As a customer, there is nothing more frustrating than finding an item you love only to realize the store doesn’t have your size in stock. For example, we have all found ourselves going through discount racks and finding several items that we love, only to realize they are all size XXL. You finally give up and leave the store empty handed.
As a merchant, this scenario is the last thing you want your customers to experience, in store or online. This type of problem is occurring in all types of categories- not just discount sections. Valuable merchandising spots on eCommerce stores are being occupied by popular products that only have available stock in extended sizes or unpopular patterns. Often, in the eCommerce world, the digital merchandiser is not aware of this issue, since they only see the overall product to be in stock. The merchandiser might not notice the undesirable inventory levels until they see the conversion rate for that product has plummeted. Once this has happened, it is already too late. You have missed out on potential sales and you have frustrated valuable customers.
Take the example of a shoe that is sold in white, tan and a summer floral pattern. The shoe is a really hot sell for the summer in all three colors and has been positioned in a prime spot on the eCommerce site since it is almost a guarantee conversion. Going into the fall season, all of the white and tan items have been sold out of all sizes except size 15. Conversion rates drop for this shoe in the next week as many users clicked on the item hoping to purchase out of stock sizes.
Issue: Tracking inventory not only by color but also by the sizes for each color.
Solution: Colorways on Smart Merchandiser allows digital merchandisers to see the inventories listed by color and the sizes available in that color. This gives the merchandiser the power to know when an item is no longer going to be a valuable product to feature and should be moved to the bottom of the page.
