Episode 005
Backorders in e-commerce: how to sell what you don't have in stock
How to sell products that are temporarily out of stock: three backorder strategies, transparent customer communication, and measuring the real impact.
A backorder is an order for a product that isn’t in stock right now, with a promise to deliver it later. Michał Zabielski argues it’s worth treating not as a problem, but as a chance to save a sale that would otherwise be lost outright.
Why it pays off
Sudden demand spikes, Black Friday, holiday season, regularly cause stockouts. Instead of losing the order entirely, a backorder recovers revenue that would otherwise go straight to a competitor.
Three ways to handle it
- Delayed fulfilment with compensation: a discount on the current or a future order as a gesture toward the customer who’s waiting longer.
- Substitute products: recommending an alternative, with a price adjustment if the substitute costs differently.
- Order splitting: shipping available items right away, the rest later, costlier in logistics but often more satisfying for the customer.
The key is transparent communication across the entire journey, from the product page to post-sale support. It’s also worth tracking the real impact: waitlist sign-ups, successful completions, cancelled backorders, and the effect on margin. Backorders perform noticeably better in B2B than in B2C, a business customer accepts a longer timeline far more readily than a consumer used to instant delivery.
Wondering how to implement backorders without frustrating customers? Get in touch with Endora.
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