See how long customers have been waiting with new waitlist insights
Waitlist insights in STOQ show you exactly how long customers have been waiting for out-of-stock products. When you open a product or variant's pending waitlist, STOQ displays three key metrics at a glance: the average, the longest wait, and the months. You can also expand a distribution chart to see the full breakdown of wait times across all customers.
Use these insights to prioritize restocking decisions. If customers have been waiting weeks or months, it may be time to reorder inventory or send a manual notification with an update.
Before You Begin
Make sure the following requirements are met before using waitlist insights.
- STOQ is installed on your Shopify store with the app embed enabled.
- At least one product has pending back-in-stock signups (customers on the waitlist).
- For the distribution chart: A paid STOQ plan is required. Free plan users see the summary badges (average and longest wait) but the chart is blurred with an "Upgrade to unlock" prompt.
How to Access Waitlist Insights
Waitlist insights appear automatically when you view a product or variant's pending waitlist. Follow these steps.
- In your Shopify admin, open the STOQ app.
- Click Reports in the left navigation menu.
- Under Back in stock, open the Products tab (Demand view).
- Click on any product name or variant name in the table to open its detail page.
- Make sure you are on the Current waitlist tab (pending/unsent signups). Waitlist insights only appear for pending signups, not for already-notified customers.
- The waitlist insights bar appears above the customer table, showing summary metrics.
Understanding the Summary Bar
The summary bar displays three pieces of information in a single line.
Average Time on Waitlist
This is the median wait time across all customers currently on the waitlist for that product or variant. It tells you the typical length of time a customer has been waiting.
- Displayed as: "Average time on waitlist: {time}"
- Time is formatted in the most readable unit:
- Less than 1 day — for very recent signups
- Days (e.g., "3 days") — for waits under 1 week
- Weeks (e.g., "4 weeks") — for waits between 1 week and 2 months
- Months (e.g., "5 months") — for waits over 2 months
Longest Wait
A badge showing how long the longest-waiting customer has been on the waitlist.
- Displayed as: "Longest: {time}"
- Uses the same formatting as the average (days, weeks, or months).
Percentage Over 3 Months
If any customers have been waiting longer than 90 days, a second badge appears showing what percentage of the waitlist has been waiting over three months.
- Displayed as: "{percentage}% over 3 months"
- Only appears when the percentage is greater than 0%.
- If more than 50% of customers have been waiting over 3 months, the badge is highlighted to draw extra attention.
Expanding the Distribution Chart
Click the summary bar or the expand arrow to reveal the full waitlist distribution chart. This bar chart visualizes how customers are spread across different wait-time ranges.
How to Expand and Collapse
- Click anywhere on the summary bar text (the "Average time on waitlist" line) to expand the chart.
- Alternatively, click the chevron arrow button to the right of the summary bar.
- To collapse the chart, click the Hide button in the top-right corner of the expanded chart card, or click the chevron arrow again.
Reading the Chart
The chart displays a bar chart where:
- The X-axis shows time ranges (e.g., "0d", "1d", "2d" for daily intervals, or "1w", "2w", "3w" for weekly intervals, or "1mo", "2mo" for monthly intervals).
- The Y-axis shows the number of customers waiting in each time range.
- Hover over any bar to see the exact time range and customer count (e.g., "5 customers waiting 2 weeks").
How Time Intervals Are Determined
STOQ automatically chooses the best interval based on how long the longest-waiting customer has been on the waitlist.
Longest Wait | Chart Interval | Bin Size | Example Labels |
|---|---|---|---|
Up to 14 days | Daily | 1 day | 0d, 1d, 2d, 3d… |
15–60 days | Daily | 7 days | <1w, 1w, 2w, 3w… |
61–180 days | Weekly | 14 days | 1w, 2-3w, 4-5w… |
181–365 days | Monthly | 30 days | <1mo, 1mo, 2mo… |
Over 365 days | Monthly | 60 days | <1mo, 1-2mo, 3-4mo… |
The chart keeps roughly 10 or fewer bars to stay readable, regardless of the total wait time span.
Where Waitlist Insights Appear
Waitlist insights are available in two places, both within the pending (unsent) waitlist view.
Location | How to Get There |
|---|---|
Variant detail page | Reports → Products → Click a variant name → Current waitlist tab |
Product detail page | Reports → Products → Switch to "Group by product" → Click a product name → Current waitlist tab |
In both cases, the insights show data for the specific variant or product you are viewing.
Practical Use Cases
Here are some ways to use waitlist insights to make better decisions.
