Why Your Store Needs Back-in-Stock Notifications

The holiday season is almost here, which means a lot of online stores are about to see more visitors, more orders, and, unfortunately, more products going out of stock.

Out of stocks are a normal part of doing business, but how you handle them makes a big difference.

When a shopper lands on a product page, finds exactly what they want, and sees that it is unavailable, if there is no way for them to ask to be notified when it comes back, that visit is basically over. They leave, they search somewhere else, and there is a pretty good chance you will never see them again.

That is why every eCommerce store should have some kind of back-in-stock notification system in place, especially heading into the holidays.

With Back in Stock Wizard for BigCommerce and Shopify, shoppers can enter their email address on an out-of-stock product and get notified when it becomes available again. It is a simple concept, but it solves a very real problem.  Instead of losing that shopper completely, you have a way to bring them back when you actually have something to sell them.

And right now is the perfect time to get it set up before the holiday rush begins, and we know the season starts earlier and earlier every year!

Out of Stock Should Not Mean Goodbye

Products sell out. Shipments get delayed. Certain sizes disappear before others. Seasonal items may be on the site before the inventory actually arrives.

None of that is unusual.

The problem is when the customer sees “Out of Stock,” you are basically telling them to go somewhere else. Sure, a few people may come back later and check again, but most shoppers are not going to keep visiting your site hoping that inventory magically reappears.

Giving them a “Notify Me” option changes the whole experience. Now the customer can tell you they are interested, and you can reach back out when the product is ready to buy.

That is a much better outcome than simply watching the shopper head on over to your competition.

Paying for PPC Traffic to an Out-of-Stock Product Is Even Worse

This is where it really starts to hurt.

A lot of merchants are paying for Google Shopping ads, search ads, Facebook ads, Instagram ads, and other campaigns that send shoppers directly to product pages.

If you are paying for that click and the customer lands on an item that is out of stock, you have already spent money to get them there.

If the page gives them no way to stay connected, that paid click is essentially wasted.

Think about it. You paid to get someone who was actively interested in a specific product onto your site. They clicked the ad, they landed on the product, and then you gave them nowhere to go.

That is about as bad as lead generation gets.

With a back-in-stock signup, at least you have a chance to recover that lead. They can leave their email address, and when the product comes back, you can bring them directly back to the page they were originally interested in.  You could even offer them an additional discount, in the form of a coupon code, for being patient – an extra hook to land the sale.

Of course, not every sale is guaranteed, but you’re at least giving yourself another shot instead of throwing away the click entirely.

Start Building Demand Before Inventory Even Arrives

Back-in-stock notifications are not just for products that are sold out.

They can also be useful for products that are coming soon.

This is especially handy during the holidays when seasonal merchandise is arriving in waves. Maybe you know a popular Christmas item is arriving next week. Maybe a new product launch is scheduled for October. Maybe you already know a certain toy, collectible, gift item, or seasonal SKU is going to be a hot seller.

There is no reason to wait until inventory physically arrives before you start collecting interest.

Put the product on the site, let shoppers sign up, and when inventory becomes available, everyone who already told you they want it will be automatically notified it’s ready to be purchased.

Instead of launching the product and hoping people come back to look for it, you already have a list of interested shoppers waiting.

That’s a much better position to be in during a busy holiday season!

Best Sellers = Products Most Likely to Sell Out

The products that go out of stock are usually not the ones nobody wants.

They are often your biggest sellers.

That is exactly why it makes no sense to let those product pages become dead ends.

If one of your hottest items sells out for three days, five days, or a week, there may still be a steady stream of people visiting that page. Some are coming from search. Some are clicking ads. Some are coming from email campaigns. Others may have bookmarked the product or found it through social media.

Every one of those visitors represents a potential sale.

With a back-in-stock system, you can keep gathering interest while the product is unavailable. When inventory comes back, those shoppers can be among the very first to know.

Without it, you are just hoping they remember your store was the place they discovered it on.

Back-in-Stock Requests Can Help You Predict Demand

There is another benefit here that’s very easy to overlook.

Back-in-stock requests give you a pretty clear indication of customer interest.

If one sold-out product has 100 people waiting for it and another has five, that tells you something.

You may decide to reorder more of the first item. You may want to feature it more prominently when it returns. You may even rethink how much inventory you bring in for similar products.

Your sales reports show you what customers were able to buy. Back-in-stock requests can help show you what they wanted to buy but could’t.

Heading into the holidays, that can be useful intelligence when you are trying to make inventory decisions quickly.

Not Having a Back-in-Stock Option Is a Missed Opportunity

The biggest reason to have something like this on your store is pretty simple – there’s almost no upside to letting an interested shopper leave.

If someone visits an out-of-stock product, they have already shown intent. If they are willing to give you their email address because they want to know when that specific item is available, that’s a pretty good indication they’re serious about potentially purchasing the item.

You should be capturing that email address!

Otherwise, you are losing the shopper, losing the lead, and potentially wasting whatever time or money you spent getting them to that product page in the first place.

And during the holidays, when competition for every click gets more expensive, that becomes even more important.

Get It Running Before Holiday Traffic Arrives

The time to think about back-in-stock notifications is not after Black Friday when you suddenly realize your hottest products are unavailable.

It’s now.

Get the system in place. Turn it on for seasonal products that have not arrived yet. Use it on products you expect to sell quickly. Make sure shoppers have a way to raise their hand and say, “I want this when it comes back.”

Back in Stock Wizard is available for both BigCommerce and Shopify and gives merchants an easy way to capture that interest and automatically notify shoppers when inventory returns.

Because an out-of-stock product may be temporary.

Losing that customer does not have to be.