What to Put on a Sold-Out Page
A shopper who reaches a sold-out size has already chosen. Three things every sold-out page should offer: an honest restock line, a genuinely close alternative, and someone to ask.
A shopper who reaches a sold-out size isn’t browsing. She’s found the product, picked a size and tried to buy. Most stores answer her with a grey button. Here’s what to put there instead.
1. An honest restock line
Her first question: will it come back, and when?
- If you know: give a date. Back in size 10 around 14 November.
- If you don’t: say so. We don’t know yet whether this will be restocked.
- Never: Back soon, unless you know it is. It looks like an answer and contains none. Keep only the urgency that’s true.
Then give her a way to be told: a back-in-stock email, which most platforms or apps support. If she has to keep checking, she won’t.
2. A genuinely close alternative
“You may also like” rows usually show what’s popular or what’s bought together. That’s the wrong job here. She wants the closest thing to this, in her size.
| She chose it for… | Show her… |
|---|---|
| The cut | The same style in another colour |
| The colour | A similar style in that colour, in her size |
| The occasion | Whatever genuinely does the same job |
Two rules: don’t call something “the same” when it isn’t, and don’t slip in your most expensive item and call it similar. If nothing’s close, say so. When two options are close, tell her plainly how they differ; that’s the subject of answering “this or that?“.
3. Someone to ask
Some questions only someone with the stock in front of them can answer: Is there one in returns? Is the next delivery this month? Does the other style come up big?
Put a clear way to ask right on the sold-out page, not in the footer. A shopper who can ask is still in the conversation.
A quick audit
- List your ten most-visited products sold out in at least one size. Best sellers are the most likely to be out of stock in someone’s size.
- Check what visitors do next: leave, search, or click elsewhere.
- Search your chat and inbox for back in stock, restock, when will, do you have it in. Your site search log will show the same requests in shoppers’ own words.
- Fix the top three first: restock line, two close alternatives, a way to ask.
What to measure
- Exits from sold-out variants, before and after.
- Back-in-stock sign-ups, and how many of them buy when it returns.
- Orders of suggested alternatives from sold-out pages.
Where Immerss fits
Immerss puts an AI sales agent on your store that answers from your catalog and the knowledge you add to it. When a size is gone, it can answer her questions, point to what’s genuinely close and add it to her cart, right on the page she’s on. When she needs someone to check, one tap brings a real person onto live video.
Back-in-stock emails and inventory checks stay with your store’s platform and apps. Immerss keeps the conversation going while she’s on the page.
Immerss installs on Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce or any store by script, and it’s free to start. See how other stores use it in our customer stories, or get started.
She’d already said yes. Don’t answer with a grey button.
Questions
What should a sold-out page say about restocking?
The truth. If you know when the size is coming back, give a date: "Back in size 10 around 14 November." If you don't, say so: "We don't know yet whether this will be restocked." Never write "back soon" unless you know it is, and give her a way to be told, such as a back-in-stock email, so she doesn't have to keep checking.
What alternative should a sold-out page show?
The closest thing to the product she chose, in her size, not what's popular or bought together. If she chose it for the cut, show the same style in another colour; for the colour, a similar style in that colour; for the occasion, whatever genuinely does the same job. Don't call something the same when it isn't, don't slip in your most expensive item, and if nothing is close, say so.
Why put a way to ask on the sold-out page?
Because some questions only someone with the stock in front of them can answer: whether there's one in returns, whether the next delivery is this month, whether the other style comes up big. A clear way to ask on the page itself, not in the footer, keeps her in the conversation.
How do I find which sold-out pages to fix first?
List your ten most-visited products that are sold out in at least one size, check what visitors do next, and search your chat and inbox for "back in stock", "restock", "when will" and "do you have it in". Fix the top three first: a restock line, two close alternatives and a way to ask.
