It doesn’t have to be! This is a very frustrating situation for e-Commerce merchants or retailers of any kind. You managed to get the customer all the way through the hoops, they want the product, but alas, it’s out of stock. You may have lost another customer. Sometimes the “out of stock” situation is dealt with taking the customer’s order regardless. However, as not all e-Commerce solutions have reliable integration, it’s not immediately seen that the item is out of stock. This ends up disappointing the customer when orders are ultimately left unfulfilled. If you do nothing and send it to them when it comes back in stock with no communications whatsoever, you can still end up with unhappy customers because deliveries are incredibly delayed. What are ways to salvage this sale when you have “out of stock” items on your website?
Help Me Help You – “Self-Service” Features in e-Commerce
If you want it done right, do it yourself. Some of us feel duty bound to that philosophy as it gives us a sense of control; we know exactly what is needed, our own personal preferences and motivations, and how to get to where we want. Before the days of e-Commerce websites, having the customer do things themselves was generally considered to be bad. Why? With their lack of resources, knowledge, and tools, there are things customers can’t readily manage; there are so many roadblocks in the overall process. It’s also probably implies you’re not doing a good job in anticipating the needs of customers to help them. It is always in the company’s best interest to help customers.
Now with technology and e-Commerce changing how things are bought, sold, and managed, there is so much that can be done. There is now a large amount of information at the customer’s fingertips. In order to do “self-service” successfully, there needs to be an element of control. From the small details that a customer wants to manage in the front end to the boundaries that the company set ups by managing the roles and permissions and guidelines in the back end. Read More