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In this article, you'll learn:
- How to determine whether to reorder a product based on waitlist and preauthorization figures.
About Waitlists
Waitlists allow shoppers to express interest in a retailer's sold-out products. By adding a product to their waitlist, shoppers can receive a notification when the retailer restocks the product. It will automatically appear in the shopper's cart, and if the shopper has preauthorized the product, CommentSold will automatically process the order and invoice the shopper.
For retailers, waitlists play a crucial role in reordering. With waitlists, retailers can see the level of demand for a product, the estimated reorder profit, and the number of customers who have pre-authorized the purchase of a waitlisted product. These figures can help retailers determine whether a product is worth reordering and restocking.
How Using Waitlists When Reordering Benefits Your Business
- Assess the risk level of reordering a particular product by viewing the number of shoppers who added the product to their waitlist.
- View the estimated profit your business would earn from restocking the waitlisted product.
- Quickly see the number of shoppers who have preauthorized the immediate purchase of the product once restocked.
View Demand for Waitlisted Products
- Waitlists. This figure represents the number of shoppers who have added the product to their waitlist.
- Is this a high-risk reorder? We consider "high-risk" reorders as those products with a restock minimum that is higher than the number of waitlists and/or waitlist preauthorizations. For example, if you have a product with a minimum reorder of 6, but it's only on three waitlists, this product would be considered high-risk. You'd have remaining stock after waitlisted customers claimed their product, which is not ideal.
- Preauthorized. This figure represents the number of shoppers who have authorized your business to process their order immediately upon restocking the item.
- Is this a low-risk reorder? We consider "low-risk" reorders as those products with a high number of shopper preauthorizations. These customers have committed to purchasing the product, so reordering enough inventory to cover the preauthorized quantity is a safe call.
- Est. Re-Order Profit. This figure represents the estimated profit you would make if you reordered and restocked based on the waitlisted figure.
What if the product has a high number of waitlisted and preauthorized customers? We recommend you order enough to cover the preauthorizations and about half of the non-preauthorized amount. Some waitlisted customers will likely change their minds once you restock the product, and this will help you avoid having excess product in your inventory.
Learn More
- Set Up Waitlists. Learn how to set up and configure your waitlist settings.
- Enable Waitlist Preauthorization. Learn how to enable waitlist preauthorization for your shoppers to approve the immediate purchase of a product once restocked.
- How a Shopper Can Preauthorize Waitlist Items. Learn how shoppers can preauthorize waitlist products to process once restocked.