Taking pre-orders is an effective way to generate buzz for your fashion startup, predict sales, and get an early infusion of cash to help with inventory or marketing. Still, taking pre-orders necessitates even more planning and strategizing to ensure that you create excitement and exclusivity for your product, generate a flawless customer experience, and deliver your products on time.
Let us start with a brief definition of the concept. Pre-order refers to ordering something ahead of time, requesting to purchase something before it is available. The best thing about pre-orders is that they guarantee a certain amount of sales and revenue since the goods are sold before they become open to public access. This is why pre-order marketing is a profitable way for business owners. As business owners, you may wonder how to do pre-order business; in this article, we will cover the topic in detail.
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Who Should Do Pre-Order Business?
Pre-orders are one of the most popular e-commerce strategies for retailers of all sizes and industries. We strongly support the concept of pre-ordering for boutiques or clothing business owners. Because it allows you to advertise your product even before its release date. Furthermore, you do not even need a product to sell pre-orders. Pre-order pages are widely and successfully used in virtually every industry.
However, knowing how to do pre-order business is something different. Before giving you tips on managing the pre-order business, let's first examine its advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Pre-Order for Your Boutique
Before going deep into the details of the pre-order strategy, you better get the measure of the topic, firstly, by taking its advantages and possible disadvantages.
Pre-ordering has numerous advantages for both business owners and consumers. An effective pre-order strategy can help you generate enthusiasm for upcoming product releases and launches. Here are some advantages to pre-ordering.
The primary advantage of implementing a pre-ordering strategy is that it allows you to increase sales. This is why knowing how to do pre-order business is highly recommended. You can increase your product offerings without spending huge amounts on inventory. You can also combine this strategy with market research.
According to your customer’s needs, you can order, let’s say, women’s suits depending on your prior research. This enables you to quickly identify the best products to offer to maximize revenue and build brand awareness. It is a simple incentive to attract customers, while you can also spread the word with e-commerce email marketing. That is why we suggest business owners learn how to do the pre-order business.
Pre-order pages can significantly increase the search engine traffic to your website. This is because you can begin ranking for terms related to the product before it is released. By the time the product is released, you will have a leg up on your competitors who have only recently created their product pages.
That being said, this is only true if your website holds proper e-commerce SEO techniques. Take the time to conduct research and create pages with on-page SEO for e-commerce in mind. There are also specific ways to structure your product pages so that SEO for e-commerce product pages is optimized. Pay attention to best practices, and you will be able to sell out in no time.
Pre-ordering can also be used to gauge customer interest in a specific product. You can offer a limited pre-order instead of ordering many products that will eventually go out of stock. Then, if no customers appear to be interested, you save money on stockpiling.
You may also discover a much higher level of interest in products than anticipated. Pre-orders allow you to earn money while your products are on backorder. This will also help you identify the best reorder point in future campaigns.
Unfortunately, if mismanaged, pre-ordering may have adverse effects. The following are the two most critical disadvantages of the pre-ordering strategy:
Product scarcity and pre-ordering are frequently associated. This means you have a very short window to buy the products you require, and competition is fierce. If you advertise products too soon or rely on pre-orders, you may encounter problems that can influence your business negatively.
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Dependence on the Manufacturer
You do not have control over pre-ordered products, unlike the inventory in your warehouse. If there are supply or logistical problems, possibly an increase in lead time, or another problem, you only have a few options. These problems can get even worse in cases where your supplier needs better communication skills. Stick with trusted suppliers and select the best multichannel order management platform for your business.
Pre-Order Methods
There are two methods for owners when it comes to how to do pre-order business.
The most common type of pre-order is “pay now”. The full purchase price is due at the time of the pre-order, and payment is collected in the same manner as a regular purchase. Consider it similar to a standard sale, but with a longer fulfillment time. Customers who place pre-orders will receive a notification or e-mail on when their order will be shipped.
“Pay later” is another method of the pre-order strategy. Customers can make a deposit or a payment-free "reservation" on a product using this method and then be billed for the remaining or full sales price once the item ships.
How to Set Up Pre-Order Business?
Once you decide to do a pre-order business, you better consider how you will accept payments. Ensure that the transaction flow does not have an impact on your day-to-day financial operations.
Secondly, set up an official pre-order page. I prefer a simple and minimalistic page design. Explain which products are included, include a few images, and remember to include the payment method. Prepare a customer onboarding procedure. Early product access and communication with the manufacturer and the community can all be part of this user experience analysis. Everything that brings the customer closer to the product must be preserved while the features that customers find difficult to adapt or use should be eliminated.
Put your pre-order purchasing sequence to the test. Check if the process runs smoothly on any device and in different browsers, if onboarding automation works properly, if the order can be completed and fulfilled and that the customer receives printable order details, as this will be the only proof that they purchased something from you and are waiting for delivery.
Inform people that pre-orders are now available. Make several sales email templates for various segments of your business audience. Remember that each customer segment requires a unique communication strategy.
Maintain customer records and followed up with pre-order buyers. Make it personal. Make frequent contact and ask for feedback.
In this article, we looked at how to do pre-order business. IFC is Europe's largest wholesale clothing supplier where you can order anything from wholesale pants or casual jumpsuits to formal women’s suits. For further inquiries, please contact IFC.
You can reach our previous article from https://www.istanbulfashioncenter.com/blog/icerik/building-a-brand-for-your-boutique