- Prioritize restocking. If the average wait time is several weeks and the waitlist is large, the product is in high demand and customers have been patient. Prioritize restocking it.
- Identify stale waitlists. If the longest wait is many months but the waitlist is small, customers may have lost interest. Consider sending a manual notification or removing the product from back-in-stock tracking.
- Monitor customer patience. A high "over 3 months" percentage signals that a significant portion of your waitlist has been waiting a long time. This increases the risk of customers losing interest or purchasing elsewhere.
- Compare variants. Check waitlist insights across different variants of the same product. Some sizes or colors may have customers waiting much longer than others.
Known Limitations
Keep these constraints in mind when using waitlist insights.
- Paid plan required for the distribution chart. Free plan users see the summary badges (average wait, longest wait) but the chart is blurred and locked behind an upgrade prompt.
- Only available for pending (unsent) signups. Waitlist insights do not appear on the "Sent" or "Notified" tabs. They only calculate wait times for customers who have not yet been notified.
- Only visible with "All time" date filter. If you have a custom date range selected (e.g., Last 30 days), the insights bar does not appear. Switch back to All time to see it.
- Average is the median, not the mean. The "average time on waitlist" uses the median value (the middle value when all wait times are sorted). This prevents a few very old signups from skewing the number.
- Back-in-stock only. Waitlist insights are not available for preorder products.
- Data loads after the main table. The insights bar may take a moment to appear after the customer table loads, as it fetches data separately.
Troubleshooting
Use the table below to resolve common issues with waitlist insights.
Symptom | Possible Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
Insights bar does not appear | No pending signups exist for this product/variant, or a custom date filter is active. | Ensure the product has at least one customer on the waitlist and that the date filter is set to All time. |
Chart is blurred with "Upgrade to unlock" | You are on the free plan. | The distribution chart requires a paid plan. Click the overlay to view pricing. The summary badges (average and longest wait) are available on all plans. |
Average wait shows "less than 1 day" | All signups happened very recently. | This is expected. Wait times will increase as time passes. |
Insights bar shows a loading animation | Stats are still being calculated. | Wait a few seconds. The insights load after the main customer table finishes loading. |
Chart shows only a few bars | The wait time range is short, so fewer bins are needed. | This is expected. STOQ automatically adjusts the number of bars based on the longest wait time. |
"Over 3 months" badge does not appear | No customers have been waiting longer than 90 days. | The badge only appears when at least one customer has been on the waitlist for more than 3 months. |
FAQs
Q : What is the difference between "average" and "longest" wait time?
A : The average time on waitlist is the median wait time — the middle value when all customer wait times are sorted. It represents the typical wait. The longest wait is the maximum — the single customer who has been waiting the longest. The median prevents outliers (e.g., a customer who signed up a year ago) from distorting the average.
Q : Why does STOQ use the median instead of the mean for the average?
A : The median is more representative of a typical customer's experience. If most customers have been waiting 2 weeks but one customer signed up 6 months ago, a mean average would show a misleadingly high number. The median ignores that outlier and gives you a more useful "typical wait" figure.
Q : Can I see waitlist insights for all products at once?
A : No. Waitlist insights are shown per product or per variant on their individual detail pages. To compare across products, you need to open each product's waitlist individually. Use the Demand view in the Products report to see overall waitlist sizes and then drill into specific products.
Q : Do waitlist insights update in real time?
A : Waitlist insights are calculated when you open the product or variant's pending waitlist page. They reflect the current state of the waitlist at the time of loading. Refresh the page to see updated numbers.
Q : Does the chart show customers who have already been notified?
A : No. The chart only includes customers who are currently on the pending waitlist (unsent signups). Customers who have already received a back-in-stock notification are not included in the wait time calculations.
Q : What happens to the insights after I send notifications?
A : After you send back-in-stock notifications (automatically or manually), the notified customers are removed from the pending waitlist. The waitlist insights will update the next time you load the page, reflecting only the remaining pending customers. If all customers are notified, the insights bar disappears.
Q : Can I export waitlist insights data?
A : Waitlist insights are not directly exportable. However, you can export the full customer waitlist as a CSV from the product or variant detail page, which includes signup dates. You can then calculate wait times from the signup dates in your spreadsheet.
Q : Why do I see waitlist insights on some products but not others?
A : Waitlist insights only appear for products or variants that have at least one pending back-in-stock signup and when the date filter is set to All time. Products with no waitlist, or those viewed with a custom date range, will not show the insights bar.
Updated on: 13/04/2026
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