Product Notification (Availability Alert)
With the Availability Alert, customers can be notified by email as soon as a sold-out item or variant becomes available again. This guide shows you how to enable the feature, when the store sends the emails, where to view the sign-ups, and how to customize the email messages.
At a Glance
- Enable: “Sold Out/Out of Stock” under Settings → Checkout → Inventory and “Product Notification Feature (Availability Alert)” under Settings → General → Basic Settings. Both must be enabled.
- For customers: An “Availability Alert” button appears next to the sold-out item. Guests confirm their registration via email; registered customers are automatically enrolled.
- Variants: The registration applies to the attribute combination the customer selected.
- Shipping: The next time you log in to the backend, as soon as the item is back in stock. An import or inventory update alone does not trigger an email.
- Overview: Reports → Product Notifications shows how many customers are waiting for which items.
In this guide
Turn on the availability alert
Two settings must be enabled. If either is missing, the store will not display a button and will not send notifications.
1. Mark sold-out items
Settings → Checkout → Inventory → Set“Sold Out/Out of Stock ” to “ true.”
Items with a stock level of 0 or less will then display “Out of stock!” instead of the Add to Cart button and can no longer be added to the cart. This setting is turned off by default.
2. Enable the availability alert
Settings → General → Basic Settings → Set“Product Notification Feature (Availability Alert)” to “ true.”
This setting is already enabled by default. So usually, only the first step is missing.
Under Settings → Checkout → Inventory, “Sold Out/Out of Stock” must be set to true; “Set to Inactive” and “Hide” should remain set to false for the availability alert. Click to enlarge.
These settings take effect with
You can also find all three under Settings → Checkout → Inventory.
| Setting | Effect on the availability alert | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| “Check Inventory” | Attribute values with no stock appear in the selection with the note “(out of stock!)”. | if you track inventory by attribute value |
| “Hide sold-out products” | Sold-out items disappear from categories, search results, and product lists. Customers will no longer see the availability alert there. | Off (false) |
| “Set sold-out products to inactive” | The store marks items and attribute values as inactive upon an order as soon as they are sold out. No notifications are sent for inactive items until you reactivate the item. | from (false) |
How a customer logs in
The process consists of four steps. Guests must also confirm their registration via email.
Item sold out
The product page displays “This product is out of stock!” with the “Availability Alert” button below it. In categories, search results, and on the wish list, the “Out of stock!” button opens the same window.
Sign in
In the window, the customer enters their email address, checks the privacy policy box, and clicks “Notify Me.” Registered customers do not need to enter an address.
Confirm (Guests)
Guests receive a confirmation email and click the link inside it (double opt-in). For registered customers, the registration takes effect immediately.
Notification
If the item is back in stock, the store sends the email the next time the user logs in to the backend. After that, the registration is complete.
For a sold-out item, the message “This product is out of stock!” replaces the shopping cart button; below it, “Availability Alert” opens the sign-up window. Click to enlarge.
Guests enter their email address and confirm the privacy policy; only then can they click “Notify Me.” Click to enlarge.
Guest or customer with an account
| Guest | Registered customer | |
|---|---|---|
| Email address | They enter it in the window | The store retrieves this from the customer's account |
| Confirmation | via the link in the confirmation email | Not required |
| Overview and Logout | Not possible; the subscription ends upon shipment | under My Account → Product Notifications |
If someone signs up a second time for the same item, the store checks the existing registration: If it’s confirmed, the message “You are already registered for this product” appears. If it’s still unconfirmed, the store resends the confirmation email. If a guest enters the address of an existing customer account, the store assigns the registration to that account. After confirmation, it appears there under “Product Notifications.”
When the button does not appear
- The item is in stock. For variants, the stock level of the selected attribute combination applies.
- Release date in the future: If the “Release Date” in the “General” tab of the product is after today, the store displays “Coming Soon.” Once the “Pre-order starting” date is reached, “Pre-order” appears instead.
- One of the two settings is turned off (see Enabling).
- The item is inactive or is hidden from lists by the “Hide Sold-Out Products” setting.
Variants and Attributes
Customers sign up for the exact variant they have selected. The email is sent only when that variant is back in stock.
On the product page
If the customer selects a feature combination that is out of stock, the product page displays “This product is out of stock!” and the “Availability Alert” button for that specific combination. If “Check Inventory” is enabled, out-of-stock options appear in the selection with the note “(out of stock!)”. As long as the availability alert is active, they remain selectable so customers can sign up for that variant. If it’s disabled, the store blocks such options.
From lists and for product families
From a category or the search results, the customer signs up for the item without a variant. In this case, the stock of the item itself is counted. For product families (master/slave), each variant is a separate item with its own product page. The sign-up then applies to that specific item.
If only one attribute value is out of stock, it appears in the selection with “(out of stock!)”; if the customer selects it, “Availability Alert” registers them for that exact variant. Click to enlarge.
Enter the stock level for each attribute value in the “Product Quantity” field for that value. If left blank, the item’s stock level applies. For more information, see the Product Attributes Guide. In the backend overview, the “Model Details” column shows how many subscriptions are assigned to each attribute value.
When the store sends emails
The store sends notifications at only one specific time: when someone registers in the backend. There is no schedule, and no emails are sent during imports or when inventory is updated.
Every time a user logs in to the backend, the store checks all confirmed subscriptions:
- Is the item active?
- Does it have a stock level greater than 0? For a variant, the stock level of the selected attribute combination counts.
- Is the product name available in the language the customer logged in with?
If all three conditions are met, the email is sent, and the store deletes the registration. After logging in, you’ll see the message “... back-in-stock notifications have been sent.”
What the email contains
The store uses the “Product Notification (Availability Alert)” template in the language the customer logged in with. The email displays the product name, the product image, and a button linking to the product page. If an item in a product family does not have its own image, the store uses the image of the master item. A separate email is sent for each registration. The link leads to the product page, where the customer selects the features again.
Inventory from Import or ERP System
If an import or your inventory management system updates the inventory, the emails will not be sent until the next time you log in to the backend. Therefore, log in once after receiving a shipment. An existing session does not count; only a new login does.
Didn’t receive a notification?
Check these points in order.
- Are both settings enabled? “Sold Out/Out of Stock” and “Product Notification Feature (Availability Alert) On/Off” are set to “
true.” Otherwise, the store will skip sending notifications entirely. - Subscription confirmed? Under Reports → Product Notifications, only confirmed subscriptions are listed. If the item is missing there, the guest did not click the link in the confirmation email.
- Has a new registration been made in the backend since then? The notification is only sent when a new registration is made in the backend.
- Is the correct variant in stock? If the customer has subscribed to a specific attribute combination, that exact combination must be in stock. Stock for the item alone is not sufficient if the “Product Quantity” value is 0.
- Is the item active? The store does not send notifications for inactive items.
- Isthe item name in the customer’s language? If the name is missing in the language the customer logged in with, the store skips this order.
- “Send emails” to? See the note in the Shipping section.
- Older version? Up to XONIC 4.8.7, no email was ever sent for items without attributes. After the update, the store sends these backlogged orders as soon as the item is in stock, even if they were placed a long time ago. from 4.8.8
Orders in the Backend
Under Reports → Product Notifications, you can see how many customers are waiting for which items. This also helps you identify which items are worth reordering.
What the table shows
One row per product with an image, “Stock” (current inventory), “Product Name,” “Manufacturer,” “Item Number,” “Number” of pre-orders, “Last Pre-order,” and “Model Details” (pre-orders by attribute value).
By default, the items with the most pre-orders appear at the top. Clicking a column header sorts the list anew. The table shows only confirmed pre-orders and no email addresses. Use the row menu to open the item for editing or to view a preview.
Filter, export, delete
- Filter: “Start Date” and “End Date” narrow down results by registration date.
- Export: Downloads a CSV file containing the product name, item number, manufacturer, quantity, last registration, and model details, using the active date filter.
- Delete: “Delete” in a row’s menu removes all registrations for that item. "Delete All" below the table deletes all entries; when the date filter is active, the button is labeled "Delete Filtered." An intermediate page displays the count; the action is only executed after clicking "Permanently Delete." You need deletion permissions for this page to do so. from 4.8.4
The report counts the confirmed registrations per item and shows in “Model Details” how many of these correspond to which attribute value. Click to enlarge.
