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In this fast-paced world of dtc brands, where every customer expects speedy and seamless transactions, inventory management assumes an extremely high mantle. Overselling-cancelling situations arise when an e-commerce store sells a product more than it has in stock. Such instances are frustrating for the customers, who sometimes cancel orders, defeat the purposes of brand reputation, etc. Luckily, with the introduction of inventory synchronization apps, e-commerce businesses have found a solution to balance the scale against this huge problem. In this blog, we will talk about what inventory syncing is about, how it works, and how it provides the effect of helping you succeed in your business by preventing overselling.
Overselling brings a lot of damage to e-commerce businesses. It occurs when your retail platform does not depict true inventory levels, so you end up selling out of stock products to your customers. Orders get canceled, delayed, solicitudes occur, and, most importantly, customers are frustrated and will probably shop elsewhere. In fact, a survey by Salesforce revealed that 79% of consumers would not return to a retailer due to an out-of-stock experience.
The consequences of overselling extend far beyond the financial aspects. The negative experiences of your customers can haunt your brand's reputation and loyalty for a long time to come. With social media now in the air, it takes no time for unhappy customers to put in place a time bomb that can become a public relations nightmare. And this becomes an even bigger issue for sellers who sell on multiple platforms, such as Shopify, Amazon, and eBay, where inventory discrepancies become more problematic.
With the rise of multi-channel retailing, inventory management has become increasingly complex. Today’s e-commerce businesses are often selling across several different platforms simultaneously, each with its own inventory system. Keeping track of stock levels manually across these different channels is a herculean task—and one mistake could lead to overselling.
This is where inventory syncing comes in. Inventory syncing apps connect your various sales channels and synchronize stock levels in real-time, ensuring that all platforms reflect accurate, up-to-date inventory data. This automation not only prevents overselling but also reduces manual errors, streamlines operations, and improves customer satisfaction.
Inventory syncing apps track and update your stock levels in real-time. They send stock that you have in a physical location or warehouse automatically to your e-commerce platform complete with updates in quantities whether a product is sold, restocked, or even returned. Some may also connect with other third-party apps including those for shipping, accounting, or order fulfillment, creating a unified inventory ecosystem.
By syncing stock levels across all sales channels, they guarantee that, at the customer level, out-of-stock merchandise cannot be bought. That way, they offer consistent customer experiences, take care of overselling, and allow for product maximization.
Shopify is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms that is not spared from the problem of overselling. Merchants use the platform to sell products through online stores, social media, and physical retail outlets. A mismanaged stock inventory leads to inadvertent overselling.
There are a few key reasons why overselling happens on Shopify:
Overselling does lead to customer frustration, as products appear "out of stock" after an order has been placed. When customers receive emails stating their order has been cancelled, they are often left fuming, and their ire may put your reputation in jeopardy. A study suggests that almost 70% of customers will not return to a retailer again after a negative experience, while over 60% of your customers will abandon their purchases due tothe unavailability of stocks.
Continuous overselling can also affect your ratings on marketplaces where you sell such as Shopify and Amazon and can also lead to fines and loss of trust.
When you're multi-channel selling, tracking inventory manually becomes nearly impossible. If selling on Shopify, eBay, Amazon, and other marketplaces, stock updates need to happen across all channels in real-time. Otherwise, one sale on one platform may lead to stock-out or overselling statuses on another.
The software tools built for syncing Inventory were designed to track and update stock on sale channels, developed to promote efficient operations of sales online and in person. They do this:
Whenever a sale or a stock movement occurs across any of these platforms, stock levels are updated immediately. If a sold product goes back to stock, the inventory count is automatically updated on every platform.
Inventory syncing apps have a connection with various sales channels like Shopify and Amazon, reflecting the inventory data everywhere at a given time. That way, consistency and accuracy are preserved amongst various selling platforms, reducing the chances of overselling or stockouts.
Some advanced syncing apps offer stock buffer management, or something similar, keeping a certain quantity of products aside - out of range of saleable stock - so that periods of high demand do not cause overselling. Stock management protection provides for errors and delays in stock updates.
Inventory syncing apps often integrate with order fulfillment systems, providing a seamless flow of data from the moment a product is sold to when it is shipped. This integration ensures that your stock levels are consistently updated to reflect both sales and returns, helping to prevent overselling.
Inventory syncing apps come with a variety of features to streamline inventory management:
Using inventory syncing apps provides several key benefits:
With accurate stock levels, your business can avoid lost sales due to overselling, maximizing revenue and customer satisfaction.
A seamless and accurate inventory system ensures that customers won’t encounter out-of-stock products or canceled orders, leading to a positive shopping experience and better customer retention.
Automation reduces the need for manual inventory tracking, freeing up time for you and your team to focus on other aspects of the business.
Syncing apps provide historical data, helping you better understand demand trends and plan inventory restocks more effectively.
By minimizing stockouts and overselling, inventory syncing helps businesses better manage cash flow by ensuring that money is not tied up in dead stock or lost sales.
Here are some best practices for getting the most out of your inventory sync app:
Inventory syncing is an essential tool for any e-commerce business looking to prevent overselling, improve customer experience, and streamline operations. Inventory syncing apps minimize the risks of overselling and help improve profitability, as they keep stock levels updated in real time across all sales channels.
You can kick things off by properly evaluating what you need and finding an app that works seamlessly with your e-commerce platform, offers real-time syncing, and has handy features like low-stock alerts and historical data tracking. You will be ensuring long-term growth and success for your business by investing in the right inventory syncing app.
Emma Johnson is celebrated for her strategic brilliance and innovative flair. By seamlessly blending creativity with data-driven insights, she has propelled Loop’s brand to new heights, establishing it as a formidable force in the Shopify Subscriptions space.
