This episode uncovers a critical Shopify mistake: displaying bestsellers as available when desired sizes are out of stock, leading to lost sales. It emphasizes the importance of accurate inventory visibility and merchandising strategies, especially for peak seasons like Black Friday and Christmas, to prevent customer frustration and wasted ad spend. Ecommerce operators will learn how to identify and rectify such issues to maximize conversions and profitability.
Key takeaways
Regularly audit your product pages to ensure all listed variations (e.g., sizes, colors) are accurately reflected as in-stock or out-of-stock, especially for bestsellers.
Prioritize clear inventory visibility for customers to avoid misleading them into thinking a product is available when their desired option is not, which can lead to abandonment.
Before increasing ad spend, verify your merchandising and stock levels to ensure you are driving traffic to products that are genuinely available and conversion-ready.
Investigate past sales data to identify products that frequently sold out or had high demand for specific variants, using this insight for future stock planning and merchandising optimization.
Educate your ecommerce team on the impact of stock discrepancies on sales and customer experience, fostering a culture of vigilant inventory management and product page accuracy.
Consider using AI tools to analyze business data for deeper insights into stock performance and customer demand, but ensure human oversight for decision-making.
Your bestsellers can look available while the sizes your customers want are sold out. We made that mistake in our own Shopify bedding business, with replacement products available further down the collection pages.
Want help identifying what is holding back growth in your ecommerce business? Apply to work with the Hammersley Brothers:
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In this episode, Mark and Ian explain what happened and discuss the stock, merchandising and advertising decisions to review before Black Friday and Christmas trading.
We cover why selling out is not always a success, when spending more on advertising makes little sense, and how to investigate products you could have sold more of last year.
We also discuss avoiding panic hires, helping your ecommerce team understand what matters, and using AI to analyse business data without handing over the decisions.
Subscribe for practical ecommerce conversations about sales, margins and profitable growth. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/apply-now/ 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book
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What does this episode say about shopify & ecommerce platforms?
Regularly audit your product pages to ensure all listed variations (e.g., sizes, colors) are accurately reflected as in-stock or out-of-stock, especially for bestsellers.
What does this episode say about conversion & cro?
Prioritize clear inventory visibility for customers to avoid misleading them into thinking a product is available when their desired option is not, which can lead to abandonment.
What does this episode say about product & merchandising?
Before increasing ad spend, verify your merchandising and stock levels to ensure you are driving traffic to products that are genuinely available and conversion-ready.
What does this episode say about supply chain & operations?
Investigate past sales data to identify products that frequently sold out or had high demand for specific variants, using this insight for future stock planning and merchandising optimization.
What does this episode say about shopify & ecommerce platforms?
Educate your ecommerce team on the impact of stock discrepancies on sales and customer experience, fostering a culture of vigilant inventory management and product page accuracy.
