See exactly where signups come from, why alerts were sent, and when customers first signed up
Understanding where signups come from, why alerts were sent, and when customers first signed up gives you full visibility into your back-in-stock notification pipeline. STOQ surfaces these insights directly inside your Reports tabs so you can trace every signup and notification back to its origin.
This guide covers three reporting features:
- Signup source indicators — See which signups came through the standard form versus Quick Resubscribe.
- "Why was this sent?" notification history — View the exact reason each alert was triggered, its delivery status per channel, and follow-up stages.
- "Signed up" date column — Reveal when customers originally subscribed, even after the notification has been sent.
Before You Begin
Make sure the following requirements are met before using these reporting insights.
- STOQ is installed on your Shopify store with the app embed enabled.
- Back-in-stock alerts are configured and at least some customers have signed up for notifications.
- Notifications have been sent (for the "Why was this sent?" and "Signed up" date features to display data).
See Where Signups Come From
STOQ tracks how each customer signed up for a back-in-stock alert. This helps you understand which signup channel is driving the most demand.
Where to Find It
- In your Shopify admin, open the STOQ app.
- Click Reports in the left navigation menu.
- Click the Back in stock main tab.
- Select the Current waitlist sub-tab.
Each row in the waitlist table represents a signup request. The Contact column shows the customer's email or phone number along with source indicators.
Quick Resubscribe Indicator
If a customer signed up through the Quick Resubscribe feature (the browser extension resubscribe flow), a blue replay icon appears next to their contact information. Hover over the icon to see the tooltip:
This icon only appears on the Current waitlist tab (unsent requests). It tells you the customer previously received an alert, but the product went out of stock again and they resubscribed.
Bounce Status Indicators
The Contact column also shows email delivery health indicators:
- Warning triangle icon (yellow) — Email delivery failed once previously. Future notifications may not reach this customer.
- Diamond alert icon (red) — Email address is unreachable due to repeated delivery failures. Notifications will not be sent.
See Why Alerts Were Sent
After a notification has been sent, you can view exactly why it was triggered using the "Why was this sent?" feature. This is available on the Notifications sent tab and on individual product notification pages.
How to Access Notification History
- In your Shopify admin, open the STOQ app.
- Click Reports in the left navigation menu.
- Click the Back in stock main tab.
- Select the Notifications sent sub-tab.
- Find the notification you want to investigate.
- Click the dropdown arrow (chevron) next to the Re-send button on the right side of the row.
- Click "Why was this sent?".
A popover appears showing the full Notification history for that signup.
What the Notification History Shows
Each entry in the notification history includes:
- Source label — The reason the alert was triggered (see table below).
- Timestamp — The exact date and time the notification was sent.
- Stage badge — If the alert is a follow-up reminder, a blue "Stage X" badge shows which follow-up stage it was (e.g., Stage 2, Stage 3).
- Channel delivery status — A badge for each channel (Email, SMS, Push) showing the delivery outcome.
Alert Source Labels
The source label tells you exactly why the notification was sent.
Source Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
Auto restock | STOQ detected that the product was restocked (via Shopify webhook) and automatically sent the alert. |
Bulk send | A merchant manually triggered a bulk send from the Reports dashboard. |
Bulk re-send | A merchant manually triggered a bulk re-send for customers who already received an alert. |
Manual send | A merchant manually sent the notification to an individual customer from the Reports dashboard. |
Flow automation | The alert was triggered by a Shopify Flow automation using a STOQ trigger. |
Follow-up reminder | A follow-up reminder was sent as part of a multi-stage notification template. |
Channel Delivery Statuses
Each channel in the notification history shows a delivery status badge:
Status | Badge Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
Bounced | Red (critical) | The message bounced and was not delivered. |
Clicked | Green (success) | The customer clicked a link in the notification. |
Opened | Green (success) | The customer opened the notification. |
Delivered | Green (success) | The notification was successfully delivered. |
Sent | Blue (info) | The notification was sent but no delivery confirmation yet. |
Pending | Yellow (attention) | The notification is queued but has not been sent yet. |
Accessing Notification History from a Product Page
You can also view notification history from an individual product's notification list:
- In Reports → Back in stock → Products, click on any product.
- Switch to the Notifications sent view.
- Click the dropdown arrow next to Re-send on any notification row.
- Click "Why was this sent?".
The same notification history popover appears, showing the source, timestamp, stage, and delivery status.
See When Customers First Signed Up
The "Signed up" date column shows when a customer originally registered for a back-in-stock alert. This is useful for understanding how long customers waited before receiving their notification.
How to Enable the Signed Up Column
The "Signed up" column is hidden by default. To enable it:
- In your Shopify admin, open the STOQ app.
- Click Reports in the left navigation menu.
- Click the Back in stock main tab.
- Select the Notifications sent sub-tab.
- In the filter bar, look for the Columns filter.
- Check the Signed up date option.
A new Signed up column appears in the table between the Qty. and Sent columns.
What the Signed Up Column Shows
The column displays the original signup date and time in your local timezone, formatted as:
For example: 15 Jan 2025, 2:30 PM
This is the date the customer first submitted the "Notify me" form for that product — regardless of when the notification was actually sent.
