You spend years building your business to attract customers and finally start seeing the numbers.
But something unprecedented happens — you receive more orders than you expected.
As a result, your website crashes or your stock is not enough to fulfil the order.
How do you prepare for and manage large e-commerce order volumes?
Experience is the best teacher. That’s why we’ve asked some experts to share their tips.
By the end of this blog, you’ll know how to manage and fulfil high-order volumes like a pro.
Let’s get started.
Also, check out these e-commerce SMS templates.
What does unprecedented e-commerce order volume mean?
Over the past few years, everything has gone digital. More people now prefer to buy online than going to physical stores.
This means that what people use, wear, and even eat they mostly buy online — especially during festive seasons or after a very successful marketing campaign.
The surge in demand for e-commerce services means e-commerce shops, like you, can be hit with more orders than ever before.
So, how can you match this high surge in demand when it happens without losing customers?
4 expert tips for handling unexpected surges in orders
These experts have experienced their fair share of surges in order volume. Here’s what they had to say about handling it.
1. Prepare your website for peak traffic
Our first expert tip comes from Leonardo Pizarro – Head of Demand Generation at Lunio.
Pizarro says, “So many websites go down every year because the sites cannot cope with the traffic. Ensure your website gets prepared to support and convert spikes in demand.”
“Even a 1-second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions,” Pizarro warns.
Ensure your website is ready to handle an unexpected surge of customers. Especially close to festive seasons or just before you launch a marketing campaign.
Your tech team is the best one to help you with this.
But if you’re a one–person business, you can speak with your hosting company to improve your website server capacity. Or just hire a tech agency or freelancer.
2. Ensure you have dependable suppliers
Your website or app may not crash to a surge in demand. But if you don’t have the supplies to meet the new high demand for your product, your website is fast for nothing.
Blake Jones – Digital Marketing Executive at Alpha Repricer, shares his thoughts.
“You can easily harm your efforts to carry out an effective inventory management system if you have an unreliable supplier.”
Can your current supplier(s) keep up with an onslaught of customers? If they can’t, it might be time to switch suppliers.
If you have an unexpected increase in demand, can your supplier live up to the task?
If you can’t say a big YES, it’s time to start scouting for new supplies.
Just to be on the safe side, have a list of back-up suppliers that you can use to fulfil demands when your main supplier(s) can not.
3. Use SMS marketing
SMS marketing is the new kid on the block.
With an open rate of over 98%, SMS is the best way to keep your customers updated on sales, offers, and order details.
With SMS, you can resolve customer complaints and provide relevant information to them during high demands.
Swift and effective resolution to customer queries means less backlog of complaints. And an easier shopping experience for your customers.
A surge in traffic can also lead to increased abandoned carts. Automated messages can help you get your customers to check out abandoned carts.
Zaujan Baig, a performance marketer at Moglix Business, sums it up.
“SMS reminders together can be helpful for cart abandonment reminders for higher profits. They will remind the audience about the items they have abandoned in the cart and encourage them to return to checkout.”
The best ways to use SMS for your e-commerce business during peak season in your e-commerce business are:
- Send SMS reminders to customers to clear their carts
- Use SMS as a point of contact between you and your customers
- Use SMS to keep customers updated on delivery details
- Send SMS notifications about restocked items
Using a trusted bulk SMS platform such as SMSCountry is vital for the growth of your e-commerce business during peak season.
4. Learn from the past
Nabil Malouli, VP of Global E-commerce DHL, has some wise words to share.
“Review last year’s successes and failures, and use them as a benchmark for making this year a complete success,” says Nabil.
Return to the drawing board and look at the numbers from last year’s peak season. How many customers did you record?
How many items did you sell?
How efficient was your delivery? How about your website and app?
What went wrong in every step of your customer’s journey, and how can you fix these problems this year?
Examine your competitor’s behaviours during last year’s peak season to develop an even more successful plan.
Decide which strategies you can put in place.
Also, learn how to stay ahead of your e-commerce competitors.
Handle your e-commerce orders with SMSCountry
There you have it. These 4 expert tips will help you prepare for and manage your online orders.
No matter the season, SMS can help you manage unprecedented e-commerce order volumes.
With a trusted bulk SMS platform like SMSCountry, managing your business is easier on all levels.
SMSCountry has got you covered, whether you need to resolve a customer complaint or keep your customers up-to-date on their order status. Visit SMSCountry and sign up for free. You can also get a free demo to understand how SMSCountry can help you delight your online shoppers.
