Why Are Inventory And Order Status Important To Your Customer?
Imagine this...
A customer has just selected a product on your site, entered in their credit card, address and shipping information, only to find out that the item is no longer in stock. They have just waisted valuable time and not only that, they are disappointed in not geting what they wanted. They don't trust your company very much now. They probably won't go through the hassle of ordering something else not knowing if it too is out of stock. Goodbye customer.
Or this...
A customer ordered a product from your site. They spend a lot of money on your product and become uneasy about whether or not they completed the sale successfully. They do not get a confirmation email from your company, nor a shipping status link. The customer grows impatient by the day, and they get more and more upset. Just when they are at the breaking point, they call your customer service number on your site and talk to you. You have to spend your valuable time searching as to whether the product was shipped and, if it was, where it is at this moment. Goodbye customer.
You can see from the above that having real-time inventory and order status information capablilities on your Website is important to you and your customer.
The following are some positive aspects of using these powerful tools:
- Low cost to your business
- Increased repeat customers looking for your new inventory
- Decrease customer frustration in ordering a product that isn’t in your inventory
- Decreased need to phone customers
Some things to remember...
- There will be more work on the backend of your Website (link to Database Services)
- Accurate inventory needed at all times requiring employees to update daily
How You Do It
1. Have an Order Management System (OMS) in place that tracks orders and updates inventory in real time.2. If you use a distributor for your products, make sure they are willing to feed your site real time data about inventory status.
3. Let the customer know if the product is “in stock” or offer to show how much of the product is in stock.
4. As they put items in the shopping cart, show what their running total is at all times (including shipping and tax if you already have their zip code)
5. Include all taxes and tariffs at checkout
6. Let the customer know up front how long processing and shipping will take for the product
7. Offer shipping time estimate based on zip code, this lessens calls from customers wondering when they will get their product.
8. Send a confirmation email of the sale and the shipment. This cements your relationship with your new/loyal customer by including the following in your email:
- Thank them for ordering your product
- The merchant’s name
- Customer service information
- Order confirmation number
- Itemized list of items purchased
- Tax
- Shipping cost
- Order total
- Billing information with account number omitted (e.g. Visa XXX-XXXX-XXXX-1234)
- Shipping information
- Date and time of order
- Expected date the order will be shipped
- Expected date/time the order will arrive
- Link to your site for customer to track order status
- Instructions on how to cancel the order, correct the order, and any fees involved in doing this
- Thank the customer again for placing the order
- Include a coupon code
- Include a refer a friend promotion