Where the Signed Up Column Is Available
Report View | Available? |
|---|---|
Reports → Back in stock → Notifications sent | Yes (enable via Columns filter) |
Reports → Back in stock → Current waitlist | No (the "Subscribed at" column already shows this) |
Reports → Back in stock → Products → [Product] → Notifications sent | Yes (enable via Columns filter) |
Reports → Back in stock → Products → [Product] → Current waitlist | No |
Advanced Tips
These tips help you get the most out of the signup and notification insights.
- Combine the Signed up column with date filters. Enable the Signed up column, then filter by a date range to see notifications sent in a specific period alongside the original signup dates.
- Use "Why was this sent?" to audit automations. If you use Shopify Flow triggers with STOQ, check the notification history to verify that Flow automations are sending alerts as expected. The "Flow automation" source label confirms the alert came from a Flow.
- Monitor bounce indicators regularly. Check the Current waitlist for yellow and red bounce icons. Customers with unreachable email addresses occupy space in your waitlist without converting.
- Track Quick Resubscribe adoption. The blue replay icon on the Current waitlist shows customers who resubscribed after a previous alert. A high number of resubscribes may indicate products that frequently go in and out of stock.
Known Limitations
Keep these constraints in mind when using signup source, alert reason, and signup date features.
- Quick Resubscribe icon only appears on the Current waitlist. Once a notification is sent, the source icon is no longer shown on the Notifications sent tab. Use the "Why was this sent?" feature instead to trace the alert source.
- Notification history requires sent notifications. The "Why was this sent?" feature is only available on the Notifications sent tab and product-level sent views. It does not appear on the Current waitlist.
- The Signed up column is off by default. You must manually enable it via the Columns filter each time you visit the page. The setting does not persist across page reloads.
- Delivery statuses depend on email provider tracking. "Opened" and "Clicked" statuses require the email provider to support tracking. Some email clients block tracking pixels, so delivery statuses may not always reflect the actual customer action.
- Notification history may not be available for older notifications. Notifications sent before STOQ began tracking detailed history may show "No notification history available".
Troubleshooting
Use the table below to resolve common issues with signup and notification insights.
Symptom | Possible Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
No Quick Resubscribe icons appear on the waitlist | No customers have resubscribed via Quick Resubscribe, or the feature is not enabled. | Check Back in stock alerts → Settings → Channels to confirm Quick Resubscribe is enabled. |
"Why was this sent?" shows "No notification history available" | The notification was sent before STOQ started tracking detailed history. | This is expected for older notifications. Newer notifications will have full history. |
"Why was this sent?" shows an error | A temporary network or server issue prevented loading the history. | Close the dropdown and try again. If the issue persists, refresh the page. |
The Signed up column is missing | The column is hidden by default and only available on the Notifications sent view. | Open the Columns filter and check Signed up date. Make sure you are on the Notifications sent tab, not the Current waitlist. |
Delivery status shows "Pending" for a long time | The notification may still be queued, or the delivery tracking has not updated yet. | Wait a few minutes and refresh. If the status remains "Pending" after an hour, the notification may have been lost in transit. |
Bounce icon appears but the email looks correct | The email address may have a full inbox, a strict spam filter, or the domain may be blocking delivery. | Ask the customer to check their spam folder or provide an alternative email address. |
FAQs
Q:- What does the blue replay icon mean next to a customer's contact?
A:- The blue replay icon indicates the customer signed up for an alert using the Quick Resubscribe feature. This means they previously received a back-in-stock notification for the same product, but the product went out of stock again and they resubscribed for another alert. This icon only appears on the Current waitlist tab.
Q:- Can I see the signup source for notifications that have already been sent?
A:- Yes. On the Notifications sent tab, click the dropdown arrow next to the Re-send button and select "Why was this sent?". The notification history shows the source label (e.g., Auto restock, Manual send, Flow automation) along with the timestamp and delivery status per channel.
Q:- What is the difference between "Signed up" and "Sent at" dates?
A:- The Signed up date is when the customer originally submitted the "Notify me" form. The Sent at date is when STOQ actually sent the notification. The difference between these two dates represents how long the customer waited for the product to come back in stock.
Q:- Why does the "Signed up" column not appear on the Current waitlist?
A:- The Current waitlist already displays a Subscribed at column that shows when the customer signed up. The "Signed up" column is an additional optional column specifically for the Notifications sent view, where the default date column shows the sent date instead.
Q:- What does "Follow-up reminder" mean in the notification history?
A:- "Follow-up reminder" is a subsequent notification sent as part of a multi-stage email template. For example, if you have a 3-stage notification template, the first send shows as the original source (e.g., "Auto restock"), while the second and third sends appear as "Follow-up reminder" with Stage 2 and Stage 3 badges respectively.
Q:- Can I filter notifications by their source (e.g., only show auto-restocked alerts)?
A:- Currently, the "Why was this sent?" feature shows the source on a per-notification basis via the dropdown popover. There is no dedicated filter to show only notifications from a specific source. You can use the date filter and sorting to narrow down results.
Q:- Does the notification history show SMS and push notification delivery status too?
A:- Yes. The notification history shows delivery status badges for each channel the alert was sent through — including Email, SMS, and Push. Each channel has its own status badge (e.g., "Email: Delivered", "SMS: Sent").
Q:- How do I know if a customer's email is permanently blocked?
A:- red diamond alert icon next to the customer's contact information means the email address is unreachable due to repeated delivery failures. STOQ will not send future notifications to this address. The yellow warning triangle indicates a single previous failure — notifications may still be attempted but could fail again.
Updated on: 14/04/2026
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