Home / Shops and boutiques / SB-015
Draft back-in-stock and waitlist emails from your stock list
Draft back-in-stock and waitlist emails from today's stock count, so the customers who asked hear first, with every quantity and date checked by you.
- Who it suits
- Independent shop owner with an online store, shop manager
- Time saved
- About 30 to 45 minutes per restock (estimate)
- Level
- Medium
- Updated
- Oct 14, 2026
Why this task
In a small yarn shop, a popular hand-dyed colorway can sell out in a weekend, and customers ask to be told when it is back. Those requests end up on sticky notes, in direct messages and in a notebook by the register, and when the box from the dyer arrives, nobody has time to write to everyone. An assistant can match today's stock list to the waitlist and draft a warm note for each group, using only the counts and policies the owner gives it. The owner checks the numbers and sends the emails.
You draft restock emails for [SHOP NAME], a [TYPE, for example independent yarn shop with an online store] in [TOWN]. Voice: [TONE, for example cozy, chatty, short]. Sign off as: [NAME]. Restock facts (the only source for items, quantities, limits and policies): Stock list: [PASTE ITEM, COLORWAY OR VARIANT, QUANTITY ON HAND] Show quantities in emails: [YES OR NO] Per-customer limit: [LIMIT, OR 'none'] Hold policy: [FOR EXAMPLE 'we hold items for 48 hours if you reply', OR 'no holds'] Notes: [FOR EXAMPLE 'new dye lot, color slightly deeper than last time'] Shop link and store hours: [PASTE] Waitlist rows for these items: [FIRST NAME, ITEM ASKED FOR] Write: 1. One email per item group, 70 to 130 words, using a [FIRST NAME] merge field. Say the item is back. Give the quantity only if 'Show quantities' is YES. Repeat the limit and hold policy exactly as written, and end with the link and store hours. 2. A subject line under 50 characters for each email. 3. A general announcement of 40 to 70 words for customers who were not on the waitlist, to send later if stock remains. Rules: - Never invent a quantity, restock date, price, discount or future delivery. If a waitlisted item is not on the stock list, write no email for it; list it under 'Still waiting'. - Do not promise anyone a specific item will be held unless the hold policy says so. - Mention the dye lot note in plain words if one is given. - Keep it personal and calm, with no countdowns or pressure wording. Return the emails, the announcement and the 'Still waiting' list. Do not send anything.
Replace each highlighted placeholder with your own details before you run it.
Steps
- Move every waitlist request into one spreadsheet: first name, email address, item and colorway, date asked, and how they asked. Keep only people who asked to hear from you.
- When stock arrives, count it, enter it into your point of sale or online store, and export the stock list for the items that came back.
- Write down the facts the email may use: quantities on hand, any per-customer limit, whether and how long you hold an item, and whether a new dye lot may look a little different from the last one.
- Paste the stock list, the matching waitlist rows (first names and items only) and your facts into the prompt below.
- Check every draft: item names, colorways, quantities, limits, hold times and links must match the stock list and your notes.
- Decide the order. If stock is short, many shops email the earliest requests first and wait a few hours before the general announcement. That choice is yours.
- Send through your email tool to the people on the list only. The owner approves each send.
- After the restock, mark who was emailed and who bought, and clear finished rows so nobody gets a second email by mistake.
- Agent mode: a one-off chat per restock suits most shops. If your online store has a back-in-stock feature, use the assistant to write its email template and have a person review it before switching it on.
What you get
One short email per restocked item, matched to the people who asked for it, plus a general announcement and a list of waitlisted items still out of stock. Every count, limit and policy matches what the owner entered.
What can go wrong, and the check for each
An email suggests more stock than you have, and orders come in you cannot fill.
CheckQuantities come only from the stock list, the owner can hide counts, and the owner checks the numbers before sending.
Someone gets an email they never asked for.
CheckEmail only people who signed up for that item, keep the unsubscribe link your email tool provides, and follow the email rules that apply where you trade.
A customer is emailed twice or missed because the waitlist was messy.
CheckKeep one waitlist spreadsheet and mark each row as soon as it is emailed.
A new dye lot looks different and customers are disappointed.
CheckThe owner adds a dye lot note when it applies, and the prompt includes it in plain words.
Customer email addresses get pasted into a chat tool.
CheckPaste first names and items only, let the email tool fill in addresses, and use only tools your business has approved.
Related playbooks
Write product descriptions from supplier spec sheets and your notes
Turn a maker's spec sheet and your own notes into warm product page copy with accurate sizes, materials and care details, checked by you before it goes live.
Build a seasonal gift guide from what is on your shelves
Build a holiday gift guide, such as gifts under $25, from your current inventory export, using only items with enough stock and the prices you set.
Explain a repair estimate in plain words with good, better, best options
Rewrite your own repair estimate as a plain explanation with good, better and best options, using only your prices and warranty terms.