Hello everyone, I need assistance with implementing a ‘Notify Me’ option in my theme. This option should be available for products that are currently out of stock. When a customer clicks on the ‘Notify Me’ button, an email field will be displayed, prompting the customer to enter their email address. After the product is restocked, the customer should receive a notification via email.
Topic summary
A merchant seeks to add a ‘Notify Me’ feature for out-of-stock products, where customers can enter their email and receive automatic restock alerts.
Proposed Solutions:
- Multiple respondents recommend using third-party apps (Back in Stock, FoxKit, REZ) since no themes natively offer this functionality
- One developer notes the front-end is simple but backend complexity involves customer databases, product tagging, and automated email systems
- The Shopify Shop app does include this feature by default
Community Debate:
Significant disagreement emerged about whether this should be core Shopify functionality:
- Critical perspective: Multiple users call it “appalling” and “ridiculous” that a premium platform lacks this basic feature, noting competitors like Magento and WooCommerce include it free
- Defensive perspective: Partners argue Shopify focuses on e-commerce core functions, not email marketing, and the feature is easily solved via apps or workarounds
Concerns Raised:
- Third-party apps create vendor lock-in through data transfer outside Shopify
- Security risks from overseas, unvetted plugins requesting extensive permissions
- Usage-based pricing models (per email sent) for what should be standard functionality
The discussion remains unresolved, with the original poster receiving app recommendations but broader frustration about platform limitations persisting.
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Hey @MerajUddin ,
Building this will be not a small amount of work. I’d recommend to use an app in this case. I’ve used this one before and it did the trick: https://apps.shopify.com/back-in-stock.
If time is your ally in this endeavor and you need to build it yourself, the front-end side is very simple to implement using HTML inputs. Where it gets tricky is the database of customers that sign up for specific products, (you could autotag the customer with the product ID) and then use some ESP to send the back in stock alerts when stock is back (if automated, probably will be a bit of work).
Hello @MerajUddin
To be honest, I’ve never seen a theme offering this feature. It’s quite complicated and requires a connection to both front and back-end, so usually you would find app providers for this.
I suggest you try FoxKit All-in-one Sales Boost that offers this as the feature back-in-stock alert.
The app it’s completely free to start, and it offers a bunch of other psells, cross-sells, and sales-boosting features that can greatly improve your conversion and sales.
Hope this helps 
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The lack of a built-in feature for this in Shopify is appalling… 
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I disagree that it is appalling. I understand as a pain point this can be frustrating, but it’s far from unsolvable. Shopify does the ecommerce part very well. The email marketing side has never been a core offering (even Shopify Email as an app isn’t “core”). The ways you can set this up are fairly numerous.
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It is obviously not appalling to a Shopify Partner but convenient 
, but I can reassure you that it is appalling to a paying Shopify customer to have an e-commerce solution lacking this and other core features useful to any business.
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I’m also a Shopify merchant, so I stand by what I said. I used the Back in Stock app for years, then pivoted when we started trending downwards of <5% of customers that were emailed actually making a purchase. This certainly isn’t going to be the case for every merchant, I still find it a useful feature, but it can’t be the deciding factor on whether or not your business is successful (hence, not “core”).
To be fair the Shop app does have this as a feature - so even if your Shopify theme doesn’t have an app like this installed, if your listed on the Shop app it does the job quite well. As a consumer I’ve used it and found it super helpful.
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Thanks Josiah.
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Not appalling at all - curious why you’d make such a bold, negative statement; most eCom platforms do not offer this as a standard feature… I own/run a multimillion dollar Shopify store (so not a Partner as they label us) and continuously review eCom platforms and stock management systems to improve my business.
Even Magento has this as a default functionality…
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I agree, this is appalling. A ‘notify me when back in stock’ button should be core functionality for any store, and is absolutely essential for any brand selling a product in a competitive space. This should not be an add-on! It is always devs who disagree on points like this, but there are going to be a lot of disappointed users who find out that this should-be-core functionality does not exist.
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It’s not appalling, it’s absolutely ridiculous lol. Magento has it out of the box, WooCommerce has it out of the box. Shopify is a premium, expensive platform and has it as a “paid app”. Of course Shopify Partners love all the little monetizing opportunities.
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This is literally why I want to go back to Wix for sure. I’ve had so many options come in built in with my paid premium. Absolutely ridiculous that I have to download so many third party app to make my Shopify website just as good.
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Hi Josiah!
You’re describing exactly what our app is built for 
If you want to add a ‘Notify Me’ button for out-of-stock products — where customers can enter their email and automatically get notified when the item is back — our app makes that super easy, with no coding needed.
REZ – Back in Stock ‑ Notify Me
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The button only shows when a product is sold out
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Email input appears after clicking
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Automatic email is sent when the product is restocked
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Free forever plan with up to 1,000 emails/month
It works with most themes and is quick to set up. If you’d like, I can help you get it running on your store in just a few minutes!
Let me know if you need help getting started!
Best,
Emma, REZ Co-founder
Here it is! Another “Shopify Partner” peddling a feature that should come built in with Shopify. Especially at the price Shopify charges for their plans. Wake up people, this feature exists in every other ecommerce platform. Free of charge. We had it with WooCommerce. It was free and it worked well. Shopify should really step it up with the basics and not leave it to “Shopify Partners” to fix their mess.
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Totally hear you. This should be a native feature. But until Shopify adds it, our goal with REZ is to make it as easy and effective as possible.
We handle the full flow: show the button only when needed, collect emails, auto-send restock alerts, and let (assist) you customize everything. no coding, no hassle.
Plus, REZ is free up to 1,000 emails/month, and we’re here to support you directly. Happy to help if you ever want to give it a try.
You guys are relentless, I give you that. And you have to be - you are making money out of a simple missing feature. Charging money for email/per month too. Especially when Shopify is able to notify customers on stuff free of charge. Way to go!
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Hi Emma, it isn’t your fault that Shopify lacks this feature, and I do not blame you for filling the void and scooping up some customers while you’re at it. We are all trying to grow our businesses, so I empathize with yours.
That said, your service sounds attractive but I have reservations and will likely not use it based solely on the fact that so many third party plugins are over-seas from the US (including yours), not heavily reviewed/vetted, and want the moon when it comes to permissions, which is a huge security concern. I do not have faith that Shopify polices third-party vendors. If they did I would be a lot more inclined to experiment with new/smaller players such as you guys.
Just my two cents for what it’s worth. Best of luck to you.
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Thanks for your honesty. But if you read my message closely, you’ll notice that I’m actually offering lifetime free access for early users, including 1,000 emails per month, all features, and setup help. This is simply a chance for small businesses to benefit from a missing feature without paying a cent. Just wanted to make sure the offer was clear.
The offer is clear. It’s a predatory strategy almost all of the Shopify partners use. Hook people on a service that transfers data outside of the Shopify platform and then charge money when it’s difficult to switch. We have been there more than once. Shopify is perfectly capable of sending emails and they do it free of charge. Your service includes 1000 emails a month, which is really not a whole lot. I appreciate you trying to build a business around a very simple missing feature, just be explicit where people’s data goes and how you would bill them for usage 
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