Hi Community!
I’m sure all of you have experienced the effects of supply chain shortages over the last year. It’s definitely been a challenge to keep retail clients competitively performing when their product is often missing or delayed. Luckily, Klaviyo has some great features that help us combat that.
Supply Chain Issues Are Here to Stay - Now What?
I have clients who, over the last year, have had a ton of supply and some clients that have had products sitting in container ships off the coast for months. I even have one client who finally received product after waiting months only to find it had a flaw in it and has to be redone - she is currently trying to figure out a way to keep the product in the US to get fixed so that she does not run into any more time delays. In situations like this, it can be hard to push products due to stocking and inventory uncertainty.
Alternatives to Product Pushes
So how do we combat this? Thankfully, our clients all have some sort of product in stock. So we solve this problem by doing a mix of cross-selling our in-stock products and content marketing to keep it seeming fresh. By staying at the forefront of our customer’s minds and in their inboxes, our goal is to stay relevant, even if we aren’t pushing product. One strategy for our content marketing is to help our clients prove themselves as the go-to authority in their industry. By showcasing the client’s affinity or understanding of the product, we can build an intellectual connection between them and the customer. This will help the customer associate top-quality gear, expert knowledge, and reliable information with our client’s brand. Our goal is to influence them to pick our client vs. our competition when shopping for products in that category.
Take our client, Uncharted Supply Co. for example; their founder and owner is an avid outdoorsman and survival expert who built his products to solve problems he was seeing in the real world. We leverage his knowledge and authenticity for email content because he’s a passionate, expert source that customers can trust and connect with. If they develop trust in his opinions, they trust his products, and that leads to loyal subscribers and buyers.
Push the Product You Do Have (and Will Have)
Another strategy we utilize to keep email communication moving with customers during product shortages is to rely on Klaviyo flows. We use browse abandonment flows, positive review flows (leave a positive review, get xx% off your next purchase), customer winback flows, and cross-selling, so if a person bought one product, they might be interested in another product, and we can keep their attention by showing them we carry those and similar items. I think the biggest thing here to note is utilizing the Back in Stock flow. We had one client have a product out of stock for a year, but once it got in stock we sold out of that product within hours based on people who had signed up over the year while it was out of stock. So even though we didn’t see immediate results, it definitely paid off in the long run!
Go with the Flow
In the end, the way to overcome the supply chain issue is really about staying relevant and in front of your customers. Klaviyo has the tools and customizations available to help you communicate in the most effective and interesting way possible. Make sure you’re utilizing those flows and watch your customer loyalty grow!
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Want to talk further to further about all things ecommerce? DM me or connect on our partner page!
Resources Available to Keep Learning and other resources provided from our Champions:
- Creating a Browse Abandonment Flow
- How to Create an Upsell or Cross-Sell Flow
- How to Create a Cross-Sell Segment
- Creating a Product Review Flow
- Creating a Post Purchase Flow
- More resources and advice to check out from our Champions