How to use Waitly
Step-by-step guides for every part of Waitly, with screenshots from the app. New here? Start with setup, then come back for the rest when you need it.
Getting started
Install Waitly, find your way round, and test it.
- Install WaitlyInstall Waitly from the Shopify App Store, approve its permissions and open it in your Shopify admin.
- Find your way aroundLearn what’s on Waitly’s Home page and where each page in the Waitly menu takes you.
- Add the Notify me blockPut the Notify me button on your product page from the setup guide, or add it yourself in the theme editor.
- Test it on a sold-out productSell out a variant, join its waitlist with your own email, see the signup in Waitly, then restock it and get the alert.
Back in stock
The Notify me button and the restock alert.
- Change the Notify me block’s words and styleEdit the Notify me block’s text, button colors and corners in the theme editor, and on Growth its background, border and button style.
- Wait for a variant or the whole productChoose whether shoppers wait for the exact size or color they picked, or for any variant of the product.
- How restock alerts are sentUnderstand when Waitly sends a restock alert, who gets it, how long an alert holds a shopper, and when an alert is held back.
- Check the storefront connectionConfirm that the Notify me block can send signups to Waitly, and fix it when Waitly can’t confirm the connection.
Waitlists
Who’s waiting, for what, and what happened next.
- Browse every waitlistSearch and sort all your waitlists on one page, and see which products shoppers want most.
- See who’s waiting for a productOpen one product’s waitlist, read its totals and cards, and see every shopper on it and what happened to them.
- Export a waitlist as CSVGrowthDownload everyone on a waitlist, or just the shoppers you’ve filtered to, as a spreadsheet.
- Remove a shopper from a waitlistTake one shopper off one waitlist so they don’t get the alert when it’s back in stock.
Preorders
Keep selling while stock is on its way.
- Create a preorder policyMake a policy, choose the products it covers, and turn it on so Shopify offers them as Pre-order.
- Choose products with rules and exceptionsCover products by tag, product, variant or collection, leave some out, and check exactly what the policy reaches before you save.
- Set when preorder runs and how manyRun preorder only while a variant is sold out, open and close it on set dates, and cap the units each product can take.
- Add a message and ship estimateGrowthTell shoppers when their preorder ships, add a short message of your own, and tag preorder orders by policy.
- Add the Pre-order block to your themePut the Pre-order block above Add to cart so shoppers see the Pre-order badge, the ship estimate and the terms, and can buy.
- Manage preorder from a Shopify product pageAdd a product or variant to a policy, start a new policy, turn a policy on or off, or take a product out, without leaving the product in Shopify.
- Track the preorders you’ve takenSee every preorder with its ship estimate and status, spot the ones that need you, and ship, cancel or refund them in Shopify.
- Change a ship date and notify shoppersGrowthMove a policy’s ship estimate later, see who will be told before you save, and let Waitly send the delay notices.
- Turn off or delete a policyStop taking preorders on a policy’s products, either by turning it off to use again later or by deleting it for good.
Restock release and priority
Decide who hears first, and how stock goes out.
- Put VIPs first with waitlist priorityProChoose which shoppers hear about a restock first, and see each shopper’s place in line on the waitlist.
- Send restock alerts in batchesProAlert a few shoppers at a time, in line order, until the item sells out, and follow each batch in the send log.
- Hold a unit for the first shoppersProHold one restocked unit for each of the first shoppers in line, send them a link only they can use, and see who holds a unit right now.
Coming Soon and voting
Collect demand before a product exists.
- Mark a product Coming SoonProMark a sold-out product so its page takes “I want this” signups, then email everyone waiting when you add stock.
- Set up the Coming soon formProAdd the Coming soon block to your product page, word it your way, and choose whether it asks for quantity and country.
- Let shoppers vote on a product ideaProDescribe a product that doesn’t exist yet, open it for votes, and close, reopen or delete it later.
- Add the voting block to your storeProPut the Product voting block on your home page or a page of its own, and word it your way.
- Turn a winning proposal into a productProPromote a proposal to a new Shopify product, or link it to one you already have, so every voter hears when it launches.
Analytics
What Waitly recovered, and what to restock next.
- Read your analyticsSee how many shoppers are waiting, what your alerts recovered, and how the rest of the demand ended.
- Plan restocks with Demand ScoreProSee which products shoppers want most, what Waitly suggests you do, and roughly how many units to restock.
- See demand over timeProChart new signups and open demand by day or week, and read the same figures as a table.
- Check how a restock alert wentFind each restock alert Waitly sent, see how many went out, and what happened to the rest.
- See preorder volume by variantProSee how many units shoppers have preordered on each variant, and for how much, over any date range.
Emails and settings
Your brand, your words, your rules.
- Add your logo and color to emailsSet the sender name and reply-to address, and put your logo and brand color on every email Waitly sends for you.
- Write your own email textGrowthChange the subject, heading, message and button of the back-in-stock alert, the launch alert and the waitlist confirmation.
- Set alert and attribution rulesChoose how long an alert holds a shopper’s place, how many alerts one shopper gets, and how long a sale counts as recovered.
- Choose how long to keep demandSet how long Waitly keeps waitlist signups that have gone quiet or ended, from 30 to 365 days.
- Tag customers an alert brought backGrowthHave Waitly add a Shopify customer tag to every buyer a Waitly alert brought back, so you can find them in Customers.
Plans and billing
Change plan, trials and limits.
What shoppers see
Emails, manage links and cancelling a preorder.
- Joining a waitlistWhat your shoppers see when they sign up with Notify me, and the confirmation email they get.
- The back-in-stock emailWhat your shoppers get when an item they’re waiting for comes back, and what happens after they read it.
- Stopping alertsHow your shoppers leave one waitlist or stop every waitlist email from your store.
- Buying on preorderWhat your shoppers see when they preorder a sold-out item, from the product page to the Preorder receipt email.
- Keeping or cancelling a preorderHow your shoppers cancel a preorder for a full refund, and how they answer when you move a ship date later.
- Voting for a productProWhat your shoppers see when they vote on your next products, and the thank-you email they get.
Put a Notify me button on your sold-out products today.
Start on the free plan. It takes two steps and no code, and every sold-out variant starts collecting demand straight away.