RMS

RMS Back in Stock Notifier — Store Manager's Manual

RMS Back in Stock Notifier — Store Manager's Manual

Recover lost sales automatically. RMS Back in Stock Notifier lets your customers sign up for email alerts when sold-out products are restocked, so you never miss a conversion again.

Table of Contents

1. Getting Started

1.1 Installing the App

  1. Visit the RMS Back in Stock Notifier listing on the Shopify App Store.
  2. Click Add app and authorize the requested permissions.
  3. The app installs automatically and you are redirected to the Dashboard inside your Shopify admin.

During installation, Shopify will ask you to approve a short list of permissions. These allow the app to read your product catalogue, detect inventory changes, and send notification emails on your behalf.

1.2 Enabling the Storefront Widget

After installation the notification button does not appear on your store automatically. You need to enable the app embed in your theme:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.
  2. Click Customize on your active theme.
  3. In the theme editor, open the App embeds panel (the puzzle-piece icon on the left sidebar).
  4. Find Back in Stock Button in the list and toggle it on.
  5. Click Save.

The notification button now appears automatically on every product page where a variant is out of stock. No code editing is required.

1.3 How It Works — Overview

RMS Back in Stock Notifier operates in four simple steps:

  1. Button appears — When a product variant is out of stock, a customizable "Notify Me" button appears on the product page.
  2. Customer signs up — The customer clicks the button, enters their name and email in the popup, and submits.
  3. Restock detected — When you restock the product (inventory quantity goes from 0 to 1+), Shopify automatically notifies the app.
  4. Email sent automatically — The app immediately sends a back-in-stock notification email to every customer who signed up for that variant, complete with the product image, price, and a direct link to purchase.

No manual intervention is required after the initial setup. The entire flow from restock to email notification is fully automated.

2. Dashboard

The Dashboard is your home screen. It provides an at-a-glance overview of your notification activity.

2.1 Quick Stats

Four key metrics are displayed at the top of the Dashboard:

Metric Description
Total Signups The total number of back-in-stock notification requests received (within your plan's analytics retention period)
Pending Notifications waiting to be sent (the customer signed up, but the product has not been restocked yet)
Sent Notifications that have been successfully delivered
Conversion Rate The percentage of signups that resulted in a sent notification

2.2 Current Plan and Email Usage

Below the quick stats, you will see your current subscription plan and a visual progress bar showing how many of your monthly email notifications have been used. If you are approaching your limit, an upgrade prompt will appear with a direct link to the billing page.

2.3 Recent Signups

A table of recent customer signups is displayed, showing:

  • Customer name and email
  • Product and variant they signed up for
  • Current status (pending, sent, or unsubscribed)
  • Signup date
  • Available actions (e.g., manually send a notification)

Click Refresh to update the list with the latest signups.

3. Notifications

3.1 Viewing Subscriber Notifications

Navigate to the Notifications tab to see a full list of all customer signup requests. Each entry includes:

  • Customer details — Name, email, and salutation (if enabled)
  • Product info — Product title, variant title, and a link to the product page
  • Status — Pending (waiting for restock), Sent (email delivered), or Unsubscribed (customer opted out)
  • Timestamps — When the signup was created, when the notification was sent, and when (if applicable) the customer unsubscribed

3.2 Manual Notifications

You can manually send a notification to any customer with a "pending" status by clicking the Notify button next to their entry. This is useful when:

  • You know a product is back in stock but the automatic notification has not triggered yet.
  • You want to send a notification for a product that was briefly out of stock.
  • You are testing your email template.

Each manual notification counts toward your monthly email quota.

3.3 Automatic Notifications

Automatic notifications are the core feature of the app. When a product's inventory increases from zero to one or more units, the app automatically:

  1. Identifies all pending signups for that specific product variant.
  2. Sends a personalized back-in-stock email to each customer.
  3. Marks each notification as "sent" with a timestamp.
  4. Tracks the event in your analytics.

The entire process runs in the background with no action required from you.

Important: Automatic notifications respect your plan's monthly email quota. If you reach your limit mid-month, remaining notifications are held until the next billing cycle or until you upgrade your plan.

