Set up your first stock alert

Before you start

Use an authorized development store with Online Store and a draft Dawn product template that supports app blocks. Start with an ordinary product variant with inventory tracking enabled, published to Online Store, and selling blocked when out of stock. Installation does not add the alert block to a published theme automatically.

The pilot is restricted to the owner's test store and approved test recipients. A subscription approval alone does not enable notifications. The connection, installation review, provider checks and notification controls must also be ready. If the app says sending is paused or unavailable, follow that state rather than attempting a live send.

Run the supported workflow

1. Open the installed app. In Shopify admin, open Apps and select Restock. Use the authorized Shopify installation flow if access has not yet been arranged. Do not share your Shopify password or enter another store's domain as a substitute for authorization.
2. Review the connection and settings. Check the installation review, notification pause, email settings and minimum stock threshold. A development test plan does not charge a card; always read the actual Shopify approval screen before approving any plan.
3. Add the theme block. In Theme Editor, open the draft product template and add Back-in-stock alert to Product information. Save the draft and open its preview. No theme-code edit is required. The default storefront app-proxy path is /apps/restock; it must match the store's configured proxy path.
4. Choose an unavailable variant. Give the test variant an available quantity of zero. Select it on the product preview. The form should follow the selected variant and stay unavailable for an eligible in-stock selection or an unknown availability result.
5. Request and confirm an alert. Use only a consenting, approved test mailbox. Give explicit consent, submit the request, open the confirmation email and explicitly confirm within 24 hours. A confirmation request is not an active waitlist entry until it is confirmed.
6. Restore stock and check the outcome. Through Shopify admin, raise that variant's eligible stock to the configured threshold. Allow normal event and worker processing. Review Requests and Activity, then check the actual test inbox. Provider acceptance, reported delivery and seeing the message in the inbox are different observations.
7. Check cancellation and clean up. For a separate request, use its cancellation page before restoring stock. Pause notifications when testing finishes. Remove the block from the draft if it is no longer needed, and manage any test subscription through the app's Subscription page.

Supported scope and limits

Each confirmed request is for one restock notification for its selected variant and expires 90 days after signup. Stock is checked again before sending; it is not reserved. An alert does not guarantee that the item remains available at checkout.

Broad theme compatibility has not been accepted. Custom variant pickers, quick views, headless storefronts, native bundles, combined listings, market-specific availability and shipping eligibility are outside the verified pilot scope. The simple one-location test is a test fixture, not an enforced single-location product restriction.

Keep a collected-data export private

Requests offers Prepare JSON page, Save JSON and a Show JSON fallback. Preparing a page or requesting a save does not prove that a file reached your computer. Verify the saved file before continuing to the next page, and retain every page until the final page is prepared.

Exports can contain personal data. Keep them private; do not attach them to an ordinary support email. Pagination is a live traversal rather than a fixed snapshot, so records can change between pages. A merchant download does not deliver a privacy response to the shopper.

If anything is unclear, read notification troubleshooting or contact support.