Back in Stock and Pre-Orders
Tell Shoppers When It Is Back, and Sell Before It Arrives
A sold-out product is demand waiting. Mercayo asks shoppers if they want to hear when it is back, tells each of them once when it is, lets you sell the next batch before it arrives, and warns your team before the shelf is empty.
- In every plan
- Free for 14 days
Kosha is a demo store on Mercayo. Its products, orders and customers are sample data.
In short
What It Does
Back in Stock
When a variant is sold out, its product page asks the shopper for an email address or a mobile number to hear when it is back. Then:
- The moment the variant comes back in stock (you add stock, or stop counting it), Mercayo notes it.
- Within minutes, each waiting shopper gets one message, oldest request first: an email with the item, its picture, its price and SHOP NOW to its page.
- The request is marked as told and its contact is removed. If the item sells out again, the shopper can ask again.
- A request nobody could answer is closed after the days you keep requests (180 to start with), and its contact removed.
Requests left with a mobile number are answered on WhatsApp, with the item's photo and a SHOP NOW button. Back-in-stock messages on WhatsApp are WhatsApp Marketing: included on Growth and Scale, an add-on on Starter; without it, such a request is held back and the log says why.
Back-in-Stock Requests (under Products, and BACK IN STOCK on Inventory) shows shoppers waiting, items asked for, being told now and told in the last 30 days; tabs Waiting, Told and All; the most wanted items first; and one item's requests in a side sheet, with contacts masked for people without the customers right. REMOVE forgets a shopper who asks.
Pre-orders
On a product, the card Pre-Order and Back in Stock lets you sell a variant before it arrives: switch on the pre-order, set a ship-by date (up to a year ahead) and, if you like, a limit on units. Every pre-ordered unit is counted: the stock goes below zero (units owed), and stock that arrives pays those back first.
Shoppers see PRE-ORDER instead of ADD TO BAG and "Pre-order · ships by 12 Nov" on the product page; the bag, checkout, the order's emails, the GST invoice and the admin's order page all carry the ship-by date.
The Low-stock Email
When a counted variant falls to your running-low mark (the same one Home and Inventory use) or sells out, your team gets one email listing what is low or out, with OPEN INVENTORY, at most once every 24 hours to start with. It goes to the people who get the order emails.
For your store
Why It Matters
A shopper who leaves an email on a sold-out product has told you they want to buy. Answering them the day it is back is the easiest sale you will make; never answering is a lost customer who now thinks your store forgets.
Pre-orders turn a new drop or a restock on its way into sales and cash today, with an honest date, and the counts make sure you never promise more than you will receive.
And the low-stock email gives a small team time to reorder before a best seller sells out, instead of finding out from the requests.
Step by step
How It Works
Keep Requests On
Sold-out items ask shoppers to be told (on to start with, Settings → Product Page). The message itself is Back in stock message in Settings → Notifications, with PREVIEW and SEND TEST TO ME.
Restock as Usual
Adjust stock on Inventory, import it, or receive a transfer. Mercayo notices the variant is back and the next run tells every waiting shopper once.
See What Shoppers Want
Open Back in Stock under Products: the most wanted items first, and who is waiting for each.
Open a Pre-Order
On a product, in Pre-Order and Back in Stock, switch on the pre-order for a variant, set the ship-by date and a limit, and SAVE PRE-ORDERS.
Get Warned Before You Run Out
Keep Email when stock runs low on (Settings → Notifications), and set how often at most.
Your shoppers
What Your Shoppers See
On a sold-out option, a short "Tell me when it is back" field. When it is back, one email with the item and a button to it. For a pre-order, a PRE-ORDER button and the date it ships by, repeated in the bag, checkout and their order.
Settings
Settings You Control
Each one is in your admin. A new store starts with the value shown.
Mercayo
Mercayo's Controls
Every setting here can be forced or limited by Mercayo for a store, with a reason your admin shows; switching pre-orders off ends every open pre-order at once. Demo stores never send the low-stock email, and demo requests are marked told without a message.
Limits today
Good to Know Before You Start
- Requests left with a mobile number are answered on WhatsApp, not by SMS; on Starter that needs the WhatsApp Marketing add-on.
- Product cards in lists do not show a pre-order badge.
- One message per request: shoppers are not reminded again if they do not buy.
Questions
About Back in Stock and Pre-Orders
Is each shopper told only once?
Yes, one message per request. If the item sells out again, they can ask again.
What if I restock only a few units?
Every waiting shopper is told, oldest request first; the first to come buy them. Requests keep waiting only when the item is sold out again before the message goes.
Can I see who is waiting?
Yes, per item in Back in Stock, with contacts masked for staff without the customers right.
How do pre-orders affect stock?
Each pre-ordered unit is counted, so stock goes below zero as units are owed, and stock that arrives pays them back first. A limit stops sales at the number you set.
Does the GST invoice show the pre-order date?
Yes, the ship-by date is written on the order's lines, its emails and its invoice.
Who gets the low-stock email?
The people who get your order emails: the owner (if switched on) and the extra addresses you set.
Related
Related Features
- InventorySee on hand, held for orders and available for every variant, adjust with a reason, read the full stock history, and never sell what you do not have.
- Product PagesPhotos that zoom, options that never guess, delivery dates by PIN code, a buy bar that follows and rows of related products, on every product.
- Order EmailsShoppers get order emails in your store's name and colours, from placed to delivered; you switch each on or off, preview it and change its words.
- Order AlertsAn email for each new order to the owner and up to 5 more addresses, an optional SMS, and the admin's bell listing new orders, failed deliveries and exchanges.
More in Marketing and Reviews: Product Reviews · Questions and Answers · Abandoned Bag Reminders · Subscribers, Popups and Floating Buttons · Cross-Sell Rows · Product Feeds · Push Notifications and Recent Purchases
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