Product availability information from online stores II
THE PROBLEM
It is challenging for businesses to ensure sufficient inventory to meet consumer demand for advertised products. This challenge to anticipate and match customer demand is exacerbated by the nature of e-commerce. For example, the number of customer orders is not limited in the same way as in brick-and-mortar retail sites. Items for which inventory has been depleted can be presented as available at the online store front. Customers may attempt to place an order for such items. Some systems do not even have mechanisms by which consumers are notified that specific products are currently unavailable. This can be a frustrating customer experience. To be successful, online stores must provide up-to-date and accurate product availability information to customers.
THE SOLUTION
Our integrated solution can accurately determine product availability at customer-selected delivery time. Our store front is integrated to a warehouse management system, a product delivery system and a vendor system. The vendor system issues purchase order of products to merchants. The warehouse management system keeps track of product arrival into a distribution center from merchants, and the capacities of the distribution center. The product delivery system monitors the delivery vehicle capacities. By simultaneously keeping track of the multiple systems, our online store can more accurately provide product availability information to customers.
Many customers can be trying to order the same product at the same time. Since the online store also can keep track of the multiple customer interactions, their activities can dynamically change product availability. For example, there will be more of the product if another customer previously with the product in his shopping cart either logs out of his e-commerce session before finishing his transaction, or removes the product from his cart. Also, there will be more of the product available if another customer returns such product to the online store. Based on such information, the online store can dynamically and instantaneously change product availability information.
If a customer has pre-purchased a product that is not yet available, the online store can allow the customer to access current information regarding the product from its store front. For example, when the unavailable product finally becomes available, such as has arrived at the distribution center, such availability information is reflected on the online store front for the customer.
« back
|