3.4 Unsubscribe Handling

Every notification email includes an unsubscribe link at the bottom. When a customer clicks it:

  • Their notification status is changed to "unsubscribed."
  • They see a confirmation page in their browser.
  • They will no longer receive notifications for that specific product variant.

Unsubscribes are tracked in your analytics and visible in the Notifications list.

4. Settings

The Settings page is organized into four tabs: Button, Popup, Email, and Subscription & Billing. A Preview button lets you see your changes in real time before saving.

4.1 Button Customization

4.1.1 Button Placement

Choose where the notification button appears on your product page:

Placement Description
Next to "Sold Out" (default) The button appears inline within the product form, directly replacing or accompanying the "Sold Out" message. This is the most natural placement for most themes.
Right screen edge A vertical tab fixed to the right side of the browser window. Ideal for stores that want the button visible without changing the product form layout.
Left screen edge Same as right edge, but on the left side.

For the left/right edge placements, an additional Position from top slider lets you control the vertical position (0–500px from the top of the viewport).

4.1.2 Button Label

Customize the text displayed on the button. The default is "Email me when available." You can change this to anything that suits your brand — for example, "Notify Me When Back in Stock" or "Get Restock Alert."

The button label supports multiple languages. When you switch the User Interface Language selector, the label field updates to show the translation for that language. See Language and Localization.

4.1.3 Button Styling

Fine-tune the button's appearance with these controls:

Setting Description Range
Corner radius How rounded the button corners are. 0 = square, 50 = fully rounded. 0–50 px
Vertical padding Controls the button height (top and bottom internal spacing). 4–30 px
Horizontal padding Controls the button width (left and right internal spacing). 8–60 px

The button's font family, font size, and font weight are automatically inherited from your Shopify theme, ensuring the button looks consistent with the rest of your store.

4.1.4 Button Colors

Customize the button's appearance with four color settings:

Color Description Free Plan Default
Button Color The background color of the button Black (#000000)
Label Color The text/label color on the button White (#FFFFFF)
Button Hover Color Background color when the customer hovers over the button Grey (#6F6F6F)
Label Hover Color Text color when the customer hovers over the button White (#FFFFFF)

Note: The Free plan only supports the default black and white color scheme. Custom colors are available on the Growth plan and above.

4.2 Popup Customization

When a customer clicks the notification button, a popup (modal) appears where they enter their details.

4.2.1 Form Popup

Customize the signup form that customers see:

Field Description Default
Popup Title The heading displayed at the top of the popup "Notify Me When Available"
Submit Button Label The text on the form submission button "Email Me When Available"
Footer Message Informational text shown below the submit button (e.g., privacy assurance) "Your details are safe with us. We do not share your information with third party."

The popup also displays the product name and variant title below the heading, so the customer knows exactly which item they are signing up for.

4.2.2 Success Popup

After a successful signup, a confirmation screen replaces the form:

Field Description Default
Title The heading shown after successful signup "Thank You!"
Message Confirmation text shown to the customer "We will email you when this item is back in stock."
Close Button Text Label on the button to dismiss the popup "Close"

The success popup automatically closes after 5 seconds.

4.2.3 Salutation Selector

Optionally display a salutation dropdown (Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Prof.) in the signup form. This is hidden by default. To enable it:

  1. Go to Settings > Popup.
  2. Toggle on Display Salutation Selector.
  3. Customize the list of salutations (comma-separated) if needed.
  4. Click Save Settings.

4.3 Email Customization

4.3.1 Email Body

Customize the notification email that is sent to customers when a product comes back in stock:

Field Description
Message Title The email subject line and heading within the email body
Message The main body text of the notification email

The email is automatically styled with your button colors and includes:

  • Product image (if available)
  • Product title and variant name
  • Price and currency
  • A "Shop Now" button linking directly to the product page
  • An unsubscribe link

4.3.2 Template Variables

Use these placeholders in your email subject and body text. They are automatically replaced with real values when the email is sent:

Variable Replaced With
{{product_name}} The product title (e.g., "Classic Oxford Shirt")
{{variant_title}} The variant name (e.g., "Medium / Blue")
{{customer_name}} The customer's name
{{product_url}} Direct link to the product page
{{shop_name}} Your store's name

Example subject line: {{product_name}} is back in stock! Example body: Good news! {{product_name}} - {{variant_title}} is now available.

