In the middle of difficulty lies the opportunity, — said Albert Einstein.

Isn’t it so true? Even an out-of-stock situation presents many opportunities to strengthen the business and client relationship.

In fact, out-of-stock emails are a powerful customer loyalty booster for a savvy marketer as you can speak to your client, be frank with them, and offer them a bonus. It’s an opportunity to turn lost revenue on a single purchase into a high lifetime value for that customer. 

Here’s our blueprint for writing a perfect email to your agitated buyer about your out-of-stock item and turning them around. Let’s ensure your customers feel appreciated, cared for, informed, and satisfied when reading your out-of-stock email. 

Best practices of the out-of-stock email craftsmanship

Whether you're a seasoned marketer or a budding eCommerce entrepreneur, these best practices will empower you to transform an out-of-stock email into an opportunity for brand loyalty and growth. So, let's dive in and craft those compelling emails that leave your customers excited and eager for what's to come!

Set automatic out-of-stock notification: immediacy is critical

The possibility to set your event-triggered workflows in an email marketing tool of choice or a CRM is a huge convenience that addresses so many business needs. Timely and transparent communication is a core foundation for a trustworthy business and client relationship. The sooner a person is advised about what is happening, the more the potential damage is repairable.

Even if you run a small business without automation, respond to your customers with email notifications to manage their expectations. The longer the uncertainty lingers, the more edgy a buyer grows and the harder it will be to reverse the situation.

(Source: Stripo template)

Apologize and provide detail on this out-of-stock inventory situation

The customer knows you are sorry; you spent all that marketing budget to lead them to your shopping cart only to lose all that revenue. Still, do mention you are sorry and explain how you ended up here. They need to know it’s not a systematic occurrence and that they can trust your business processes next time. They also need to know what’s gone wrong and how you plan to fix it.

Take your best judgment as to how serious, detailed, formal, and apologetic the copy should be based on how essential your goods are and the general demographics of your ideal customers’ profile.

The tone of voice may vary depending on your audience, industry, and brand image. Here are two examples of different tones of voice:

1. “Oops, looks like our inventory crew is not getting their bonuses this month, but you are!”
2. “Please accept our sincere apology for the inconvenience caused by this technical error. We will update you on the estimated delivery date immediately once we get the purchased item back in stock, should this still interest you.”

(Source: Stripo template)

Treat an out-of-stock email as a sales opportunity

There are at least two ways to motivate your client to shop more with you — just by offering and extending a courtesy discount.

The safest bet is to invite them to your sales page with a fixed URL. Most people appreciate a good deal. With the cost of living crisis, discounts and offers are much awaited by many customers. According to Numerator, 52% of buyers on Amazon Prime Day said they bought items they’d been holding off purchasing before it’s gone on sale.

Another best practice would be to sort the catalog items by bestsellers for the reader, increasing the chances the offer will hit a target.

Back your apology with hard-earned dollars

An apology with a gift served on the side is always more convincing than one without. Like a dish without a sauce — it can come across as dry and dull. Once you back your apology emails with some bonus, a discount on the next purchase, or free delivery, things will become vibrant, juicy, and chewable to start with.

When considering what kind of a perk to offer to your customers, take these factors into account:

• the higher the check, the higher lifetime value is at risk, and the more you should be willing to pay to instill complete confidence in the sincerity of your apology;
• the more urgent the item, the bigger the disappointment (compare masks during Covid vs. luxury T-shirts);
• the more often your business runs out of stock due to the nature of produce, the less commercial sense it makes to offer hefty perks.

It’s a give-and-take game, so gauge your executive decision of the day as to the size of the incentive, considering your price point, customer acquisition cost, market saturation, and lifetime value. The world's biggest eCommerce store knows precisely how valuable a regular customer is: Amazon Prime members spend more than twice on average — $1,400 vs. $600.

The other critical fact to remember is that not only it's cheaper to retain an existing client than to acquire a new one, but every 5% increase in customer retention can bring up to a massive 25% increase in profits through a higher average check, frequency of purchases and referral power.

Leverage out-of-stock emails to promote alternatives or bestsellers

If you have a crazy popular item in your store that’s on par with your average check and is a hit due to its hype vibe, great quality, or fantastic value-for-money index, pitch it shameless everywhere. Include this product in the email notification about an inventory mishap to offer an alternative.

These products are usually well-received thanks to the inherent merit highly regarded by your customer base. So when you educate your users about them, you are doing them a favor, as you are giving them a chance to jump on this popular bandwagon.

A young playful brand could totally have something like the below paragraph in their stock email examples:

“As we work hard to fire anyone guilty of having insufficient inventory to fulfill your purchase, you may find the Popit toy worth your attention. Parents claim to buy it for kids, but then they unwind after a long day popping those soft bubbles. The firing bit was a joke, but we’ll sure pour double coffees to our inventory elves before the shift from now on.”

(Source: Stripo template)

Learn your client better: ask for customer feedback

Marketers will be marketers, right?

There’s no better pastime for a true marketing professional than getting under the skin of an ICP (Ideal Client Profile). Ask customers’ opinions about the significance of product availability or if they would like to receive a back-in-stock email. Whatever you ask them, one thing is for sure — their opinion matters. People understand they have a chance to perfect something that they will use themselves later too.

