Squarespace Product Waitlists Setup Guide
TL;DR:
- Set up waitlists on Squarespace to capture interest when products sell out
- Customers get automatic emails when items return to stock
- Works on physical and service products across Core, Plus, Advanced, and Commerce plans
- You can customise signup text and notification emails
- No way to export waitlist emails directly from Squarespace
Product waitlists help you capture sales even when items are out of stock. When customers can't buy something right now, they can join a waitlist and get notified the moment it's available again.
This feature works on both Squarespace 7.1 and 7.0, though the interface looks slightly different between versions.
Setting Up Waitlists
Head to your Squarespace admin and find the Waitlists panel. You'll see a toggle for 'Allow Waitlist Signups' – switch this on to activate the feature across your store.
There's also an option to 'Allow mailing list signups' which lets customers join your general email list when they sign up for a waitlist. This is useful for broader marketing but keep it optional.
Customising the Signup Experience
The default signup button text works fine, but you might want to change it to match your brand voice. Click 'Signup Button' in the waitlists panel, update the text field, and save your changes.
Your waitlist signup will appear automatically on product pages when items go out of stock. Customers just need to enter their email address to join.
Managing Your Waitlists
The Waitlists panel shows you exactly who's waiting for each product variant and how many people have signed up. You can see individual email addresses but there's no export function, which is a bit limiting.
When you restock an item, Squarespace moves it to the 'Back In Stock' tab. This is where you'll send out those all-important restock notifications.
Sending Restock Notifications
Once your product is back in stock, go to the 'Back In Stock' tab in your waitlists panel. Find the product and click 'Email all' to notify everyone who was waiting.
After you send the emails, Squarespace clears that waitlist from the tab. This prevents duplicate emails but means you can't easily track who got notified.
Customising Waitlist Emails
The default restock email is fairly basic, so you'll probably want to customise it. In the Waitlists panel, look for the email customisation options where you can change the subject line, title, and body text.
Make sure your product details are up to date before sending emails. If you've changed product names, prices, or descriptions since people joined the waitlist, update those details so the email information matches what customers will see.
Turning Off Waitlists
If you decide waitlists aren't working for your store, just toggle off 'Allow Waitlist signups' in the panel. Your existing waitlists get archived rather than deleted, so you can reactivate them later if needed.
FAQs
Can I set waitlists for specific products only?
No, it's an all-or-nothing feature. When you enable waitlists, they appear on all sold-out products automatically.
How can I export email addresses from the waitlist?
You can't export these emails directly from Squarespace. You'll need to manually copy addresses if you want to use them elsewhere.
Which Squarespace plans include waitlists?
Waitlists work on Core, Plus, Advanced, Commerce Basic, and Commerce Advanced plans.
Do waitlists work with product variants?
Yes, waitlists track individual variants, so customers can join separate waitlists for different sizes or colours of the same product.
Jargon Buster
Product Waitlists – A feature that lets customers sign up to be notified when out-of-stock items become available again
Google reCAPTCHA – Security tool that prevents bots from signing up for waitlists (automatically enabled on Squarespace waitlist forms)
Product Variants – Different versions of the same product, like different sizes or colours
Wrap-up
Waitlists are a simple way to keep potential customers engaged when you're out of stock. The setup is straightforward and the feature runs automatically once enabled. The main limitation is not being able to export email addresses, but for basic restock notifications, it does the job well.
The key is keeping your product information current and sending restock emails promptly when items return to stock.
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