Answer Stock and Restock Questions From Live Shopify Inventory
This recipe answers “do you have the black in S?” and “when restock?” from your live Shopify stock. It offers the nearest variant when a size has gone, gives a restock date only if you have listed one, and adds shoppers who want to hear back to a restock list in a Google Sheet. When the stock lands, you message that list with a WhatsApp broadcast. Part of the fashion store workflows.
What happens today
A drop goes live at 8pm. By 8.30pm the small sizes are gone and the inbox has forty versions of “any S left?” and “restock when?”. The product page says the item exists. It does not say the black small sold out ten minutes ago. Someone replies “sold out, sorry” to each one, and every shopper who would have taken the navy instead, or waited for the restock, is lost.
The flow that works
- The shopper asks about a size or colour. AeroChat works out the product and variant.
- It checks live stock in Shopify for that variant.
- If it is in stock, it says so and sends the link.
- If it has gone, it offers the nearest variant in stock: the same size in another colour, or a similar style in their size.
- If the shopper wants that exact variant, it gives your restock date if you have listed one, and offers to add them to the restock list.
- When the stock lands, you send a WhatsApp broadcast to the shoppers on the list. Their replies come back to AeroChat, which checks stock again and sends the link.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When a shopper asks whether a product is in stock in a size or colour, follow these steps.
- Confirm the product, colour and size. If they replied to a post, use that product.
- Check live stock in Shopify for that exact variant.
- If it is in stock, say so and send the product link. If only one or two are left, say “only a few left in your size”.
- If it is sold out, say so and offer up to two alternatives that are in stock: the same size in another colour, or a similar product in their size.
- If they ask when it will be back, check our restock list in the knowledge base. If a date is listed, give it. If not, say we do not have a date yet. Never guess a date.
- Ask if they want us to message them on WhatsApp when it is back. If yes, add a row to our restock Sheet with the date, customer name, phone number, product, colour and size, and tell them we will message them when it lands.
- If a shopper replies to a restock message, check stock again and send the link, or say it has sold out again and offer the nearest variant.
Never hold stock or promise a reservation. Reply in the customer’s language.
Change the low-stock wording and the alternatives you want offered before you paste it.
What to connect
- Shopify. Built in. Stock is read live by variant.
- Your restock dates. A short list in the knowledge base, product by product, updated when your supplier confirms. Leave it empty rather than guess.
- Your restock Sheet. A Google Sheet with one row per request. Connect your Google account when AeroChat asks and approve the access.
- WhatsApp broadcasts. From the Growth plan. Send a restock message to the shoppers on the list using an approved WhatsApp message template.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
What you still decide
- Which products restock at all, and when.
- Whether you take pre-orders, and on what terms.
- When to send the restock broadcast, and to whom.
- Whether “only a few left” is shown, and below what number.
The result to expect
Every stock question in a drop week gets a live answer, and a sold-out reply comes with something to buy instead. Shoppers who want the exact item are on a list you can message, instead of lost in the inbox.
Measure it with your own numbers: orders from shoppers who took an alternative variant, and orders from your restock broadcasts. See also back-in-stock alerts on WhatsApp and Instagram.
Next: abandoned cart follow-up.
Test it on a sold-out size
Install the app, paste the recipe and ask for a size you know is sold out. Check what it offers instead.
Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store. Start your 7-day free trial, no credit card needed.
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