You can now trigger SMS messages to be sent to opted-in customers to let them know when specific items are back in stock, with the ability to set minimum stock thresholds and SMS trigger times
You will need to have the MessageMedia app installed to be able to access this feature, so first visit the Shopify eCommerce App store and download the MessageMedia: SMS Marketing App:
For more information on installing and setting up this app, read this article.
Setting up the Automation
Once you have the MessageMedia App installed and set up, go to your store homepage and click on Marketing in the left hand menu, followed by Automations, and then click on Create Automation:
In the resulting pop-up, click on "Other" and you should then see the SMS Back in Stock feature:
Note: the location of this automation is set to change to "SMS" - so if you can't see it under "Other," click on "SMS" instead.
You will now see the automation set-up screen. Follow the steps below to set up your automation:
1. Give your automation a name - this is just for your reference and will not be visible to any customers
2. Set your daily campaign budget - this will limit the number of messages that get sent to avoid overspend
3. Set your minimum stock level - this is the stock level that will trigger the SMS notification to your customers (you may want to set this to a level that means you can fulfil customer orders)
4. Set your sending timeframe - this is the time that you want the automation to check your stock levels:
If you set this to "immediately" then the SMS will trigger the moment your stock levels reach the threshold that you have set in step 3. The danger of doing this is that your stock might replenish at an unsociable hour and you could inadvertently send messages to customers at that time. If you set this field to, say, "Daily at 1pm" and your stock level replenishes at midnight, then the system will wait until 1pm the following day to send the SMS notification out.
5. OPTIONAL - Target your audience by selecting a specific product. Leaving this field blank means that notifications will be sent to customers regarding any product about which they have requested to be notified when back in stock.
6 & 7. OPTIONAL - Add an image to your message to make it more engaging. This can be either your primary product image or an ad-hoc uploaded image:
Upload an image (step 7) by clicking in the upload box and either selecting an image from your library, or uploading a new image.
NOTE - Messages including images cost three times as much as those without images
8. Write your message - you can use the available merge fields to personalise your message as well as add your store's URL for quick navigation.
9. Once you are happy with your automation settings and message content, click Schedule
What do Customers See?
Customers will be presented with an option to "Message when available" on items that are out of stock where you have configured the automation:
Upon clicking this button, they will be asked to provide their details and confirm their request to receive notifications about that product:
Viewing / editing / pausing / deleting your Automations
You can revisit an automation at any time to edit, pause or delete. Simply go to the Automations section under Marketing where you will see a list of all your automations. Just click on Edit automation to be taken back to the set-up screen:
Once you are in the set up screen, you can edit the details of the automation as required.
Pausing an Automation
At the top of the set up screen beneath the header, you will see an option to pause your automation. Clicking on this will halt all message sends until you resume the automation:
Deleting an Automation:
Scroll to the bottom of the set up screen and you will see a red button labelled Delete Activity. This will delete the automation and remove it from your list:
NOTE: This action cannot be undone
Reporting on Activity
By clicking on View Report either at the top of the set up screen or in the Automation list, you will be presented with a dashboard of activity relating to your chosen automation:
You can set the range to a variety of timelines using the dropdown menu at the top of the dashboard:
