Holidays are the time of year when stores and eCommerce showrooms usually try to make a big profit and catch customers’ interest by including the latest, greatest, and most expensive products. As a result, holiday out-of-stock problems always plague both shoppers and sellers. If this sounds like something you’ve experienced before, then read on because we’ve got 4 tips for handling out-of-stock in your favor.
Overview
Choose The Best Suppliers
It is important to check if the supplier has enough experience in dealing with big amounts of orders since the delivery schedule of the suppliers will be really tight this season. The more experience the supplier has, the better.
If you have found a supplier that satisfies your demands, it is also necessary to look for other suppliers. Of course, other suppliers will be cheaper but if you really want to save some money during this season, you need to compare the prices of different suppliers and choose one that is a little bit expensive but can still handle a large number of orders without compromising the quality.
Build Up Inventory
The most reliable way to avoid selling out popular items is to order more inventory. However, you can’t stock up everything; instead, take into consideration the sales forecast that you previously prepared. For example, the sales prediction for this holiday season may come in at 10% lower than last year’s if the economy is still in recession.
If making an exact order is not possible, make at least an educated guess on what items will sell best during the holidays and how much stock should be ordered for each item. This way you will avoid holiday out-of-stock by early cancellation, thus taking any losses before they occur.
ConnectPOS is the leading POS software designed for all sizes of retailers to manage inventory, customers, and employees by providing real-time business intelligence.
Foster A Positive Customer Experience In-Store
Your employees should be trained to deal with holiday out-of-stock situations. In fact, preparing your staff to handle such circumstances can help you win customers over – even if the item is out-of-stock – and generate positive buzz around your business. Your staff should suggest alternative products, give discounts & coupons, and email customers when the item is available again.
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Enhance Online Store Experience
To enhance the online store experience, you have to increase the visibility of products that are almost out-of-stock in your store. Find ways to identify whether shoppers are looking at your products or brands that are similar. And if they’re looking at similar products, try to use this information to enhance your online store experience by highlighting the items that are available.
When you can’t make more inventory, don’t send email messages telling customers why the product they want is unavailable. Send them an email message that says we’re sorry, we can’t ship this to you and we’ll let you know as soon as this is available again. This way, customers will know that it’s not easy for you to fill their order.
Backorder by Grit Global is an app that shows you your items are back-ordered, usually with a customer return date that gives you time to fix the problem. Your customers will be notified by email when the ordered quantity becomes available again.
Wrapping Up
Given the previous tips, we hope that you will find out some ways to increase your inventory and avoid holiday out-of-stock and that you will be able to fully serve your customers. We believe that you can easily get more orders and bigger profits during this season. After all, ConnectPOS with various functions allows your customers to make orders even when products are out-of-stock, try it free now!