Stock Checks and Back in Stock Alerts in Chat for WooCommerce
Yes. AeroChat checks WooCommerce stock and sends back in stock alerts, from the chat. It answers “is it in stock?” for the exact size and color from your synced WooCommerce catalog. When a variant is sold out, it offers the closest one in stock or adds the shopper to a restock list, and when WooCommerce shows the item is back, it messages them on WhatsApp with the link.
This recipe turns “do you have it?” into a sale now or a shopper who comes back when you restock. Part of connecting WooCommerce to WhatsApp and AI chat.
What happens today
Stock questions are some of the most common in chat: “do you have it in M?”, “when is the black one back?”. On WhatsApp or Instagram there is no product page to check. When the answer is “sold out”, most conversations end there, and the shopper is gone even though you restock next week. Nobody keeps a list of who asked.
The flow that works
- The shopper asks whether a product is in stock.
- AeroChat checks the exact variant in your synced WooCommerce catalog.
- If it is in stock, it says so and sends the link, or takes the order in the chat.
- If it is sold out, it offers the closest variant in stock. If you allow backorders on that product, it offers a pre-order.
- If the shopper wants to wait, AeroChat adds them to your restock list with the product, variant and their WhatsApp number, with their agreement to be messaged.
- When WooCommerce sends a product updated webhook, AeroChat checks the variant’s stock. If it is back, it sends your approved back in stock template to everyone on the list for that variant, and marks them as told.
What it looks like on WhatsApp
Customer: Do you have the Nova sneakers in white, size 9? (example)
AeroChat: The Nova sneakers in white are sold out in size 9 right now. Size 9 in grey is in stock. Or I can message you here when white is back.
Customer: Message me please.
AeroChat: Done. You’re on the list for the Nova sneakers in white, size 9. I’ll send you a message on WhatsApp when they’re back in stock.
In WooCommerce: nothing changes. AeroChat read the stock for that variant and added Ben’s request to your restock list (example). When the white size 9 is restocked, he gets the alert with the product link.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When a customer asks whether a product is in stock, follow these steps.
- Find the product and the exact variant in our synced WooCommerce catalog. If the size or color is not clear, ask.
- If it is in stock, say so and send the product link. If they want to buy in the chat, take the order and send a payment link.
- If it is sold out, offer the closest variant that is in stock, such as another color in the same size. If backorders are allowed for it, offer a pre-order.
- If they want to wait, ask if we may message them on WhatsApp when it is back. If they agree, add a row to our restock list in Google Sheets with the date, their name, WhatsApp number, product and variant.
- If our knowledge base has a restock date for that product, share it. If not, don’t guess one.
When WooCommerce tells us a product was updated, check the stock of each variant on our restock list for that product. If a variant is back in stock, send our approved back in stock template with the product link to each customer waiting for it, and mark their row as sent.
Never promise a restock date we have not given. Reply in the customer’s language.
If you keep your restock list in your email tool instead of a Google Sheet, name it in the recipe before you paste it.
What to connect
- WooCommerce catalog. Built in. The AeroChat WordPress plugin syncs your products with their variants and stock, so the answer matches what shoppers can buy.
- WooCommerce webhook. In WooCommerce, go to Settings, Advanced, REST API and add a key with read access. Then go to Settings, Advanced, Webhooks, add a webhook with the topic Product updated, and paste the delivery URL AeroChat shows you. Product stock fields and webhook topics are documented at woocommerce.github.io/woocommerce-rest-api-docs.
- Your restock list. A Google Sheet works, or your email tool if it keeps the list.
- A WhatsApp template. The alert is a message your business starts, so it needs an approved template. See WhatsApp message templates and back in stock templates to copy.
After you paste the recipe, AeroChat builds the workflow as a draft and shows a checklist: connect WooCommerce, add the webhook, connect your restock list, choose the template, then switch it on. If it built the connection from WooCommerce’s public documentation, the checklist asks you to check it once against the current docs.
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 alternative AeroChat offers when a variant is sold out.
- Whether alerts go to everyone on the list at once, or in the order they asked when stock is short.
- Whether AeroChat shares restock dates at all.
The result to expect
Stock questions get an exact answer for the size and color asked. Shoppers who hit a sold-out variant either buy the alternative or join your restock list, and hear from you the day it is back.
Measure it with your own numbers: stock questions answered in chat, restock sign-ups from chat, and orders from those alerts, for a month before and after.
Next: see the stock and back in stock workflow across every channel and what to do when customers ask for sold-out products.
Works on every chat channel
Stock answers run the same way on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, the chat on your website and email, with the same WooCommerce connection behind it. The restock alert goes out on WhatsApp. See what each channel does on the WooCommerce integration page.
Channel versions: WhatsApp stock questions.
Answer your first stock question in chat
Install the plugin, paste the recipe, and ask your own chat for a size that is sold out.
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