Customize the back in stock email notification
Use this guide to design the back in stock email customers receive: its subject, heading, description, button, footer, colors, and branding. You do this from the Customize email button on the Notifications sub-tab. By the end, customers who signed up for the "Notify me" waitlist will get an email in your own style as soon as the product restocks.
This article covers the standard email template's content and styling. For the signup button and popup form customers use to join the waitlist, see Design the Notify Me Button and Design the Signup Form.
Before you begin
| You'll need | Why |
|---|---|
| Nothing, to design it | You can open Customize email and edit the email even with the Email alerts channel switched off |
| The Email alerts channel on, to actually send | For the email to reach customers, the email channel has to be enabled. See Turn on email and SMS channels. Designing the email and enabling the channel are separate steps |
| A paid plan | Required for a custom sending address, custom HTML templates, and removing the STOQ watermark |
What customers will see
- Each notification in your sequence (the immediate restock alert, plus any reminder notifications you've configured) has its own independent email content and styling, so editing one does not affect the others.
- The email is translated automatically if you have multi-language support enabled and the customer's locale differs from your store's default; product titles are translated too when available.
- The subject, heading, description, footer, and any custom HTML template support Liquid variables like product title, price, checkout link, and customer name, so the email is personalized per recipient.
Set it up
Open Back in stock alerts
In the left menu bar of the STOQ app, click Back in stock alerts.
Open the Notifications sub-tab
- Click the Settings tab.
- Open the Notifications sub-tab.
Choose which notification to design
In the notification sequence at the top (When you restock and any reminder like Wait 1 day), select the one whose email you want to design. Each has its own email.
Click Customize email
Scroll to the Email & SMS templates section and click Customize email at the bottom of it. This opens the email editor on the Email template tab.
Open the section you want to edit
The editor has a live preview on the right and a list of sections on the left. Click the section that holds what you want to change, then edit its fields. Your changes appear in the preview instantly. Click Save to publish them.
| Section | What you edit there |
|---|---|
| Content | The logo, subject, pre-header, heading, description, action button, footer, unsubscribe text, and the "Powered by STOQ" watermark. This is where most edits happen |
| Colors & styles | Text, section, and background colors, corner radius, fonts and font sizes, and custom CSS |
| Address | The "from" name and address customers see |
| Send emails through | Whether STOQ sends the email or a connected platform like Klaviyo does |
| Social links | Social media profile links shown as icons in the footer |
| Integrations | Judge.me product reviews in the email, if you use Judge.me |
Each notification you selected in the sequence (the restock alert and each reminder) has its own template. Editing one doesn't change the others.
What you can edit
Content
This is the main section. It holds:
- Logo: upload a logo image and set its display size in pixels.
- Subject: the email subject line customers see in their inbox.
- Pre-header: the short preview text shown next to the subject in most inboxes. If left blank, it falls back to the heading text.
- Heading: the large text at the top of the email body.
- Description: supporting text under the heading.
- Button: the call-to-action. Set the Button text (for example "Buy now"), where Take customer to links (Checkout or the Product page), and its corner radius, text color, and background color.
- Footer and Unsubscribe text: the closing text and the unsubscribe link label at the bottom.
- Show 'Powered by STOQ' watermark: a checkbox to show or hide STOQ branding. Hiding it requires a paid plan.
- Use HTML template: switch from the standard fields above to your own HTML (paid plan). See Use a custom HTML email template.
Colors & styles
- Text, section, and background colors, and the overall corner radius.
- Email font, and separate font sizes for the heading and description.
- Custom CSS: add your own CSS rules; use the Selectors link to see which class names are available to target.
Address
Set the From name customers see, and choose whether to send from STOQ's default address or your own custom domain address (a paid feature that needs DKIM setup). See Change your sender address.
Send emails through
Choose the platform that sends this email: STOQ's built-in sender, or a connected provider like Klaviyo or Postscript. If you pick a third-party platform, the Content, Colors & styles, and Address fields are managed in that platform instead and are disabled here. See Back in Stock Email Delivery Channels.
