Allow Backorder For BigCommerce Wholesale Group
There is a blurring line between different types of business these days. Many stores are selling for both wholesale and retail customers. This model is indeed more lucrative. However, it possesses an administrative issue because the demand and requirements are not always the same. For example, wholesale customers are more likely to place a backorder. Therefore, sometimes you might want to allow backorder exclusively for this group instead of every visitor. Unfortunately, there is no native BigCommerce function to support this action. However, you can always implement a third-party app to do the work. In this article, we’ll discuss 2 steps to allow Backorder for wholesale customers only with Atom8 and BackOrder. 1. Assign product to Backorder using Atom8 Atom8 is a workflow automation tool that allows users to convert repetitive tasks into workflows that executes according to predetermined rules. Meanwhile, Atom8 takes responsibility for inventory tracking and order management when a product goes out of stock. With BackOrder, customers can always place an order and receive their package later in the future. These two apps are currently connected with each other, making it even easier to centralize your store management. With that being said, the first step to allow backorder for the wholesale group is to assign products to BackOrder when the inventory level is low. There are 3 ways to do this in BackOrder, which are assigning one product at a time, assigning many products, and assigning in mass. If this is still too much work, you can have the item automatically assigned by Atom8. The workflow should be set up as followed: TRIGGER: When the product inventory changes CONDITION: If the inventory level is lower than or equal to 5 ACTION: Assign product to BackOrder Now you’ll see a panel asking you to fill in all necessary information. If you choose to overwrite current stock, customers will see the total available inventory including the current stock and the possible backorder threshold. Otherwise, customers will see the current stock only and have no idea how much they can backorder unless you specify it somewhere else. 2. Change product visibility To start with, let me make clear that with this option, you can allow the product or the entire category to be visible by the wholesale group only. For this, you need to make sure that every customer in your store belongs to at least one group. This can be done by setting a default customer group in advance. In Manage default customer group, set Registered customers default as Retail customers. Then in the Customer group panel, click on Action next to Retail customer. Select Edit Uncheck Customers in this group can see products in all categories, then uncheck the BackOrder category. This will prevent retail customers from seeing every product that is assigned to BackOrder. Note that you should add products to this category and assign them to BackOrder simultaneously. Repeat this for every customer group except for the wholesale. Normally, you will need more groups to run advertising and promotion campaigns. However, we recommend adding a tag on the email marketing platform instead. Final note Now you know how to allow backorder exclusively for a wholesale group in BigCommerce. Because this is quite a complicated task, a 2-step process is the best solution for now. With Atom8 and BackOrder integrated into your BigCommerce store, you can do more than assigning product categories or customer groups. Read more about our apps and find your match today!
Leverage Customer Group In BigCommerce
Customers are the backbone of any business. Yet, we have passed the time when everyone can be treated similarly. The fast-moving market requires businesses to address the needs of each individual if they want to pursue a long-term customer relationship. One of the most effective tailoring solutions is to create a customer group based on people’s characteristics. If you are operating on BigCommerce, this can be done by the platform’s native function or with the help of a third-party app. Note that a customer can only be assigned to a single group. However, you can always be flexible in allowing people with certain characteristics to see or act on your website. 1. Group customers based on lifetime value One of the popular ways to categorize customers is based on their spending on your store. Loyal customers tend to purchase from you more often and with a higher volume. They are also more likely to spread positive word of mouth and refer new customers to the brand. Therefore, it is a must for businesses to expand this group as large as possible. If a customer spends a lot of time and money on your store, send them a coupon or small gift for appreciation. Don’t forget to personalize the message to increase personal relevance. To do this, you need to keep a close eye on customer behaviour. Take the following workflow as an example: TRIGGER: when a new order is placed CONDITION: If the customer’s total spending is greater than or equal to $1000 ACTION: Then Assign the customer to a group: Gold Make sure that you present the group name consistently in the system. It makes no sense if you’re running an ad campaign targeting Gold customers when you often address them as VIPs. 2. Group customers based on product purchase If you’re selling products from multiple manufacturers with distinctive promotion programs, you might want to group them based on products instead of spending. This way, it is easy to tell which promotion campaigns apply to which customers. TRIGGER: When a new order is placed CONDITION: If any of the order products falls within the Product brand of Apple. ACTION: Then Assign the customer to a group: Apple 3. Auto-grouping after registration Both workflows above require customers to make a purchase to be categorized. However, you can always group new customers based on their demographic information. This is also helpful to run advertising campaigns targeted at new or inactive customers. For example, customer demands change across regions and seasons. Therefore, identifying New York customers could increase the chance your ads match the customers’ interests. TRIGGER: When a new customer account is created CONDITION: If any of the customer address matches the condition that state or province is equal to New York AND If they subscribe to your newsletters ACTION: Then assign the customer to a group: New York This workflow requires meeting both conditions to be executed. Furthermore, consumers these days are becoming more and more privacy-sensitive. Don’t send them any advertisements without their consent. That’s why you need to add a second condition concerning the consumer’s subscription status. 4. Specifying a wholesale group If you have a different price for retail and wholesale customers, you might want to differentiate between them and display the product distinctively. You can do this by: Go to Customer > Customer Groups > Click on Create a customer group Name the customer group Wholesale and add a description if necessary Uncheck Customers in this group can see products in all categories, then check all categories created for this group Set any product-level, variant-level, or store-wide level discount for this group. Save the customer group and you’re ready to go. 5. Moving customers between groups As noted above, one customer can only be assigned to one single group. Adding them to a new category means removing the existing one. If you don’t want to mess up your website, consider tagging them on another email marketing platform instead. Most email marketing tools allow a subscriber to belong to multiple groups. And you can trigger promotion campaigns immediately without having to import data from one platform to another. Atom8 can be integrated with MailChimp, Klaviyo, and Sendgrid for this purpose. Install the app today and enjoy your work!
