We do a lot of drop-shipping and don't keep track of inventory on our store, so we were wondering how everyone in the CS-Cart community deals with receiving a multi-product order, and one item is not in stock?
Are you manually editing the orders and refunding customers afterwards?
Is there a back order system that allows you to add the item to a back order system for the customer?
I think it depends on how you do your payments and your business processes.
If you capture at time of order, then managing it as a back-ordered item and simply shipping it when it comes in stock works well (obviously customer communication is key here).
If you authorize only you have a couple of options.
1) delete the item from the order and deduct that item amount (and any adjusted shipping cost) from the order when you capture the funds.
2) Capture all but that item's funds and then re- auth/capture the funds when you can ship the item (assuming your payment provider will allow you to perform another auth/capture without customer approval).
I think it depends on how you do your payments and your business processes.
If you capture at time of order, then managing it as a back-ordered item and simply shipping it when it comes in stock works well (obviously customer communication is key here).
If you authorize only you have a couple of options.
1) delete the item from the order and deduct that item amount (and any adjusted shipping cost) from the order when you capture the funds.
2) Capture all but that item's funds and then re- auth/capture the funds when you can ship the item (assuming your payment provider will allow you to perform another auth/capture without customer approval).
Thanks tbirnseth. It's nice to hear what other people are doing in cases like these.
We use Paypal as our payment processor, so it's an instant payment. I figured there might be a different way of dealing with Items that are not in stock and that the customer paid for already, but I appreciate what you said about "customer communication". We tend to forget that most people are understanding and will work with us.
I would be nice for CS-Cart to add a back-order system that we could add/remove items from for customer orders, though.
You can always edit the order. Given you use paypal, you would have to go to their site to issue a partial refund.
I just don't want to deal with it. I do keep inventory from my suppliers and if it isn't in stock, I am not selling it. I constantly have customers wanting to purchase a hot item and put it on back order but I do not have a clue if/when it will be in stock and/or if the price will be the same when it does.
I just don't want to deal with it. I do keep inventory from my suppliers and if it isn't in stock, I am not selling it. I constantly have customers wanting to purchase a hot item and put it on back order but I do not have a clue if/when it will be in stock and/or if the price will be the same when it does.
Absolutely. Your inventory should align with what you can deliver. However, for drop-ship items, what is conveyed on the last feed as in-stock may not be by time of fulfillment. Some people adjust the incoming inventory down from what the supplier states to try and assure availability.