Don't hide the product
The instinct when something sells out is to hide it. Resist that. The product page has collected search rankings, backlinks, and reviews — delete or hide it, and all of that starts from zero when you restock.
- Keep the page indexed and reachable through categories and search
- Keep the price visible; removing it creates doubt instead of urgency
- Only remove pages for products that are permanently discontinued — and redirect those to the closest alternative
Say when it's coming back
Uncertainty, not the stockout itself, is what sends customers to competitors. If you know the restock date, put it on the product page. If you don't, say something honest like “expected again within 2-3 weeks”.
A concrete promise keeps a share of buyers waiting; silence keeps none of them.
Capture the demand
A sold-out page without a signup option loses nearly every interested visitor. A notify-me form changes the equation: the visitor leaves an email address, and you get both a future sale and a measurement of demand.
- The waiting list tells you how much to reorder, per variant
- Notification emails convert well because every recipient explicitly asked for them
- Even customers who buy elsewhere in the meantime often still buy when notified — intent lingers
Offer alternatives on the page
Not everyone will wait. Give the impatient visitor an on-site alternative before they find one on another site: comparable products, the same product in a different color, or the newer model. An alternative sold today beats a notification sent next month.
Backorder, pre-order, or notification?
Three tools for three situations:
- Backorder — sell now, ship later. Works when the restock date is certain and short; risky when suppliers slip.
- Pre-order — for new products with a launch date. Same promise as a backorder, so the same caveat.
- Back-in-stock notification — no delivery promise at all. The right choice whenever timing is uncertain, which for most shops is most of the time.
Learn from the stockout
Every stockout carries information. Which products keep selling out? Which variants had the longest waiting lists? How fast did demand build up? Feed that back into purchasing, so the popular items get deeper stock next time and the stockout doesn't repeat itself.
Related guides
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