--- title: "What are restock alerts and how do they work?" description: "Restock alerts add a Notify Me button to sold-out variants and email each shopper once when that variant is back in stock. Every plan includes them." url: https://docs.ezpreorder.com/restock-alerts/restock-alerts-overview plan: Free last_verified: 2026-11-11 --- # What are restock alerts and how do they work? Restock alerts in EZ Preorder & Back In Stock add a **Notify me when available** button to sold-out product variants. A shopper enters their name and email, and the app emails them once, automatically, when that variant is back in stock. Restock alerts (also called back in stock alerts or Notify Me alerts) work per variant and are included on every plan; your plan sets how many signups you can collect. **Available on:** Free, Core, Growth, Professional and Scale plans. Free includes 30 signups in total. Core, Growth and Professional include 250, 750 and 1,500 signups per billing cycle. Scale has unlimited signups. Bulk actions and email customization need Core or above. **Where to find it:** EZ Preorder → **Restock Alerts**. ## How restock alerts work Restock alerts in EZ Preorder follow the same five steps for every product: 1. You add the **EZ PreOrder - Notify Me** block to your product page template and add products to the restock list on the **Restock Alerts** page. 2. When a shopper selects a variant that is sold out, the Notify Me button appears on the product page. 3. The shopper clicks the button, enters their name and email in the popup, and clicks **Submit**. The signup appears on the **Signups** tab with the status **Active**. 4. When that variant's available inventory goes above 0 at any of your locations, EZ Preorder emails every active signup for the variant and changes each one to **Notified**. 5. The email's button opens the product page with that variant selected. If the shopper places an order after clicking it, the order counts toward your **Restock revenue**. ## When the Notify Me button shows The Notify Me button shows on the live store only when all of these are true: - The product is on your restock list (**Restock Alerts** → **Products**). - The **EZ PreOrder - Notify Me** block is on the product template that product uses. - The selected variant has **Track quantity** turned on and **Continue selling when out of stock** turned off in Shopify. - The selected variant has 0 or fewer units available, so Shopify shows it as sold out. - Your store has not reached its restock signup limit. The button hides for variants that are in stock and updates when the shopper switches variants. In the theme editor the block always shows, so you can style it. If the button is missing, follow [The Notify Me button is not showing](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/restock-alerts/notify-me-button-not-showing). ## Restock alerts work per variant Restock alerts in EZ Preorder are tracked per variant, not per product. If the Small size is sold out and the Large size is in stock, the Notify Me button shows only while Small is selected. A shopper who signs up for Small is emailed only when Small is restocked. Adding a product to the restock list covers all of its variants. ## Restock alerts and preorders on the same product A variant cannot show a preorder button and a Notify Me button at the same time. When you put a variant on preorder with the **Always** or **Sold out** rule, EZ Preorder turns on **Continue selling when out of stock**, so Shopify treats the variant as available and the Notify Me button stays hidden. Shoppers see the preorder button instead. With the **Specific inventory level** rule, **Continue selling when out of stock** stays off. The Notify Me button can show once the preorder stock runs out. Entering a preorder quantity above 0 also counts as a restock, so any waiting shoppers are emailed at that moment. See [Preorder rules](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/preorders/preorder-rules). ## What the shopper receives Each restock alert signup gets one email, sent when the variant comes back in stock. The email shows the product name, the product image and a button (**Shop Now** by default) that opens the product page with the variant selected. It is sent from the address alerts@ezpreorder.com with your store name as the sender name, and replies go to your store's email address. On Core and above you can change the sender name, reply-to address, subject, text, colors and logo. See [How to customize the restock alert email](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/restock-alerts/customize-the-restock-alert-email). ## Restock alert limits by plan Restock alert limits in EZ Preorder count signups, not emails sent. | Plan | Restock signups | Alert emails | | --- | --- | --- | | Free | 30 in total, for the life of the store | Unlimited | | Core | 250 per billing cycle | Unlimited | | Growth | 750 per billing cycle | Unlimited | | Professional | 1,500 per billing cycle | Unlimited | | Scale | Unlimited | 3,000 per billing cycle included, then $0.01 per email | When you reach your signup limit, the Notify Me button disappears from your store until the limit resets or you upgrade. Shoppers who already signed up are still emailed. Details are in [When are restock alerts sent?](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/restock-alerts/when-restock-alerts-are-sent) and [Plan limits](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/plans-and-billing/plan-limits). ## What you can track The **Restock Alerts** page has three tabs. **Products** lists the products on your restock list with their inventory and signup counts. **Signups** lists every shopper who signed up, with search, filters, CSV export and cancel. **Overview** shows total signups, alerts sent, restock revenue and your top products by signups. See [How to track restock signups and revenue](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/restock-alerts/track-restock-signups-and-revenue). ## Limitations - Restock alerts collect email only. There is no SMS or phone option. - There is no button to send or resend alerts by hand. Alerts go out only when inventory comes back. - Signing up does not create a Shopify customer or subscribe the shopper to your email marketing. - You get one email template, in one language, for all shoppers. - The Notify Me button is a product page block. It does not add buttons to collection page product cards. - Uninstalling EZ Preorder deletes all restock signups. Export them first if you want to keep them. ## Frequently asked questions ### Are restock alerts included on the Free plan? Yes. The Free plan includes restock alerts with up to 30 signups in total for your store. That limit does not reset; upgrade to Core or above for a monthly allowance. ### Do I need the EZ Preorder app embed turned on for restock alerts? No. The **EZ PreOrder - Notify Me** block works on its own. You need the app embed only for preorders. ### Will a shopper be emailed more than once? No. Each signup gets one alert and then changes to **Notified**. If the variant sells out again, the shopper has to sign up again to get the next alert. ### Can shoppers unsubscribe from restock alerts? The alert email has no unsubscribe link, because each signup gets only one email. If a shopper asks to be removed before the alert goes out, cancel their signup on the **Signups** tab. ### What is the difference between restock alerts and preorders? A preorder lets shoppers buy a sold-out product now and receive it later. A restock alert takes no payment and only emails the shopper when the product can be bought again. See [Preorder vs backorder vs back in stock](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/guides/preorder-vs-backorder-vs-back-in-stock). ## Related articles - [How to set up restock alerts](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/restock-alerts/set-up-restock-alerts): add the block and your products, step by step. - [When are restock alerts sent?](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/restock-alerts/when-restock-alerts-are-sent): triggers, timing, limits and revenue attribution. - [How to customize the Notify Me button](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/restock-alerts/customize-the-notify-me-button): every setting of the block. - [How to customize the restock alert email](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/restock-alerts/customize-the-restock-alert-email): sender, subject, text and branding. - [How to track restock signups and revenue](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/restock-alerts/track-restock-signups-and-revenue): the Products, Signups and Overview tabs. - [Plan limits](https://docs.ezpreorder.com/plans-and-billing/plan-limits): what counts toward each plan's limits.