this post IS NOT asking about attribute/stock module

[Ajeh]

That is the problem ...

Right now it would be hard to have separate products for:

lion tshirt green small
lion tshirt green medium
lion tshirt green large

This gets clunky ...

You could adapt the Cross Sell to show the gang of same shirts/different sizes or colors to group them together ...

Not sure if that would help to make things better or not ...

[gjh42]

Aside from the possibility of hiring someone to write basic attribute stock code if it's that important, specific suggestions for alerting customers to stock level:

Start by putting a note somewhere in the introduction to the effect of "We have many combinations of size and color, and because we like to keep our inventory fresh we may occasionally run out of particular items. We normally are able to replenish items in x to xx days. If we are out of stock when you order, we will alert you promptly and speed your order on its way as soon as we receive new stock."
Keep it upbeat and in good humor.

If it's practical and you deem it desirable, keep a snippet of text handy to drop into the end of any product description when necessary, like "Low stock in Med." or "Getting low on XL." Your call on whether mentioning that is good or not.

For items you are "not sure about" and only ordered 1 or 2 - unless they surprise you and jump off the shelf, it would seem you should generally have much more than a day between sales giving reasonable time to hide out-of-stock sizes.

On any given day that you run out of something, you will probably be low enough on some other items to reorder them too, and on the rarer day that something gets oversold, if you can get orders within a couple of days as you say, there should hardly be an appreciable delay in the customer receiving their order. You might upgrade the shipping method on backorders to make the customer feel cared for and generate loyalty.

Hope this helps...

[slantedworldwide]

This post was extremely insightful and had some great solutions.
Thank you very much.

I may hire someone to write the basic code...if i do..i will share it!

Aside from the possibility of hiring someone to write basic attribute stock code if it's that important, specific suggestions for alerting customers to stock level:

Start by putting a note somewhere in the introduction to the effect of "We have many combinations of size and color, and because we like to keep our inventory fresh we may occasionally run out of particular items. We normally are able to replenish items in x to xx days. If we are out of stock when you order, we will alert you promptly and speed your order on its way as soon as we receive new stock."
Keep it upbeat and in good humor.

If it's practical and you deem it desirable, keep a snippet of text handy to drop into the end of any product description when necessary, like "Low stock in Med." or "Getting low on XL." Your call on whether mentioning that is good or not.

For items you are "not sure about" and only ordered 1 or 2 - unless they surprise you and jump off the shelf, it would seem you should generally have much more than a day between sales giving reasonable time to hide out-of-stock sizes.

On any given day that you run out of something, you will probably be low enough on some other items to reorder them too, and on the rarer day that something gets oversold, if you can get orders within a couple of days as you say, there should hardly be an appreciable delay in the customer receiving their order. You might upgrade the shipping method on backorders to make the customer feel cared for and generate loyalty.

Hope this helps...

[audradh]

I am using the product_by_attribute_stock mod by dafonz w/ 1.2.6 and in the process of upgrading to 1.2.7. However, something that I am doing still might be useful to you. It is nice that my customers cannot checkout w/ an out of stock product, but sometimes I want them to have more information than "insufficient stock."

So, let's say I have a red shirt in Small, Medium, and Large. Medium sells out. I expect to have more medium red shirts in stock within 10 days. I will edit the Medium attribute to a different attribute that says "Medium (This size ships in 7-10 days") I then edit my product stock to 1 so that a customer is able to check out with that item. The point is that the customer is informed of the delay in shipping BEFORE they add the product to their cart, and I don't lose a sale by simply saying "insufficient stock" when they try to buy it.

Someone has actually written an edit to the product_with_attribute_stock mod that can do something similar automatically (so long as the product has only one option name attached to it) BUT what I am doing will work with or without the product_with_attribute_stock mod.

HTH,
Audra

[danielcor]

I am porting the product_by_attribute_stock mod by dafonz w/ 1.2.6 to 1.3.01. I am nearly done with it, though it is not in a form which is easy provided to others. That will take more time, which I am not sure I have... I'll look at it once I am sure that our new site is actually up.

Anyone that is interested, may PM or email me (danielcor######################).

