Products change. You rebrand, swap SKUs, discontinue a flavor, or replace a seasonal item with a new version. Product substitutions let you tell Easy Reorder: "When a customer would have been reminded about Product A, show them Product B instead."
This works in both reminder emails and on the Reorder Page.
🛠️ How to set up a substitution
In Easy Reorder, click Products in the sidebar
Find the original product (the one being replaced)
Click + Set substitution
Search for and select the replacement product
Save
That's it. From now on:
Customers who previously bought the original product will see the replacement on their Reorder Page
Reminder emails will show the replacement product card instead of the discontinued one
Reorder links go to the replacement product
💡 When to use substitutions
🔄 Rebrand — you renamed a product but it's essentially the same
📦 SKU change — the new SKU replaces the old one
🍂 Seasonal swap — you only sell the winter version of a product right now
🛑 Discontinued — the original is gone but you have a great replacement
🆕 New version — a v2 product replaces the v1
✨ Example
You used to sell "Vanilla Protein 16oz" but now you sell "Vanilla Protein 20oz" (with a different SKU). Without a substitution, anyone who bought the old version would see "out of stock" on their Reorder Page or get a reminder for a product they can't buy.
With a substitution mapped, those customers instead see the new 20oz version — and the reorder flow just works.
⚠️ Important notes
The replacement product must be available in your store — you can't substitute a product with another archived one
Only one substitution per original product — if a product has been replaced multiple times, point all original SKUs to the current version
Substitutions apply to all customers — there's no per-customer override
🔍 How to remove a substitution
If you want to remove a substitution (e.g., the original product is back in stock):
Find the original product on the Products page
Click into its substitution settings
Remove the mapped replacement
Save
The original product will start appearing in reminders and on Reorder Pages again.
💡 Pro Tip
Set up substitutions before discontinuing a product. If you wait until the old SKU is gone, you'll have a window where customers see broken reorder links. Map the substitution first, then archive the original.
Still have questions? Reach out — we can help with bulk substitution setups if you're rebranding.