How to Avoid Losing Customers When a Product is Sold Out

Numerous reasons exist why a product may be out of stock, such as the nature of the product, seasonality, or perhaps learning the ropes of how much inventory is needed. We understand how challenging it can be to get customers to visit your eCommerce store, but when a product they are interested in is sold out, how do you avoid losing them?

Losing a customer when a product is sold out is more than a product page issue. It is also a customer experience challenge. When a customer is unable to buy an item after landing on a product page, their expectations must be exceeded.

Three principal things to consider implementing:

Customer Email Sign-Ups

You can set up your product page to direct your customers to an email list that allows them to sign up and receive a notification when that product comes back in stock. Instead of just leaving, this gives your customer something to do when landing on your product page. This option also helps you build an email list to use for any future promotions.

If your store’s theme is not built for this option, consider apps such as Back in Stock or Now Back in Stock.

Landing Pages

In addition to serving as a landing page, this dedicated page can also include recommended products and a message detailing why that specific item is currently out of stock. Specifics will vary between businesses. As an example, consider your business is in food and you partner with many popular farms and restaurants. Due to the cows producing more milk because of the season, you receive a limited supply of this very tasty cream. This shipment sells out quickly because of the rich taste of this cream, and once it is sold out, that is it.

You can create a page where your customers are directed to that contains a message that says, ‘Here are some other tasty creams we provide’. This allows you to also market the original item by stating, ‘This item sold out quickly, and due to the product being seasonal, it is handcrafted’. This reinforces the customer’s appreciation for the products quality, and why it is worth the wait.

Ability to Pre-Order

While more technical than the previous two options, if your business is able, consider allowing customers to pre-order products that were not in stock. Give your eCommerce customers an expectation by including a date when the item will be available. This option gives you the ability to secure the sale now, while not delivering the item until it comes in stock. In addition to obtaining customers who would otherwise miss the sale and do not reach out to companies, the important communication is taken care of with a pre-order.

Need Some Guidance With Your eCommerce Store?

When a product is sold out, give your customers a wonderful experience instead of a horrible one by utilizing your product page. You can accomplish this by providing your customers with another step, like recommending other items, signing up to receive an email notification, or letting customers pre-order the product. It is about providing your customers with a more personalized experience. It is about customer service, and how it is handled as well as the tone.

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