The Out-of-Stock Problem and How to approach it to save Black Friday
The countdown to Black Friday is officially on and fashion retailers are gearing up for one of the biggest shopping events of the year. Black Friday – will take place on Friday November 26, 2021-, it is an opportunity for fashion e-commerce. However, Black Friday 2021 and the holiday season could be marred by out-of-stock goods.
But… How to win more sales with out of stock pages? At Wide Eyes we have got the solution. Read on!
Why will Black Friday 2021 be different?
While consumers’ appetite for shopping remains strong, fashion retailers have struggled with a number of supply chain difficulties. The problems of distribution of raw materials plus the shipping crisis are disrupting supply chains of the fashion industry.
The problems have prompted concern over getting enough merchandise to stores in time for the holiday season. So, the out-of-stock is presenting itself as the great threat to Black Friday 2021 Success.
Consequently, a few retailers have already said they expect to offer fewer discounts and deals because of tighter inventory. This will probably be the most expensive Black Friday yet.
Black Friday shopping bummer: Out-of-stock products
There is less than three weeks to go until the official Black Friday date and the fashion supply chain issue has become a tangible reality. If you are shopping online chances are you may have been hit with an unfortunate message: The product you’re looking for is out-of-stock. This can result in frustration. can’t it? It has happened to me too.
How to approach Out-of-Stock to save Black Friday
In the short term, the supply problems are very difficult to improve. So, we agree that the out-to-stock products could negatively impact this Black Friday, and also, to customer shopping experience and loyalty.
Similar Product Recommendation may be the best solution to avoiding out-of-stock frustration for your customers and therefore decrease shopping cart abandonment. By suggesting similar (and available) products to shoppers, retailers are solving out-of-stock problems automatically and helping shoppers find alternative products that really match their needs seamlessly.
How does Similar Recommendation work?
The Wide Eyes’ Similar Recommendation system provides the most similar products to the one the customer is viewing directly from the catalogue, taking into account the visual fashion related aspects of the product.The Wide Eyes’ system integrates a real-time filter functionality allowing retailers to personalize the results for every shopper (size, brand style, etc.) and also to adapt results to business rules (price range, campaigns, stock by country, area, store, etc.).
Best Practices For Black Friday 2021 | Set up a Similar Recommendation System to solve out-to-stock automatically
Let’s give an example. Imagine that you discover a cool dress on Instagram. But once you enter the product page, your size is sold out. Don’t panic! Our AI technology will read the attributes of this product and generate options with similar colours, form, patterns and prints based on your size and filtered preferences where applicable. The twist? Users will know you are not wasting your time. Why? The Wide Eyes similar recommendation engine offers in real-time all similar items are in stock at the moment of shopping.
Conclusion…
In high-impact campaigns like Black Friday, the similar recommendation system is essential to solve out-to-stock automatically, offering users visually in-stock similar products as alternatives. Any shopper will quickly become frustrated and look elsewhere if they can’t find what they’re looking for in a matter of a glimpse. Wanna talk?