4.3.3 Custom Email Sender Domain

By default, all notification emails are sent from no-reply@reedmace.net. On the Professional and Enterprise plans, you can customize the sender identity so emails appear to come from your own brand:

Field Description Example
Sender Name The "From" name recipients see "Your Store"
Sender Email The "From" email address "no-reply@yourstore.com"
Domain Name Your store's domain (without https://) "yourstore.com"

How verification works:

  1. Enter your sender name, email, and domain in the settings.
  2. Click Save Settings.
  3. A verification request is submitted automatically.
  4. You will receive verification instructions at the sender email address you provided.
  5. Complete the verification steps (typically adding DNS records to your domain).
  6. Once verified, a green "Verified" badge appears next to the Domain & Email Sender heading.

While verification is being processed, emails continue to be sent from the default address (no-reply@reedmace.net).

4.4 Language and Localization

The app supports 18 languages for the customer-facing storefront widget (button, popup, success message). The available languages depend on your plan:

Plan Languages Available
Free English (GB) only
Growth English (GB), English (US), French, German, Spanish
Professional & Enterprise All 18 languages

Full language list: English (GB), English (US), French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese (PT), Portuguese (BR), Dutch, Polish, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean.

To change the language:

  1. Use the User Interface Language dropdown in the top-right corner of the Settings page.
  2. All text fields (button label, popup title, messages, etc.) update to show the translation for the selected language.
  3. Edit any translation as needed.
  4. Click Save Settings.

The language selection is saved as a preference. Your storefront widget will display content in the selected language to all visitors. Form validation messages (e.g., "Please enter your email") are also automatically translated.

4.5 Preview Mode

Click the Preview button at the top of the Settings page to open a live preview of your customizations. The preview modal has three tabs:

Preview Tab Shows
Button How the notification button looks on the product page
Popup The signup form popup with your custom text and colors
Email A rendered preview of the notification email template

Toggle between Desktop and Mobile views to see how your widget appears on different devices.

Changes you make in the Settings form are reflected in the preview in real time — no need to save first.

5. Analytics

The Analytics tab provides detailed insights into your notification performance.

5.1 Dashboard Stats

A summary of key metrics mirrored from the Dashboard:

  • Total Subscriptions — All signups received within the analytics retention window
  • Notifications Sent — Successfully delivered emails
  • Pending Notifications — Signups still waiting for restock
  • Unsubscribed — Customers who opted out

A chart showing daily signup and notification activity over time. The time range available depends on your plan's analytics retention:

Plan Analytics Retention
Free 7 days
Growth 30 days
Professional 90 days
Enterprise 365 days (1 year)

5.3 Top Products

A ranked list of your products by number of back-in-stock signups. Use this to understand which products have the highest demand and should be prioritized for restocking.

5.4 Product-Level Analytics

Click into any product to see variant-level breakdowns:

  • Number of signups per variant
  • Pending vs. sent vs. unsubscribed counts
  • Conversion rate per product

5.5 Exporting Subscriber Data

On the Growth plan and above, you can export your subscriber data as a CSV or JSON file. The export includes:

Field Description
Customer Name Subscriber's full name
Email Subscriber's email address
Salutation Title (if collected)
Product ID & Title The product they signed up for
Variant ID & Title The specific variant
Product URL Link to the product page
Status pending, sent, or unsubscribed
Locale Language preference
Created At Signup timestamp
Notified At When the notification was sent
Unsubscribed At When they unsubscribed (if applicable)

To export: Navigate to Notifications and use the export function. You can filter by status before exporting.

