Turn Sold-Out Products Into Sales: A Shopify Guide

When a product sells out, most stores do nothing: the page sits there with a grayed-out button, and interested shoppers leave. But a sold-out product is often your highest-demand product. The interest is real and present. The question is whether you capture it or let it walk.

There are two proven ways to keep earning from out-of-stock items, and they suit different situations.

Strategy 1: back-in-stock waitlists

A waitlist lets shoppers ask to be emailed when a product returns. Use it when you intend to restock the item and just need to bridge the gap. It costs the shopper nothing, so signups are easy, and when you restock you have a ready list of buyers to notify automatically.

The bonus is data: your waitlists tell you which products and variants people want most, which is exactly what you want to know before placing your next order.

Strategy 2: pre-orders

A pre-order lets shoppers buy now and receive the item when it's available. Use it when you're confident the product is coming and you'd rather capture the sale immediately than risk losing the customer. Pre-orders also validate demand for new products before you commit to large inventory.

One caution: do pre-orders through Shopify's native selling plans, not the "continue selling when out of stock" shortcut, which can oversell through express checkouts. We cover this in detail in our guide on setting up pre-orders without overselling.

When to use which

• Use a waitlist when you're unsure of timing, when the price is high enough that shoppers prefer to wait and decide later, or when you simply want a low-friction way to recapture interest.
• Use pre-orders when restock timing is known, for launches, and when capturing the sale now matters more than maximum signups.
• Use both across your catalog. Many stores offer pre-orders on confirmed restocks and waitlists everywhere else.

Measure what's working

Whichever you use, track the outcome. For waitlists, watch signup counts per product and how many convert when you restock. For notifications, make sure the emails are actually being delivered: a permanent delivery log that shows what was sent and whether it arrived turns "I think it's working" into "I know it's working."

A note on cost

These features should make you money, not eat into it. Be wary of tools that take a percentage of recovered or pre-order sales, or that meter you per email: your cost then rises exactly as the feature succeeds. Flat, predictable pricing keeps the math simple.