In eCommerce, merchants are constantly looking for ways to increase sales, and accelerate the shopping experience. But it requires effective marketing strategies to thrive in the highly competitive marketplace. Staying updated with the latest trends in the eCommerce industry is one of the best ways to stay ahead of the competition, and frame effective strategies. So, one such direction that is being followed in the market nowadays is – pre-orders.
Pre-orders can help generate buzz and build demand for your product even before its launch. It helps to gauge the market demand for your product and lock down early sales to fund production. However, what makes pre-orders a powerful way of selling? Well, it’s the right strategy to pull off the pre-order campaign that makes it a successful tactic.
Hence we have compiled this guide to take you through some of the best strategies for your pre-order campaign.
What is a Pre-order?
Before we dive deeper, let us understand what is a pre-order.
It is an order placed for a product that is not currently in stock or has not been launched. It is shipped to the customer once it is sourced or manufactured. Pre-orders enable customers to place an order for the items even before they are available in the market. It creates a win-win for both the customer and the merchant. On one hand, preorders serve as the reservation that guarantees the customer access to a product at its earliest possible availability. And on the other hand, it enables the merchant to customer loyalty, forecast market demands better, and improve cash flow.
Best Pre-order Strategies to Boost Sales
Without any further ado, let us dive into the best strategies to make your pre-order campaign a success –
- Accept limited pre-orders
When a product is being marketed, it is best to take only a few or limited pre-orders. This creates a particular interest in the mind of the public, and there are increased chances of people rushing to the nearest outlet for booking the product. Limited stocks can make your customers feel that they are unique, and are the trendsetters. So it is always good to play with that psychology, and make your customers feel valued and important!
- Build a pre-order plan
Launch day is the fruit of all your pre-order efforts. So consider building an effective pre-order plan that focuses on attainable milestones, and features a complete timeline. Understanding the flow of the pre-order cycle is critical to your planning, as it helps you to design your campaign better. And the best part of planning is that, once you have your pre-order plan ready you would not need to build one from scratch!
- Create value and scarcity
Customers need a reason to pre-order again, and the key way to create that reason is to give them added value by thanking them for ordering in advance. By using tactics like little gifts with their purchase, discounts on future purchases, etc, you are rewarding them for their support in your pre-order campaign.
Another great tactic to drive the demand is to create scarcity by appealing to the customer’s FOMO (fear of missing out!). Limit the availability of the products for pre-orders, in order to have the maximum impact.
- Use marketing to create awareness
Marketing is one of the most important aspects of a successful pre-order campaign. If people are not aware of your launch, how will they pre-order? Hence marketing is the best way to create awareness and buzz around the launch. Some of the things you need to keep in mind with regard to the marketing campaign are –
- Reach out to your existing customers
- Utilize the PR and influencer marketing methods when applicable
- Build strong content marketing around your campaign
How to Set Up Pre-Order on the Shopify App?
Pre-orders are complex as they are rarely a single way of pulling off a pre-order campaign that works for all. But with Shopify, it is easier to plan the pre-order campaigns, because the app ecosystem, ensures that any pre-order app you install will work smoothly on it.
Moreover, you can build your own custom pre-order solution with the pre-order API provided by Shopify. With this API, merchants no longer have to choose between selling pre-order products and using Shopify’s checkout. Thus, they can build their pre-order experiences within the Shopify checkout itself.
Key Takeaways
We hope that our guide has been insightful in getting you started with your pre-order campaigns. For any further questions, you can reach out to us at Kloc Technologies!
So what are you waiting for? Connect with us today to help us understand your requirements, and watch us turn your dream into reality.
Contact us today, to build custom Pre-order solutions!
