First Paid First Served changes how CommentSold reserves inventory. When enabled, items added to a shopper's cart are not reserved until the shopper completes payment. The first shopper to pay receives the available inventory.
In this article, you'll learn:
- What First Paid First Served does
- Enable First Paid First Served for All Shoppers
- Enable First Paid First Served for Specific Shoppers
- What Your Shoppers Experience
- Expected Behaviors
- FAQs
What Is First Paid First Served?
First Paid First Served is an inventory setting that prioritizes shoppers who complete checkout first.
Normally, adding an item to a cart can reserve inventory for that shopper. With First Paid First Served enabled, carting an item does not reduce available inventory. Inventory is adjusted when the shopper completes checkout.
This can help:
- Reduce inventory hoarding during live sales.
- Prioritize shoppers who are ready to purchase.
- Improve inventory availability for other shoppers.
- Prevent individual shoppers from repeatedly holding inventory without completing checkout.
Enable First Paid First Served for All Shoppers
You can enable First Paid First Served system-wide meaning this feature will apply to all registered shoppers who cart items.
- Select Setup in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Select Shop in the menu at the top of the page.
- In the Selling Preferences section on the right side of the page, locate Enable First Paid First Served.
- Select the toggle to appear as Enabled.
- If desired, enable the Disable Cart Timers setting.
- If enabled, shoppers will not see a cart expiration countdown on the webstore and mobile app.
- Additionally, products will remain in their shopping cart until removed by either your team or the shopper.
Enable First Paid First Served for Specific Shoppers
If you have specific shoppers who have a tendency to cart and horde inventory without completing the checkout process, then you may choose to enable First Paid First Served for that specific shopper.
The shopper would still be able to cart items, however, CommentSold would not reserve those products for that customer. They would need to check out to ensure they receive the products, but inventory isn't guaranteed if the product sells out before then.
- Select Customers in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Locate the shopper record and select the three dots to the left of their name, then select Customer Details.
- Locate and select the Enable Forced First Paid First Serve Mode toggle so it appears as Enabled.
- Confirm your action by selecting Enabled on the confirmation pop-up.
If you wish to filter your customer records to show those shoppers with Forced First Paid First Served enabled, select the Filter button at the top of the customer listing, then select the Forced First Paid First Serve Enabled checkbox.
What Your Shoppers Experience
If you enable First Paid First Served, then shoppers will see a message in their cart warning them that items are not held until checkout is completed.
If the product is in stock when they attempt to check out, they'll see the normal Thank you for your order! banner.
If the product is no longer in stock when they attempt to check out, they will see a message informing them that the item has been added to their waitlist.
Expected Behaviors
Here's how inventory and cart behaviors are affected by this setting;
- Carted items show as “not reserved.”
- Inventory is not adjusted when items are carted by the customer, only after checkout. The first customers to checkout, get the item. Because of this, you may see the item carted more than the available inventory. The item stays in the customer’s cart until it is paid for or it expires from the cart.
- Inventory is adjusted if items are carted for the customer by an admin or team member.
- When restocked, waitlist items are carted/order created for pre-authorized customers.
- When restocked, waitlist items are not carted for customers that did not pre-authorize and these customers will not be automatically notified the item is back in stock. You can notify customers of restocked items via email.
- For customers with First Paid First Served enabled at the customer level (See "Enable First Paid First Served for Specific Shoppers"
below);- Cart expirations will not show on the website or mobile app, however their shopping cart will expire at the end of the expiration window.
- CommentSold will not automatically add restocked products to the customer's cart if the item is waitlisted.
- You have 1 pair of large denim shorts left in stock.
- Shopper A and Shopper B both cart the same pair of denim shorts.
- Both receive a notice on their cart page that the item isn't reserved. (see “What the customer sees in their cart”)
- Shopper A pays for the item.
- Shopper B will still see the item in their cart until they attempt checkout.
- At checkout, Shopper B will see the option to waitlist and will see the option to pre-authorize (if enabled).
- You add 15 denim shorts in large to stock.
- Your waitlist for that item in that size has 20 people on it.
- 3 of those customers pre-authorized that item.
- 17 of those customers did not pre-authorize that item.
- ONLY the 3 customers that pre-authorized that item will have it carted and their card will be processed, creating an order.
- The remaining 17 customers on the waitlist will not have the item carted for them.
FAQs
Does First Paid First Served reserve inventory when a shopper adds an item to their cart?
No. Inventory is not reserved or reduced when a shopper carts an item. The inventory is adjusted when the item is purchased.
Who gets an item when multiple shoppers have it in their carts?
The first shopper to successfully complete payment receives the available inventory.
Can multiple shoppers cart the same item?
Yes. Because carted inventory is not reserved, multiple shoppers can have the same item in their carts.
Can I use First Paid First Served for only one shopper?
Yes. Enable Forced First Paid First Serve Mode from that shopper's Customer Details page.
Do cart timers still appear with First Paid First Served?
By default, cart timers can still appear. If you enable Disable Cart Timers, shoppers will not see the countdown timer on the webstore or mobile app.
For shoppers with Forced First Paid First Serve Mode enabled at the customer level, cart expiration timers are not displayed, although the cart can still expire.
Does First Paid First Served affect admin-carted items?
Yes, but differently. When an admin or team member carts an item for a customer, inventory is adjusted normally.
What happens to waitlisted shoppers when an item is restocked?
Only shoppers who pre-authorized the item have it automatically carted and processed when qualifying inventory is restocked. Other waitlisted shoppers are not automatically carted or notified.
Why aren't all waitlisted shoppers automatically given a restocked item?
First Paid First Served is designed to prioritize shoppers who are ready to purchase. Automatically carting the item for shoppers who did not pre-authorize it would remove that incentive.
Can I turn First Paid First Served on and off?
Yes, but repeatedly switching the setting can cause inventory issues. CommentSold recommends keeping the setting consistently enabled or disabled.