

This Kühl email does that with an assortment of backpacks that are part of a popular collection of gear. A simple copy block with basic info gives customers just enough data to whet appetites for more, while the simple modular design keeps the mobile-friendly email from becoming overwhelming.

Although multiple products in a single email can increase appeal, another product might benefit from having the spotlight to itself. This allows you to go into greater depth on product benefits and features, especially for higher-priced items whose buyers might need more persuading before they could be ready to buy.

Although Ten Thousand doesn’t go into extreme detail when describing its Rep Short, the copy includes key details such as “durability without the bulk,” “ripstop shell,” and trademarked materials. It also includes multiple images of the gym wear in use.

If you send more than one email campaign for a restocked product, take the time to create fresh back-in-stock subject lines, preheaders, copy, and calls to action. Use new images if you have them. 

You don’t have to recreate new versions every time, of course. That’s what back-in-stock email templates are for. Just develop two or three that can keep your message interesting and convey the same content and urgency.

Sending the identical email three days in a row, or even two to three times in a 24-hour or 48-hour window, will either annoy your customers or make your emails invisible. 

Athleta sent three versions of a restock email over three days. One version (seen at right) focused on the product itself. Another included the same creative content but changed the subject line. A third email mentioned the product in the subject line but then featured it below other new products in the same category.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again—“Shop Now” and “Buy Now” are terrible CTAs. (Learn why and discover some better alternatives.) A back-in-stock email campaign is an excellent place to try out unique CTAs that use psychology to persuade readers to click.

Testing can help you find CTAs that fit in with the general tenor of your email content but also add to the information you want to convey. This Nicole Miller email covers both bases. The top CTA (“Take Me to the Brief”) is clever and action-oriented. But for customers who might not be interested in the particular product being highlighted, the more general CTA under the hero image (“Shop all Shapewear”) emphasizes this option.

If you have products that are restocked in time for a holiday, that’s a great sales pitch. Skip Hop gets out in front of the holiday shopping season with this email that capitalizes on a previous season’s hot seller to promote for the coming season.

This is a variation on the classic back-in-stock email. The product itself might not have sold out in the conventional sense but could be seasonally available. You can still give it the restocking treatment, especially if you frame the subject line as the return of a popular product.

Nobody likes to wait, especially in the buy-it-now atmosphere of digital shopping. It’s too easy to search for replacements from competing brands, and that means lost revenue. Instead, let your subscribers know when a popular out-of-stock item is about to come back. This tactic works especially well for products that tend to sell out quickly.

Skims sent this email with an option to join a waitlist on the item that was to be restocked the day after the email went out. This tactic gives the brand a chance to recoup potentially lost revenue and also allows it to segment its audience so it can send back-in-stock emails to only its most interested audience.

Some sizes go out of stock faster than others and stay sold out for a longer time. Consider mentioning that all sizes, even the most popular ones, are available again, just like Beltology did in this back-in-stock email. People are more likely to initiate and complete the purchase when they already know their size is available.

If you are running a sale that includes popular restocked items, make sure to mention that in your back-in-stock email. This can encourage customers to go to the website and purchase.

In this example, ColourPop includes a restocked item in its 30% off sale and features the promotion in its subject line: “ BACK IN Stock Heart Blushes! 30% off sitewide.” You can apply the same tactic if you offer free shipping on restocked items or any other special offer.

Urgency is one of the greatest motivators, but you don’t have to be obvious about it. This brand delivers a subtle kick of FOMO (fear of missing out) with this subject line: “🚨 👀🏃‍♂️ Restock Alert – This box sold out 4x.” That tells subscribers the gift box is a hot item. The caveat with this tactic, however, is that loyal or long-time customers who pay attention to your promotions might find it a tad shady. But it’s still better to show customers why they need to jump on your offer than to tell them. 

Another tactic to persuade customers is to praise the quality of your product. This email is another example of showing instead of telling. The email begins with the subject line “The Dansk pitcher we can’t keep in stock.” The message itself highlights the limited-edition design and top-quality materials and tops it off with a styled image instead of a simple catalog shot as the hero image.

Sometimes you don’t need to bring out the bells and whistles to promote a popular restocked product. Lunya’s back-in-stock email for a popular travel pillow follows the same minimalist design of its promotional emails: an attractive hero image followed by a few well-chosen lines of copy and some supporting images. It also includes an animated GIF illustrating a product benefit—ease of set-up for a long flight.

When a product sells out, you could let customers wait around until you restock it. Or you could invite them to add their email addresses to a waitlist and notify them when the product is back on your virtual shelf. That’s what’s going on in this Fashion Nova alert. The subject line tells the customer an item on her waitlist is available again. But she’ll have to open the email to see what it is. And when she does, she sees another intriguing call to action button: “View my items.” So the pictured item might not be one she put on her list. It’s a clever way to nudge customers to click through to the website.

Social proof is another persuasion principle that is tailor-made for email content. Adding customer ratings and reviews to email content speaks to the human desire to check our actions against what others have done and to reduce the risk we might buy the wrong thing. This Free People email goes all in, beginning with the subject line (“Top Rated & Back in Stock”). Then the email content pulls in customer comments and images from social media showing others wearing the product. It’s a one-two punch of affirmation.