Imagine this situation where you a product that is selling high and customers are praising you for it. Suddenly, the demand kept increasing in such a manner that you can’t cope. It is bad news when you can’t meet the demand of your customer. What if you tell you to order and get it later? When you backorder an item, wait for the product and wait for the delivery date the manufacturer indicates.
It’s frustrating to face this situation, especially when the market is competitive. It is hard to get a lead and lose them because of a supply shortage. So, how can you prepare during backorders and manage it effectively? Yes, no matter what store you run, you can avoid any mishap and manage backorders.
Train staff in identifying and managing backorders
To speed up your backorder fulfillment, you need to train staff to identify and process backorder. If your workers are not adequately trained in managing your inventory, it will lead to errors and miscalculation. For instance, an employee who isn’t taught in using eCommerce inventory software might not understand how to navigate the system to quantify the number of available stocks.
Create FAQs for customers
Another way to provide a better customer experience is to create a frequently asked question section on your website about backorders. Here, you can provide relevant information about backorders, including how it works, estimated time of arrival, the role of the customers, and how to cancel an order. All of this information can help the customer to trust your brand.
Update customer service knowledge base
Updating the customer service knowledge base is similar to creating a FAQ for your customers. However, here you can take advantage of a blog to expand on various issues on backorders. For instance, you can write content on preparing and being patient when waiting for a backordered item. Here, you have to be creative in a way that resonates with your audience. You can also leverage social media to improve your customer knowledge base.
It is crucial that your staffs know how you are managing backorders and can answer all questions from customers.
Update website visuals
You need to be creative and use various techniques to enlighten your audience. Options are updating your website visuals, using popup, banners, and CTA to manage your backorders.
Ensure that product availability is clear to customers. When they make an order, keep them updated with the order status and your backorder policy. Efficiently managing backorders will help increase customer satisfaction.
Our BigCommerce BackOrder app provides a complete solution for this with features to customize CTA, messages, and pack slips.
Track data, use predictive analytics
Additionally, you can track product data in your warehouse. Today, you can use various predictive analytic tools to determine when your product is running low. Some eCommerce platforms come with unique tools that allow you to trade inventory and notify you when you are running low on your product or a particular item.
Evaluate and reorganize the warehouse
To prepare for managing backorders, you need to have a modern warehouse system that automatically keeps a record of your inventory. With an updated inventory management system, you won’t find yourself in backorder issues because the software will automatically order products from suppliers when it reaches the benchmark you set. A good management system will improve your inventory data and reconcile your inventory automatically.
Further read: Best practices for managing backordered items