6. Subscription Plans and Billing

6.1 Plan Comparison

Feature Free Growth Professional Enterprise
Monthly Price $0 $9 $29 $99
Annual Price $0 $86/yr $278/yr $950/yr
Emails per Month 50 500 2,000 Unlimited
Customer Signups Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Custom Colors No (black/white only) Yes Yes Yes
Languages English only 5 languages All 18 All 18
Analytics Retention 7 days 30 days 90 days 1 year
Export Data No Yes Yes Yes
Remove Branding No Yes Yes Yes
Custom Email Sender No No Yes Yes
Priority Support No No Yes Yes
Webhook Integrations No No Yes Yes

6.2 Free Plan

The Free plan is ideal for getting started and evaluating the app. It includes:

  • 50 notification emails per month — Enough for small stores or low-volume products.
  • Unlimited customer signups — There is no limit on how many customers can sign up for notifications.
  • Basic button colors — The button uses the default black background with white text.
  • English language — The storefront widget displays in English (GB) only.
  • 7-day analytics retention — View the last 7 days of activity data.
  • "Powered by RMS" branding — A small attribution link is shown below the signup form.

6.3 Growth Plan

The Growth plan unlocks customization and data features for growing stores:

  • 500 emails per month — 10x the free plan's limit.
  • Custom button colors — Match the notification button to your brand.
  • 5 languages — English (GB), English (US), French, German, Spanish.
  • 30-day analytics — A full month of performance insights.
  • Data export — Download subscriber data as CSV or JSON.
  • No branding — The "Powered by" attribution is removed from the popup.

6.4 Professional Plan

For established stores with higher email volume and branding requirements:

  • 2,000 emails per month — Handles significant restock activity.
  • All 18 languages — Full international support.
  • 90-day analytics — Three months of historical data.
  • Custom email sender domain — Send notifications from your own brand email (e.g., notifications@yourstore.com).
  • Priority support — Faster response times and dedicated assistance.
  • Webhook integrations — Connect notification events to external services.

6.5 Enterprise Plan

For high-volume stores that need unlimited capacity:

  • Unlimited emails — No monthly cap on notifications sent.
  • 1-year analytics retention — A full year of historical data for trend analysis.
  • All Professional plan features included.

6.6 Annual Billing Discount

Save 20% by choosing annual billing:

Plan Monthly Cost Annual Cost You Save
Growth $9/month ($108/yr) $86/year $22/year
Professional $29/month ($348/yr) $278/year $70/year
Enterprise $99/month ($1,188/yr) $950/year $238/year

Toggle between Monthly and Annual billing in Settings > Subscription & Billing using the billing interval switch.

6.7 Free Trial

Every paid plan includes a 7-day free trial. During the trial:

  • You have full access to all features of the selected plan.
  • You will not be charged until the trial period ends.
  • You can downgrade to Free at any time before the trial ends to avoid charges.

Each store gets one free trial. If you have already used a trial on a previous plan, future plan changes will not include a trial period.

6.8 Upgrading, Downgrading, and Cancelling

To upgrade: Go to Settings > Subscription & Billing, select a higher plan, and confirm. You will be redirected to Shopify's charge approval page. Once approved, the new plan takes effect immediately.

To downgrade: Select a lower plan (including Free). Your current email count resets and your features adjust to the new plan's limits immediately.

To cancel: Select the Free plan from the billing page, or use the Cancel button. Your subscription is cancelled immediately and you are moved to the Free plan. Your signup data is preserved.

All billing is handled through Shopify's built-in billing system. Charges appear on your regular Shopify invoice — no separate payment method is needed.

7. Mobile Experience

The storefront widget is fully responsive and adapts automatically to mobile devices:

  • Inline button placement: On mobile devices, the notification button is fixed to the bottom of the screen as a full-width bar with a subtle shadow, ensuring it is always visible and easy to tap.
  • Side buttons: Left and right edge buttons work the same on mobile as on desktop, remaining fixed to the screen edge.
  • Popup: The signup popup is centered and scrollable on smaller screens.
  • Premium popup (paid plans): On desktop, the premium popup displays a split-panel layout with the product image on the left and the form on the right. On mobile, this switches to a stacked vertical layout with the image on top.

No configuration is needed — the responsive behavior is automatic.

8. Privacy, GDPR, and Data Handling

RMS Back in Stock Notifier is designed with privacy and compliance in mind.