[slantedworldwide]

I am porting the product_by_attribute_stock mod by dafonz w/ 1.2.6 to 1.3.01. I am nearly done with it, though it is not in a form which is easy provided to others. That will take more time, which I am not sure I have... I'll look at it once I am sure that our new site is actually up.

Anyone that is interested, may PM or email me (danielcor######################).

Thanks Daniel.

[slantedworldwide]

I am using the product_by_attribute_stock mod by dafonz w/ 1.2.6 and in the process of upgrading to 1.2.7. However, something that I am doing still might be useful to you. It is nice that my customers cannot checkout w/ an out of stock product, but sometimes I want them to have more information than "insufficient stock."

So, let's say I have a red shirt in Small, Medium, and Large. Medium sells out. I expect to have more medium red shirts in stock within 10 days. I will edit the Medium attribute to a different attribute that says "Medium (This size ships in 7-10 days") I then edit my product stock to 1 so that a customer is able to check out with that item. The point is that the customer is informed of the delay in shipping BEFORE they add the product to their cart, and I don't lose a sale by simply saying "insufficient stock" when they try to buy it.

Someone has actually written an edit to the product_with_attribute_stock mod that can do something similar automatically (so long as the product has only one option name attached to it) BUT what I am doing will work with or without the product_with_attribute_stock mod.

HTH,
Audra

Yea im using 1.301.

But your solution is pretty good. Id prefer not to delay my customers 7-10 days whenever possible though

[audradh]

Well, the point isn't to delay your customers, but to let them know about a delay when there is one. Ideally, your inventory will never dwindle down to zero, but on the off chance it should you won't find yourself approaching a customer, tail between your legs, to apologize and work out an equitable solution.

Of course the last step of the equation, adding the product back into stock even though it has not arrived yet, can be omitted. That way you are giving the customer the information about the delay proactively, before they try and add it to their cart, and also giving them an ETA in case they want to come back and order it later. I think that people get more POd if they spent the time considering whether or not to purchase something, surfing your site to choose exactly what they want, and THEN finding out it is not available.

By no means is this a great solution, but I find it to be fairly painless in a low volume store as an iterim measure (given that there are 2 solutions coming, PWAS ported to 1.3 and the future version of 1.3.x.)

This should work regardless of the Zen Cart version being used.

Just to clarify as I got the impression you were thinking that this would not work on 1.3.x.

Best,
Audra

[slantedworldwide]

Hey Audra,

yea the only problem with your solution for me is for some items I have very low stock already.

For some shirts, i just ordered 2 or even 1, to see how itll do.
Probably not the best decision.

Your solution can actually still work, and I may use it in the short term. That way people will think items are selling out quick lol.

The only opther prob it poses is if I have 1 of the item left, and someone purchases 2. Then ill be short.

Well, the point isn't to delay your customers, but to let them know about a delay when there is one. Ideally, your inventory will never dwindle down to zero, but on the off chance it should you won't find yourself approaching a customer, tail between your legs, to apologize and work out an equitable solution.

Of course the last step of the equation, adding the product back into stock even though it has not arrived yet, can be omitted. That way you are giving the customer the information about the delay proactively, before they try and add it to their cart, and also giving them an ETA in case they want to come back and order it later. I think that people get more POd if they spent the time considering whether or not to purchase something, surfing your site to choose exactly what they want, and THEN finding out it is not available.

By no means is this a great solution, but I find it to be fairly painless in a low volume store as an iterim measure (given that there are 2 solutions coming, PWAS ported to 1.3 and the future version of 1.3.x.)

This should work regardless of the Zen Cart version being used.

Just to clarify as I got the impression you were thinking that this would not work on 1.3.x.

Best,
Audra

[danielcor]

Hey Audra,

yea the only problem with your solution for me is for some items I have very low stock already.

For some shirts, i just ordered 2 or even 1, to see how itll do.
Probably not the best decision.

Your solution can actually still work, and I may use it in the short term. That way people will think items are selling out quick lol.

The only opther prob it poses is if I have 1 of the item left, and someone purchases 2. Then ill be short.

Does anyone have code from the previous version which will put stock BACK into attribute inventory when an order is delete?