Back In Stock Alerts

877.362.4556 | www.listrak.com
BACK IN STOCK
ALERTS
Save the Sale and Boost Your Subscriber Base
Having a customer make it all the way
to checkout only to discover that the
product she intended to purchase is
out of stock is disappointing to both
the shopper and you, the retailer. But
you don’t want to remove out of stock
items from your website that could
potentially capture shopper interest
and result in future purchases.
Inventory is undoubtedly a major
challenge for retailers. Say, for instance,
you’re selling a slingback pump.
That one shoe may come in...
14
different sizes
4
different widths
2
different colors
That’s a total of 112 different SKUs. It’s not surprising that each year retailers lose an estimated $93 billion in sales due to out of
stock inventory, but with Back in Stock Alerts, you can turn that out of stock experience into an opportunity for email
acquisition, customer engagement, recouping of lost revenue, and ultimately, increased sales.
In short, Back in Stock Alerts are a highly effective remarketing tactic that will increase customer lifetime value. What’s more,
we’ve seen Back in Stock Alerts provide as much as a six dollar return per email sent.
How do they work?
A Back in Stock Alert product automatically notifies a customer when her desired product is back in stock. And in the event that
restocking is delayed or the product becomes discontinued, an automated email is sent to the customer with personalized
content, giving you the opportunity to convert more customers.
The obvious benefit is that the alert can save sales. Rather than deciding not to purchase at all, or worse, jumping to a
competitor’s site to purchase the same or a similar item, the Back in Stock Alert keeps the shopper on your site.
In its most basic application, a Back in
Stock product works like this:
When a customer attempts to complete a
purchase of an out of stock item, a message
appears offering the option to sign up to be
notified when the product is back in stock.
A modal popup or lightbox then appears,
requesting the shopper’s email address.
Then, when the product is back in stock, the
shopper automatically receives an email with a
call to action making it simple to return to your
site and complete the purchase.
With Back in Stock Alerts, not only is the shopper anticipating the email and therefore very likely to open it, she is also very likely
to complete the purchase and perhaps even purchase something else. Our clients have seen open and read rates greater than
35% and click through and conversion rates of 25% or more.
But the benefit of Back in Stock Alerts doesn’t end there.
Email acquisition
A Back in Stock Alerts product provides a great
opportunity to collect additional email addresses to boost
your subscriber base. Now, you can continue to engage
new subscribers with relevant content, as well as boost
your reachable rate for other solutions such as Shopping
emails = revenue
MORE
MORE
Cart Recovery.
In addition to now being able to
reach subscribers acquired from a
Back in Stock Alerts product with
marketing campaigns such as
welcome series, daily or weekly email
blasts, loyalty and shopping cart
recovery, you can engage them with
a nurturing campaign and possibly
prompt additional sales while waiting
for the out of stock item to come
back in stock.
Inventory Insight
Another added benefit of having a Back in Stock
Alerts program is that it can be used as a tool to
improve your inventory management as well as
increase sales. Your Back in Stock Alerts dashboard
reporting can be used to help identify the brands
and SKUs your customers want most and to
prevent future losses due to out of stock products.
The Back In Stock Alerts dashboard may
also serve as a valuable tool to inform
crowdsource demand planning. For those
retailers who stock based on customer
interest, the product allows them to track
the products customers are most interested
in, as well as how many customers are
interested, so they may reorder accurately
to avoid both under- and over-stocking. By
implementing Back in Stock Alerts, retailers
have a feedback loop with their customers
that helps them better understand the
present demand for out of stock products
and that can turn a potentially negative
customer experience into a positive one.
Back in Stock Alert Best Practices
A few simple best practices should be followed to
optimize Back in Stock Alerts:
Apologize in your popup message and don’t
be afraid to be creative.
Until the product comes back in stock, keep
the customer engaged with a nurturing
campaign and consider recommending
alternative products.
Make it simple to complete the purchase
when the out of stock item comes back in
stock. The Back in Stock Alert should remind
the customer of her request to be notified,
include an image and product details and
feature a prominent call to action with a link
that takes her directly to an online shopping
cart pre-loaded with the item.
Create a sense of urgency and avoid potential
customer frustration by noting that supplies
are limited so action should be taken quickly.
Use the Back in Stock Alert as an opportunity
to showcase additional personalized
recommendations that may also capture the
customer’s interest.
About Listrak
Listrak offers a single, integrated digital marketing platform providing omnichannel solutions for retailers. The company’s
retail-specific solution suite is powered by a comprehensive data hub of 360-degree shopper insights that allow retailers to
create personalized campaigns across all customer touchpoints to drive incremental revenue and ROI. Listrak is solely
focused on the retail industry and is uniquely qualified to help retailers optimize digital marketing campaigns by engaging
customers with timely, relevant, personalized, shoppable messages across all channels, including email, mobile, social, web
and stores. Listrak has more than a decade of digital marketing experience and works with leading U.S. retailers, including
Deb Shops, Waterford, Spiegel, The Grommet and La-Z-Boy. For more information, visit www.listrak.com.
877.362.4556 | www.listrak.com