Data collected from customers:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Salutation (optional, only if enabled)
  • The product and variant they signed up for

GDPR compliance features:

Requirement How the App Complies
Right to access When a customer requests their data through Shopify, the app identifies and returns all notification records for that customer.
Right to erasure When a customer requests deletion through Shopify, all their notification records are permanently removed.
Unsubscribe Every notification email includes a one-click unsubscribe link.
Data minimization The app only collects the minimum data needed to deliver the notification.
Data on uninstall When you uninstall the app, all shop data (notifications, analytics, settings) is deleted within 48 hours per Shopify's GDPR requirements.

Links to the app's Privacy Policy and Terms of Service are available in the Dashboard footer.

9. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does the button appear on products that are in stock?

A: No. The button only appears when the selected variant has zero inventory. As soon as the variant becomes available, the button automatically disappears.

Q: What happens when I reach my monthly email limit?

A: Pending notifications are preserved but will not be sent until your billing cycle resets or you upgrade to a higher plan. An upgrade prompt is shown on your Dashboard when you are approaching your limit.

Q: Can customers sign up for notifications even if I'm on the Free plan?

A: Yes. Customer signups are unlimited on every plan, including Free. Only the number of outgoing notification emails is capped.

Q: How quickly are emails sent after restocking?

A: Notification emails are sent within seconds of Shopify detecting the restock. In most cases, customers receive the email within 1–2 minutes.

Q: Can I customize the email design beyond the text?

A: The email template includes a styled layout with your product image, price, variant name, and a "Shop Now" button that uses your configured button color. The text content (subject line and body) is fully customizable. Full HTML template editing is on the roadmap.

Q: What happens if I reinstall the app?

A: Your trial history is preserved to prevent trial abuse, but you can continue using the app on the Free plan or subscribe to a paid plan. Previous subscriber data is deleted on uninstall per GDPR requirements.

Q: Does the button work with all Shopify themes?

A: The button is designed to work with all Online Store 2.0 themes. Minor positioning variations may occur between themes. Use the Preview feature in Settings to verify the appearance on your theme.

Q: Are notification emails sent from my email address?

A: By default, emails are sent from no-reply@reedmace.net. On the Professional and Enterprise plans, you can verify your own domain and send emails from a custom email address (e.g., notifications@yourstore.com).

Q: Where can I view the emails that were sent?

A: The Notifications tab shows a complete history of all sent notifications with timestamps. Detailed email delivery analytics are available on paid plans.

10. Troubleshooting

The notification button does not appear on my product pages

  1. Verify the app embed is enabled: Go to Online Store > Themes > Customize > App embeds and confirm that "Back in Stock Button" is toggled on.
  2. Check that the product variant is actually out of stock (inventory quantity is 0).
  3. Clear your browser cache and reload the product page.
  4. If the issue persists, contact support with a link to the affected product page.

Customers are not receiving notification emails

  1. Verify the product's inventory has actually increased from 0 to 1 or more. Notifications only trigger on inventory level changes.
  2. Check your email usage on the Dashboard — you may have reached your monthly limit.
  3. If the product was restocked before the customer signed up, an automatic notification will not be sent. Use the Notify button to manually send the email.
  4. If the issue persists, try reinstalling the app to re-establish the connection with Shopify, or contact support.

The popup styling does not match my theme

  1. Use the Preview feature in Settings to check the appearance.
  2. Adjust the button corner radius, padding, and colors to match your theme.
  3. The popup inherits the body font from your theme for consistency.
  4. Some theme CSS may override the popup styles. Contact support if you need assistance.

I changed my plan but the features have not updated

  1. Refresh the Settings page.
  2. If the billing approval page did not load, try clicking the plan button again.
  3. Verify the plan change in your Shopify admin under Settings > Billing.

11. Support

Need help? Here is how to reach us:

  • In-app support: Contact us through the app's Dashboard.
  • Email: info@reedmace.net
  • Support: Contact us
  • Priority support: Available on Professional and Enterprise plans for faster response times.

We are committed to helping your store recover every possible sale. If you have feature requests, questions, or need help with setup, do not hesitate to reach out.

RMS Back in Stock Notifier is developed by RMS. All billing is processed securely through Shopify's built-in billing system.