Get Started with Waitlist
The Waitlist feature is built for “coming soon” products - items you have not launched yet. When a sold-out product matches your waitlist conditions, shoppers see a Join the waitlist button instead of the usual Notify me button. Their emails are captured, and when the product finally becomes available, Qivra emails everyone on the list automatically.
This guide explains how the feature works, how to choose which products belong to the waitlist, and where to go next.
Waitlist vs. Back-in-Stock
Section titled “Waitlist vs. Back-in-Stock”Both features capture email signups on out-of-stock products, but they serve different scenarios:
| Back-in-Stock (Notify me) | Waitlist (Join the waitlist) | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Products that already sold, and are temporarily out of stock | Upcoming or not-yet-launched products |
| Which products | Any tracked product - controlled per product/variant | Products matching your conditions: tags, collections, or manual picks |
| Button shown | ”Notify me" | "Join the waitlist” |
| Email sent when | The product is restocked | The product becomes available (in stock again or launched) |
| Managed from | Back in Stock page | Waitlist page |
A product cannot show both buttons: if it matches your waitlist conditions, the waitlist button takes priority over Notify me.
How It Works
Section titled “How It Works”- You define waitlist conditions - product tags, collections, or specific products (any match counts).
- A shopper opens a sold-out product that matches a condition.
- The Join the waitlist button appears in place of Notify me (and in place of the disabled Add to Cart).
- The shopper clicks it, enters their email in the popup, and confirms.
- Qivra records the subscription with status Pending - no email is sent at signup.
- Qivra checks inventory every minute. When the product becomes available, every pending subscriber receives an automatic “it’s available” email using your Notification Email template.
- The subscriber’s status changes to Sent (or Failed if delivery fails).
Requirements
Section titled “Requirements”- The Qivra app embed must be enabled in your theme. See Enable App Embed.
- The product must be sold out (out of stock) for the button to appear.
- The product must match at least one waitlist condition (below).
- Waitlist is included in the Free plan. See Pricing Plans.
Where to Find It
Section titled “Where to Find It”In the Qivra PreOrder admin, open the Waitlist page from the left navigation. The page has two tabs:
| Tab | What you do there |
|---|---|
| Settings | Enable the feature, choose which products belong to the waitlist, and customize the button, popup, confirmation toast, and email. |
| Subscribers | View everyone who joined a waitlist, search by email, and track notification status. |
Step 1: Enable the Waitlist
Section titled “Step 1: Enable the Waitlist”- Open the Qivra PreOrder admin and go to Waitlist.
- Stay on the Settings tab.
- Turn on the Enable waitlist switch.
When enabled, sold-out products matching the conditions below show a “Join the waitlist” button instead of “Notify me”.
Step 2: Choose Which Products Belong to the Waitlist
Section titled “Step 2: Choose Which Products Belong to the Waitlist”The Waitlist conditions section supports three condition types. A product matching any condition (tag, collection, or manual pick) joins the waitlist - the conditions are combined with OR logic.
Condition 1: Product tags
Section titled “Condition 1: Product tags”- Click Tags.
- Pick one or more tags from your store’s product tags (the default suggestion is
coming-soon). - Selected tags appear as removable badges.
This is the easiest condition to maintain: tag a product in Shopify and it joins the waitlist; remove the tag and it goes back to Notify me. No developer needed.
Condition 2: Collections
Section titled “Condition 2: Collections”- Click Collections.
- Pick one or more collections from your store.
- Selected collections appear as removable badges.
Every sold-out product inside a selected collection joins the waitlist. Useful when you curate a “Coming soon” collection in Shopify.
Condition 3: Specific products
Section titled “Condition 3: Specific products”- Click Select products.
- Pick products from your Shopify catalog.
- Selected products appear in a grid with image, stock status, and a remove button. Up to 500 products can be added.
Use this for one-off launches that do not fit a tag or collection.
Step 3: Customize and Test
Section titled “Step 3: Customize and Test”- Customize the button, popup, confirmation toast, and email in the Settings tab - see Customize the Waitlist Widget & Email.
- Test the storefront flow: open a sold-out waitlist product on your store, join the waitlist with your own email, then restock the product and watch for the notification email.
- Monitor signups in the Subscribers tab - see Manage Waitlist Subscribers.