What to email when something is out of stock: 5 templates that keep the customer
Four ready-to-adapt out-of-stock email templates — restock date, no date, gone for good, back in stock — plus the rules that make them convert.
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Below are four out-of-stock emails you can paste into your helpdesk or email tool today, one for each situation a sold-out page actually throws at you: you know the restock date, you don't, the product is gone for good, and it's back. The fifth situation — a paid order that can't ship — is an operational incident first, and its apology email lives with the recovery sequence (linked below). Each template leads with the fact, offers a next action, and gives you a placeholder structure rather than polished prose to mutilate. Pick yours from the table, adapt the bracketed fields, and send it today — the speed matters as much as the words, because shoppers who hit an empty page don't wait: 31% bought the item at another store in the classic study commissioned by the Grocery Manufacturers of America (Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council, 2002 — accessed November 2026). A fast, plain email is how you stay in front of that behavior instead of behind it.
Choosing the right email
One decision before you write anything: which situation are you actually in?
| Situation | Use | Send within |
|---|---|---|
| Paid order you can't fulfill | Template 1: the oversold apology | Same day, before the customer emails you |
| Out of stock, restock date known | Template 2: the dated notice | Within 24 hours of the question or the sellout |
| Out of stock, no reliable date | Template 3: the unknown date | Within 24 hours |
| Discontinued, not coming back | Template 4: the substitute offer | Within 24 hours |
| Restocked and a customer asked to be notified | Template 5: the back-in-stock note | The hour the units are sellable |
If the trigger was a paid order that can't ship, run the operational sequence first — refund or hold, re-authorize, restock the phantom unit — and use the recovery guide's apology email as the customer-facing layer. The full same-day sequence and that email live in our oversold recovery guide; this article owns only the out-of-stock situations.
Template 1: you oversold and the order can't ship
The oversold apology lives in our oversold recovery guide — deliberately, because overselling is an operational incident first: refund or hold, re-authorize the payment, restock the phantom unit, then send the customer-facing email that guide provides. This article owns the out-of-stock situations below; that guide created the fulfillment mistake.
Templates 2–4: the product is out of stock
These three cover the product-level case — no paid order involved, but a customer who wanted something you can't currently sell.
Template 2: restock date known
Subject: [Product] is out of stock — back on [date]
Hi [first name],
[Product] is sold out right now. The next delivery is confirmed for [date], and it will be available to order from that morning.
If you'd rather not wait, [substitute] covers the same use and is in stock today: [link].
Want us to email you the moment [product] lands? Reply "yes" and we'll hold nothing back — you'll be first to know. [Waitlist link]
[Name], [store name]
Two rules: the date must come from your purchase-order history, not the supplier's quote (quoted dates slip; your received-date record doesn't), and the substitute link is optional but converts better than sympathy alone.
Template 3: no date yet
Subject: [Product] — where things stand
Hi [first name],
Straight answer: [product] is out of stock, and we don't yet have a delivery date we'd promise you. Rather than guess, we'll say that plainly — the next shipment is expected [month/quarter], and we'll email you the confirmed date the week we have it.
If you need it sooner, [substitute] is available now: [link].
[Name], [store name]
The credibility problem with stock claims is well documented among sellers — a common complaint in r/shopify through 2026 is that customers stop trusting "two weeks" when it arrives as "two weeks" three times in a row. A range you can meet beats a date you can't; commit to the update, then actually send the update.
Template 4: discontinued — offer the substitute
Subject: [Product] has been retired — here's what we'd point you to
Hi [first name],
[Product] is discontinued, and we won't be restocking it — we'd rather tell you that than leave you waiting on a page that will never change.
The closest thing we carry is [substitute]: it [one clear line on how it differs]. It's in stock here: [link].
If you have an open order or a question about a past purchase, reply to this email and a person will answer.
[Name], [store name]
Discontinuation emails are rare enough that honesty reads as respect. The "one clear line on how it differs" is the difference between a substitute recommendation and a deflection.
Template 5: it's back
Subject: You asked us to tell you — [product] is back
Hi [first name],
[Product] is back in stock as of this morning: [variant-specific link].
[Units available: actual count, e.g., "32 units."] If it sells through again, we'll restock on [next expected window].
[Name], [store name]
Keep it to three lines. The cadence around this email — when to send, how to sequence reminders, what to do when demand exceeds the restock — is a strategy question, and it's covered in the back-in-stock playbook. Who the email can even reach was decided earlier, at capture — the app-selection criteria live in the back-in-stock apps guide.
The rules behind all five
- The fact goes in line one. Every template opens with the situation, because the reader's first scan decides whether the email is trusted or skimmed past.
- Never blame the supplier, the carrier, or "inventory sync." Customers judge the store; a cause that sounds like an excuse costs more trust than the mistake itself.
- One next action, stated as a link. Substitute, waitlist, or refund — give exactly one primary path per email. Two links compete; five delete the message's purpose.
- Dates come from your own records. Promise only dates your purchase-order history says you can hit. A met "we don't know yet" outranks a missed "March 14th."
- Transactional and marketing are different permissions. The apology and status emails are about an existing relationship and can go to any customer; the back-in-stock blast and anything promotional attached to it need marketing consent under rules like CAN-SPAM (FTC CAN-SPAM compliance guidance, accessed November 2026) and equivalent regimes elsewhere. Shopify's native back-in-stock notification setup is documented in its Help Center (accessed November 2026) if you'd rather not wire the first template by hand.
- Match the send to the cost of silence. An ignored status email costs a sale you can quantify — the leak arithmetic per SKU is in our guide to the cost of out-of-stock items. That number is what justifies the ten minutes this email takes.
Common questions
When should I send an out-of-stock email? Within 24 hours of the sellout or the customer's question, and the same day if a paid order is affected. Speed is the retention lever: shoppers start substituting within days of hitting an empty page, and the first clear email they receive is usually the one they buy from.
Should I offer a discount in an out-of-stock apology email? For an oversold paid order, a gesture is proportionate — free shipping or a small credit on the fixed item. For a plain sellout with no order affected, no discount: the customer didn't lose money, and discounts on a product you can't even supply just complicate the eventual purchase.
How do I tell a customer a product is discontinued? Say it plainly in the first line, never restock is coming, and immediately offer the closest alternative with one clear line on how it differs. Customers forgive discontinuation; they don't forgive discovering it themselves after waiting on a dead product page for a month.
What if I don't know when the product will be back? Say exactly that, with a horizon you can meet ("expected this quarter") and a commitment to update on a specific trigger, such as the week the delivery date confirms. Then send the update whether the news is good or bad — met commitments are what rebuild the trust the empty page cost.
Are back-in-stock emails marketing or transactional? They sit closer to marketing than status updates, because they promote a future purchase to someone who hasn't paid for one. Capture consent at signup, keep the email content purely informational, and never append promotional offers to a restock alert without proper marketing permission.
Next step
Pick the template that matches your most recent out-of-stock situation, fill the brackets with your own numbers and real dates, and save it as a canned response in your helpdesk this afternoon — the next occurrence should take ten minutes, not an hour of drafting. If the same SKUs keep needing Template 2, the pattern is worth the arithmetic: the cost of out-of-stock items shows how to size what repeated empty pages are actually costing you.