Out of Stock on Your Best Seller

Why this page matters more than the others

A best seller is usually also the page that brings the most people to the site.

It ranks, it gets linked to, and it is what people search for by name.

So when it sells out, a substantial share of all incoming traffic lands on a page offering nothing.

That page is now the most important one on the site, and on most sites it says out of stock and stops.

What not to do

• Delete the page, producing an error.
• Redirect everybody to the home page.
• Hide it so links from elsewhere break.
• Show the button and fail at checkout.
• Say nothing about when it returns.

The second is the most common and loses the most. Somebody who searched for a specific item and lands on a home page has to start their search again, and most do not.

Say when, or say never

Since the absence of an answer is what sends people elsewhere.

Where you know a date, state it, even approximately: back in early December.

Where you do not know, say that plainly rather than leaving it blank, since a visitor assumes the worst either way.

Where it is not returning before Christmas, say that specifically, because it turns hesitation into a decision to consider something else.

And where it is discontinued, say so, which is the case people most want to know and are least often told.

Anything is better than a page that simply says unavailable, which answers nothing and offers nothing.

Recommend two, with reasons

The part that keeps the customer, and it has to be written rather than generated.

Automatic related-item widgets produce whatever shares a category, which a visitor recognises immediately as not a recommendation.

Choose two genuine alternatives yourself and say why each is close: this one is the same size and a different finish, this one is cheaper and does the same job.

Two is better than eight, since a wall of options is another decision and the visitor came for a decision already made.

Name the difference honestly, including where the alternative is worse in some respect, which is what makes the recommendation credible.

That paragraph is written once per major line and reused whenever it sells out, so the work does not recur.

A worked example

A shop sold out of its main line in late November, which accounted for a large share of site traffic.

The page showed an out of stock label and nothing else, and traffic to it continued at the same rate for weeks.

They rewrote it: a line saying it would not return before Christmas, two named alternatives with a sentence each explaining the difference, and a notification box.

A meaningful share of visitors to that page went on to buy one of the two alternatives.

The notification list collected several hundred addresses, which produced a strong first week when stock returned in January.

Nothing about the traffic had changed, only what the page did with it.

The notification list is the asset

And it is frequently the most valuable thing produced by a stockout.

Collect an address with one field, on the page, with no other commitment attached.

Say what they are signing up for and that it is only about this item, since a suspicion of being added to a newsletter reduces uptake considerably.

Then actually send it, promptly, when stock returns, which is the part that gets forgotten and which turns the list into nothing.

Send it before announcing the return anywhere else, which rewards the people who waited and produces a concentrated first day.

Keep the list separate from your general mailing list unless people opted into that too.

Consider a preorder or a waitlist

Where the return date is known and reliable.

Taking payment now for a stated later dispatch converts the traffic immediately rather than hoping people come back.

It also tells you real demand, which is better information than a notification list for deciding how much to reorder.

Be explicit about the dispatch date and what happens if it slips, since a preorder is a promise and the obligations are real.

Where the date is uncertain, a notification list is safer, since a missed preorder date in December is considerably worse than a lost sale.

Fix the upstream signals

So the page is not the only thing doing this work.

Remove the item from featured positions, banners, and any advertising, since paying for clicks to a sold-out page is a direct loss.

Check whether it still appears in any product feed, which will keep sending people and may generate warnings from the platform.

Move it down category listings rather than removing it, so it remains findable without being the first thing anybody sees.

And check your search results on site, since a sold-out item appearing first for its own name is reasonable and appearing first for a general term is not.

Keep it out of the search results if it is gone

A distinction between temporarily out and permanently gone.

A page for something returning in three weeks should stay exactly as it is, indexed and findable, since the traffic is about to be worth something again.

A page for something discontinued is different: it will keep collecting people who cannot buy, indefinitely, and each one has to be redirected somewhere useful.

Leave it live for a season with the alternatives on it, then redirect it to the closest replacement rather than to a category or the home page.

Deciding which of the two situations applies is the step that gets skipped, and it is the difference between a page worth keeping and one quietly costing you visitors.

The counter-case

Sometimes the honest answer is a short one.

For a small line with little traffic, an out of stock label and a return date is sufficient, and elaborate treatment is effort misplaced.

Aggressive substitution can also read as pushy at the moment somebody is disappointed, and the tone matters more here than usual.

And where the alternative is genuinely not comparable, saying so and offering the notification is more honest than recommending something that will disappoint.

Keep the page, say when it returns, name two alternatives with reasons, and collect addresses.

What to do

1. Keep the page and its address.
2. Say when it returns, or that it does not.
3. Name two alternatives with reasons.
4. Say honestly how each differs.
5. Collect notifications with one field.
6. Remove it from advertising and features.
7. Send the notification before announcing elsewhere.

Step three is what keeps the visitor, and it has to be written by somebody who knows the products rather than generated from a category.

Offering something different once an order exists is covered in substituting a product without losing trust.

Frequently asked questions

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.