Social links
Add profile URLs for Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, X (Twitter), YouTube, and WhatsApp to show clickable social icons in the email, and choose the icon color (white or black).
Integrations
If you use Judge.me, turn on Judge.me product reviews to include review content in the email.
Check your setup
(Optional) Preview with a real product
Below the live preview, click Preview with my product and pick one of your products, so the preview and test email use real product details instead of placeholders. The preview then reads Previewing [product], with Change and Reset links to swap or clear it.
Send a test email to yourself
- Click Send test email below the preview.
- In the Send test email dialog, enter the Email address to send to.
- Click Send. A copy of the email arrives with your current settings applied.
Check formatting on a real device
Open the test email on both desktop and mobile to confirm your custom colors, fonts, and any custom CSS render as expected.
Confirm live sends after a real restock
After restocking a product with pending signups, check the Back in stock alerts activity to confirm the alert was sent to real customers with your new content. For a controlled runthrough before going live, see Test Back in Stock Alerts.
The live preview and Send test email button are available with STOQ's built-in email sender. Custom HTML templates show "No preview available" in the editor, and if you send through Klaviyo or Postscript you preview and test inside that platform instead.
Troubleshooting
You can't find where to edit the email
On the Notifications sub-tab, scroll to the Email & SMS templates section and click Customize email at the bottom of it. Inside the editor, the fields are grouped into sections in the left list: Content holds the subject, heading, description, and button; Colors & styles holds colors and fonts.
Most content fields are greyed out
You're sending this alert through a third-party platform, such as Klaviyo or Shopify Flow, instead of the built-in STOQ sender. Edit the content in that platform instead; see Back in Stock Email Delivery Channels.
Your custom sending address isn't being used yet
It needs DKIM authentication. Download the DNS records from the editor and add them at your domain host. Until they're verified, emails keep sending from the default STOQ address.
"Powered by STOQ" checkbox is locked
Hiding the watermark requires a paid plan.
Custom CSS isn't applying to the elements you expect
Use the Selectors link in the editor to check which class names are available to target.
Use HTML template isn't available
This feature requires a paid plan.
FAQ
When exactly does the back-in-stock email send?
It sends automatically as soon as the product's available inventory rises to or above your Minimum restock quantity (by default, any stock above zero counts), for every customer with a pending signup for that product or variant. If you've set up reminder notifications, those send a set number of days later to customers who still haven't purchased while the item remains in stock. See Set a Minimum Restock Quantity to adjust the threshold.
Does changing the email content affect emails already sent?
No. A content or style change only applies to emails sent after you save; any alert already delivered to a customer keeps the content it was sent with.
Can I have different email content for the first alert versus a reminder?
Yes. Each notification in your sequence (the initial alert and any reminders) has its own separate email template, so you can write different subject lines and content for each.
Can I save a second, alternative email template to switch between?
Not as a spare "slot" you swap in and out. STOQ keeps one email template per notification in the sequence: one for the restock alert, and a separate one for each reminder you add. You can't save multiple interchangeable versions of the same alert email. If you're looking to give certain products a different look, note that the per-product templates on the Products tab only change the storefront Notify me button and signup form, not the email. See Customize the Notify me widget for specific products.
Can I remove the 'Powered by STOQ' text from the email?
Yes, on a paid plan. There's a checkbox in the content editor to hide the watermark; on the free plan this option is locked.
Can I fully redesign the email layout, not just colors and text?
Yes, with a custom HTML template (paid-plan feature). You write your own HTML and insert STOQ's Liquid variables for product/customer data, replacing the standard template entirely.
Does editing the email template affect the signup button or popup form on my storefront?
No. The email template only affects the notification email. The button and popup form customers see on your store are configured separately, see Design the Notify Me Button and Design the Signup Form.
Related guides
Set Up Back in Stock Alerts
Get the full alerts flow running end to end.
Test Back in Stock Alerts
Send yourself a real restock alert before going live.
Back in Stock SMS Alerts
Customize the SMS version of the restock notification.
Back in Stock Email Delivery Channels
Choose between the built-in sender and third-party providers.
