As a Shopify store owner, your most difficult task is perfecting your marketing and sales funnel to get customers to make a purchase.
This is no easy feat. In fact, the average e-commerce conversion rate hovers anywhere from 1-4 percent.
So even if you’re crushing it, only a small fraction of people who visit your online store actually make a purchase.
That’s why at Plug in Useful, we focus on creating apps to help you get more potential customers directly to your store and make sure your store runs fast and flawlessly when they get there.
In order to increase your conversion rate and sales, we’re partnering with another great Shopify app called Back In Stock.
Because one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to maximize your conversion rate is to make sure you’re not losing sales on out of stock sizes or products.
Here’s your Complete Guide to Increasing Your Shopify Sales 3x with Back In Stock Alerts. We’ll cover everything from the basics of capturing lost sales on out of stock products, to how to make better inventory decisions, and test demand for new products.
1) How to use Back In Stock alerts to minimize missed sales opportunities
Back In Stock alerts help you avoid lost sales due to inventory shortages so you don’t have to do the hard work of attracting a customer and getting them interested in the product all over again.
If one of your products or a popular color or size is out of stock, but a customer wanted to buy it, you can use Back In Stock to automatically add a button with a message to “notify me when the product is available.”
You can customize the wording and the look and feel so it blends seamlessly into your site. Then when you restock your inventory, Back In Stock will send that customer an email or text message letting them know they can complete their purchase.
So even though you’re not doing any work beyond your normal inventory tracking, you’ve got an app moving the needle on sales for you behind the scenes.
The NASH Collection, a lifestyle brand that embodies love for Nashville, uses Back In Stock alerts across their site and said, “I can’t tell you how excited I am to have installed this app. It’s tripled my online sales… easy!”
For any e-commerce store owner, tripling sales is a big win. So if you have any inventory that tends to sell out, setting up these alerts is a no-brainer.
2) How to make better inventory decisions by analyzing your Back In Stock waitlists
Purchasing new inventory can be risky. Sometimes it feels like trying to predict the future; ordering too much or too little can be costly.
Using Back In Stock alerts means you can lower your inventory risks, and your overhead by introducing your store, or new product line in smaller numbers. Then you simply restock or discontinue based on your waitlist numbers.
If a product has a massive waitlist, you know you can order big. On the other hand, if another product has a short waitlist, you know to continue with smaller orders. If a product has no waitlist and isn’t moving? It’s probably time to think about discounting or discontinuing it.
Go Bloom & Glow uses the Back In Stock app to make better inventory decisions for their K Beauty focused online store.
“I know what products to stock up next, which is definitely a crucial part of the business. It also helps in determining which products to discontinue selling by providing data on which product has the shortest waitlist or none at all.”
So in addition to reducing missed sales, you’re getting valuable insight into the overall demand for your various products.
3) How to use Back In Stock alerts for predictive marketing of new products
What if inventory isn’t really a problem for your Shopify store? Maybe you’re drop shipping, and you don’t have to worry about products selling out.
Even store owners who don’t tend to sell out can benefit from alerts by using them to let customers pre-order new products.
Debuting new products with a “coming soon” message, and using Back In Stock alerts to set up a waitlist is an amazing way to figure out whether a product is a good fit for your store. It’s especially handy for anyone who’s making their own products since you have a big-time and money invested in making a new product.
High-end baking supply store, The Cookie Countess, uses Back In Stock alerts for new products, and says, “We’ve been using Back In Stock for 4+ years… It’s an important part of our customer service… We use it to drive excitement over new products before they launch.”
4) However you decide to use Back In Stock alerts for your store, you can expect results.
Because customers who sign up for Back In Stock alerts were already interested in your product, and ready to make a purchase, the conversion rates on these little automatic texts and email messages are going to be way over your typical 1-4 percent e-commerce conversion rate.
Without it, you’re probably leaving sales on the table.
So whether you tend to run out of stock, or you’re looking for a better way to debut new products, Back In Stock is going to help you boost sales while helping you make more informed inventory decisions.