Customize Email Texts
You can edit both emails for the availability alert under CMS → Emails & Marketing / Automations, specifying the subject line and content for each language.
| Template | Outgoing | Placeholder |
|---|---|---|
| “Product Notification (Availability Alert)” | when the item is back in stock | {PRODUCTS_TO_NOTIFY}: Product name, product image, and button to the product page{STORE_NAME}: Name of your store |
| Template with “Double Opt-In” in the name | when a guest signs up | {SALUTATION}: General salutation{products_name}: Product name{link}: Confirmation link{STORE_NAME}: Name of your store |
In the “Product Notification (Availability Alert)” template, the store for {PRODUCTS_TO_NOTIFY} inserts the product name, image, and button linking to the product page. Click to enlarge.
Leave the placeholders as is
Edit the text surrounding the placeholders. If {PRODUCTS_TO_NOTIFY} is missing, no product will appear in the email. If {link} is missing, the guest cannot confirm their registration. The notification email itself does not include a personalized salutation: placeholders such as {SALUTATION} remain unchanged.
Text in the Store
You can change the labels in the shop—such as “Availability Alert,” “Out of Stock!” or “Notify Me”—by entering your own values under Tools → xoLanguage. For information on how the Mail Manager works, see the CMS Manager & Emails guide.
Notifications in the Customer Account
Customers with an account can view their subscriptions themselves and unsubscribe there.
My Account → Product Notifications
This page lists all items for which the customer has confirmed a subscription, similar to a product list. Customers can access it in “My Account” via “View or Change Product Notifications” and in the account navigation under “Email Notifications.”
As long as an item is out of stock, the “Stop Notifying Me” button appears there. It is intended to unsubscribe the customer from the item and all its variants, but it is currently not functioning; this will be fixed in an update. Until then, our support team can assist with unsubscribing.
Wish List and Address Changes
Wish lists and product notifications always display sold-out items, even if “Hide Sold-Out Products” is enabled. On the wish list, the “Out of Stock!” button opens the availability alert. from 4.8.3
If the customer changes their email address in their account or if you change it in the backend, any pending notifications will be sent to the new address.
Under My Account → Product Notifications, the customer can view their confirmed subscriptions; here, in the list view, there is a “Stop Notifying Me” button. Click to enlarge.
Guests do not have access to this overview. Their subscription ends once the notification is sent.
Consent, Spam Protection, and Deletion
The availability alert stores an email address. For this reason, the store obtains consent and requires guests to confirm their email address.
Consent
Under Settings → Privacy → General → Privacy Consents for General Forms, select: “ opt-in ” displays a checkmark; the button becomes active only after that (default). “ advise ” displays only a notice. “ false ” displays nothing. For opt-in and advise, the store saves a record with the time and IP address. The notice links to your privacy policy; describe the availability alert there.
Double Opt-In and Spam Protection
Guests confirm their email address via the link in the confirmation email. Unconfirmed registrations do not receive a notification and do not appear in the overview. If you have set up Google reCAPTCHA under Settings → Interfaces → Spam Protection → Google reCAPTCHA, the store will also use it to verify this form.
Deleting Registrations
After the email is sent, the store automatically deletes the registration. Customers with an account can view their sign-ups in their account. In the backend, you can delete sign-ups by item or all at once (see overview). Individual email addresses cannot be removed selectively there. If a guest requests deletion, please contact our support team.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I enable notifications for customers?
true.” After that, sold-out items will display the “Availability Alert” button.When are the emails sent? Is there a schedule?
Why did a customer receive a notification?
A registered customer clicks “Notify me,” but nothing happens.
Can I block sold-out attribute values in the selection?
How do I temporarily remove a variant from sale?
How do I change the messages for out-of-stock items in the shopping cart?
Why does Google show an item as unavailable?
A customer no longer wants notifications. What should I do?
Related Guides
Questions about the availability alert?
We can help you set it up, manage variants with their own inventory, and customize the email messages.
Contact Support