That said, take your best judgment if you will not push too far with your customer this way. Younger generations — think Z and X — may feel skeptical about the idea, while boomers may be more inclined to contribute to your survey.

A/B test all out-of-stock emails

Recently a guest on Peter Diamandis’s podcast mentioned how they improved their email open rates by 25% by asking ChatGPT to amend their email subject line. Was it Salim Ismail? Let us know in the comments if you watched it. Don’t we all watch too many AI podcasts today to remember?

(Source: Really Good Emails)

Indeed, in 2023, every part of your email should be A/B tested for one reason: major email marketing tools provide this functionality, and it’s the quickest, cheapest, and simplest way to better your ROI. Imagine driving every marketing metric up by 10-25% just by running an A/B test!

Do's and don'ts of writing out-of-stock emails

These guidelines will keep you out of trouble and make your messaging more impactful.

Do’s of perfect out-of-stock emails:

1. Craft a message in your chosen brand tone of voice

The tone of voice is part of your brand. It’s also part of why your clients choose or stay with you. Ensure you are consistent in your messaging — from the slogan on every website page to the copy of your out-of-stock and back-in-stock emails. From playful and chilled to formal and gentlemen-club-like — whatever your choice, stick to it.

(Source: ReallyGoodEmails)

2. Align out-of-stock email subject lines with your audience and niche

The two power words in your subject line should be “sorry” and “make it right.” If you can’t squeeze both of them together, pick one. When it comes to the email body, your message needs to resonate with your audience. A Gen-Zer speaks a legitimately different language than a Millenial, even though it’s English in both cases. 

3. Segment and pitch regular loyal customers separately

In the best-case setup of your email marketing strategy, your high-value regular buyers will be segmented into a separate group and will get specially crafted messages and perks. The more email personalization you use, the higher the chances the customer will forgive you and stay loyal longer.

(Source: Really Good Emails)

Dont’s of perfect out-of-stock emails

1. Don’t promise what you cannot deliver

Overpromising is one of the cardinal sins in business; it’s got a hundred red flags embedded in it. With all the competition, clients quickly learn never to trust a business that underdelivered on their promises.

Don’t put yourself in a position where you can’t fulfill your promise. It’s best not to provide any information on restocked products than provide a false arrival date and make them despair even more. Do some math on the costs of delivering on your offer before you email hundreds of customers and then decide.

2. Don’t be casual about it

While we love a friendly tone of voice, getting overly casual with your buyers while sending them out-of-stock emails is hardly a great idea. Joke with them and be goofy about mishaps in your procedures only if this is part of your brand identity but never underestimate the value of your single customer. They are not your buds, after all. Show due respect at all times.

3. Don’t underestimate the power of negative consequences

It’s too easy to take some things lightly in a multi-faceted business process. We have all fallen victim to processing errors or had a transaction canceled. As an entrepreneur, it’s your superpower to take every little process to perfection. Service, alongside price and quality, is one of the three pillars of a successful company.

While it’s no big deal that some product ran out, an agitated customer can damage your business by leaving a few negative reviews or by spreading negative sentiment on their social media. Make sure to provide impeccable customer service and fix all possible issues.

Out-of-stock email examples

Example #1 [informal, younger, chill brand]

Subject line: Out-of-stock Notification AKA Inventory Elves Say Sorry

Hi, [Customer’s first name],

We come carrying sad news and great news. Let’s be adult about it and get the sad stuff out of the way first.

You’ve ordered an item that we ran out of. We are genuinely sorry. That only proves you have got great taste. It also proves we have some work to do with our inventory crew to avoid these mishaps. 

Now the great news.

We value your business and want to ensure you give us another chance when you need something we carry. Please use this code for free delivery on any purchase next time: [promo code].

We have also programmed our systems to give you heads-up when the item is back in stock. And yes, we’ll apply an additional 5% discount as an extended apology on this item if you still need it then.

Once we are on it, you may want to check out another high-demand item that sells, like hot dogs near a nightclub at 2 AM [product link].

We hope to see more of you around soonest.

Warmest regards,

[Name]

Chief Inventory Elf,

[Company]

(Source: Stripo template)

Example #2 [Neutral eCommerce brand]

Subject line: Product Temporarily Unavailable — Let’s Make it Right 

Hi [Customer’s first name],

This is to inform you that the product you have ordered is temporarily out of stock. It usually takes a few days to restock items in this category, and we’ll send you a back-in-stock email immediately.

At the moment, we hope this didn’t cause you much inconvenience. We’d love to back our apology with this special discount that you can use till the end of the year: [promo code].

If there is space for alternatives in your shopping list, please check out these popular alternatives in the [product category].

Should you have any other inquiries, just respond to this email with your questions.

Best regards,

[Name]

[Role]

[Company name]

Wrapping up

One of the ways to drive customer loyalty and ultimately increase sales is to own your mistakes and take every action to make them right. Here is a summary of out-of-stock email best practices:

• set automatic out-of-stock notification;
• apologize and provide details;
• treat out-of-stock emails as a sales opportunity;
• offer discounts or free shipping;
• promote alternatives or bestsellers;
• ask for customer feedback;
• A/B test your emails.

Please share your experience of working with out-of-stock emails in the comments below. Did you manage to keep your customers loyal and happy?