Knowledgebase

Waiting List Tutorial

 

The waiting list feature allows your customers to sign up for a waiting list when products go out of stock. Shift4Shop will keep track of these customers, and when an item goes back in stock, you can notify your customers that the product is available for purchase.

This article contains the topics listed on the left. Click on a link below to review the respective topic:


Enable the Waiting List
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The Waiting List option can either be configured globally for all products at once, or individually per product.

Globally for all Products

To set the Global action, log into your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager and use the left hand navigation menu to:

  1. Go to Settings >General >Store Settings
  2. Then, click on the "General" tab found along the top
  3. In the Inventory Control section, check the Enable Inventory Control checkbox and select the "Use Waiting List" option.
  4. Click Save at the top right to commit your changes.

With this setting in place, any product that falls to zero stock will display a "Put Me on the Waiting List" option on the product's display page rather than the usual "Add to Cart" button.

Individually per Product

To enable the Waiting List option only on specific products, log into your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager and use the left hand navigation menu to:

  1. Go to Products >Product List
  2. Locate the product you'd like to edit, and click on its ID, Name, or use the Action Wheel at the far right to click on the "edit" option.
  3. While viewing the product's Information Tab, scroll down to the "Invetnory Options" section and set the inventory control drop down menu to "Waiting List"
  4. Click Save at the top right to commit your changes.
  5. Repeat these steps for each additional product you'd like to enable this function for.

With this setting in place, only the product(s) you configure for the Waiting List will display the "Put Me on the Waiting List" option when their stock reaches zero.


Customers Signing Up for the Waiting List
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Once a product goes out of stock, the Waiting List feature will display to the customer on the Product Listing page.

To sign up for the waiting list:

  1. On your website, the customer will choose the out of stock product.
  2. The customer will click on the Put me on the Waiting List button.

  1. In the popup, the customer will enter their Name, Phone Number, Email Address, and Verification Code, then click Submit.

  1. After the customer submits their information to the waiting list, you (the merchant) will receive an email notification.

The customer will also have the option of viewing their waiting list from their own "My Account" page. From there, they can review waiting list items and add them to cart (when replenished) or delete the item from their waiting list if desired.

Important
If you are trying to use the Waiting List feature for a product with Advanced Options you will be required to enter in a Code for that particular combination. If you fail to do so, the Waiting List button will not display for that particular combination if it is unavailable.


View/Notify Customers on the Waiting List
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To view the waiting list:

  1. Go to Products >Waiting List
    Or, as an alternative, you can also go to Modules, search for Waiting List and click on the "Waiting List Manager" link.

The subsequent page will show you any product that has been requested for Waiting List including the Product's name, its current stock level, and the number of new and total Waiting List requests for the product.
(Note that you may also export this list as a CSV file by clicking on the "export" button at the top right. This will take you to the export page for Products where you will be able to export "Product Waiting List")

To the far right of each Waiting List item, you'll see the Action Wheel which will give you the following options:

  • View Product
    This will take you to the product's information page in the Online Store Manager where you can edit the product's inventory as needed.
  • View Customers
    This will take you to a list of customers recorded on the waiting list (for the product) along with an indication as to whether or not the customer has been contacted regarding the product being back in stock.
  • Notify New
    This option will send out the "Back in stock" notification message to only new Waiting List participants
  • Notify All
    While this option will send the notification eamil to all waiting list participants (new and old), including users who may have already received the notification.
  • Delete
    This will let you delete waiting lists for the specific product.

You'll also have the option of removing customers from individual product waiting lists as needed.


View Customers on the Waiting List
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To view customers on a waiting list:

  1. Go to Products >Waiting List
    Or, as an alternative, you can also go to Modules, search for Waiting List and click on the "Waiting List Manager" link.
  2. Click the Action Wheel for the product and select View Customers

You can view the customer name, email address, phone number, and the date they were last notified.

While viewing the customers, you can delete any customer you'd like by marking the checkbox shown with each listed customer and using the "Batch Action" drop down at the bottom to clear them out.

Note
If a customer would like to remove themselves from the waiting list, they can click on the "Remove" link provided to them in the notification email.


Deleting a Waiting List
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To delete an individual waiting list:

  1. Go to Products >Waiting List
    Or, as an alternative, you can also go to Modules, search for Waiting List and click on the "Waiting List Manager" link.
  2. Click the Action Wheel for the product and select Delete

You can also delete waiting lists en masse by using the page's Batch Action drop down.

  1. Go to Products >Waiting List
    Or, as an alternative, you can also go to Modules, search for Waiting List and click on the "Waiting List Manager" link.
  2. Check the checkbox next to the waiting list you would like to delete.
  3. In the Batch Action dropdown, choose Delete Selected.
  4. Click Apply.

Note
If a customer would like to remove themselves from the waiting list, they can click on the "Remove" link provided to them in the notification email.


Waiting List Notification Emails Script
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Your Shift4Shop store also has the ability to automatically notify your waiting list customers when items are put back into stock. This can be done by enabling the Waiting List Notification Emails in your store.

To enable Waiting List Notification Emails log into your Shift4Shop Online Store Manager and use the left hand navigation to:

  1. Go to Modules
  2. U
  3. sing the search bar at the top of the page, search for "Back In Stock Automated Notification" to locate and expand the module.
  4. Place a mark in the "Enable Waiting List Notification Emails" checkbox.
  5. Click "Save" at the top right to commit your changes

Your store's newly enabled script will now send notificaiton emails to your waiting list customers as items are put back in stock.



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