How to Avoid Amazon Out of Stock Situations

Amazon shoppers are used to getting their products fast. When a product page wins them over and they’re ready to make that purchase, you don’t want anything stopping them at the last minute. But when a product is out of stock and customers face a long wait time before it ships, many will give up on the order rather than wait.

In this article, we'll examine how to avoid Amazon out-of-stock notifications so you can keep your profits and your reputation intact.

How Running Out of Stock on Amazon Hurts You

On Amazon, out-of-stock issues hurt your ability to keep your business running smoothly - and profitably. Not having popular products can set your business back in a few main ways.

It Costs You Sales

You can’t sell products that you don’t have. If you don’t have the stock required to fulfill orders at the exact moment that customers want them, you lose those sales. If popular items run out of stock frequently, those missed sales opportunities could add up to a sizable amount in lost profits over time.

It Harms Your Seller Reputation

When you can’t deliver on providing the main products you're known for, it impacts your brand reputation. If customers learn that they can’t count on you to have the products they need, they’re less likely to seek out your brand on the platform. And anytime Amazon sees signs that you aren't meeting customer expectations, you're soon at risk of losing your selling privileges altogether.

It Impacts Your Amazon Rankings

Amazon’s algorithm determines which products should show up first for relevant search terms based on several complex factors, most of which relate to creating a great customer experience.

Related Reading: What's a Good Amazon Sales Rank?

For Amazon, out-of-stock items - and the disappointment they inspire in customers - is precisely the kind of thing it wants to avoid. That means running out of stock doesn’t just hurt your reputation with customers, it can hurt your Amazon rankings as well.

It Affects Your Review Scores

Amazon reviews play a huge role in your success on the selling platform. Good reviews improve your seller reputation and rankings and are often key in convincing customers to purchase. When your items are out of stock, the best-case scenario for reviews is getting none. The worst-case scenario is earning bad reviews from customers upset about the wait time.

When you have awesome products you’re confident customers will love, every day you’re unable to get them to your customers could seriously impact the quality and quantity of your reviews.

What is Dead Stock?

The most obvious solution to avoiding out-of-stock issues on Amazon is to keep more inventory on hand. But that can also create another serious issue: dead stock.

Dead stock refers to any inventory you have that fails to sell. And as long as that stock is in your possession, you’re paying a premium on it in storage costs. That’s true if it’s in your warehouse or store, taking up space that would otherwise go to something else.

But for sellers who use FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon), the costs are even more obvious. Amazon’s fees are structured to discourage letting items sit in the warehouse for long periods. It doesn't want sellers treating FBA like a storage option rather than a fulfillment service. That means dead stock can quickly become a high-cost issue.

Striking the Right Balance Between Dead Stock and No Stock

Running out of stock on Amazon has big consequences. Keeping too much stock also has repercussions. So what are you supposed to do?

Perfect inventory predictions may not always be possible, but with the right tools, you can come pretty darn close. Looking at past data can give you a good idea of how many orders you typically get for each product in a given amount of time. The data can reveal what time of year usually produces a spike in sales and when they usually slow down.

But even with your best attempts at analyzing this data, it's all too easy to make costly errors. And honestly, who has the time anymore? You've got enough on your plate.

Amazon inventory management software can keep track of your inventory levels for you and provide alerts any time stock is low and needs to be reordered.

eComEngine provides two tools that can help with this, based on your preferences and needs.

SellerPulse shows you robust reports on your FBA inventory, including ASINs incurring either the low-inventory-level fee or the aged inventory surcharge (meaning stock is too high and going dead). Amazon out-of-stock notifications tell you when your product is out of stock at FBA. Low-inventory-level fee alerts let you know when your SKU risks incurring the low inventory fee.

As a bonus, SellerPulse also includes alerts and reports for many other aspects of your business: Buy Box wins, customer returns, hijacker activity, and more.

RestockPro analyzes hundreds of data points to provide accurate FBA inventory forecasting based on customer demand. A nightly email report and a handy dashboard show you your daily inventory to-do list, color-coded by priority.

This helps you choose the perfect time to order more inventory to avoid those dreaded Amazon out-of-stock notifications and avoid getting stuck with dead stock.

Use RestockPro and SellerPulse together to get the most complete picture of your inventory’s health. Amazon out-of-stock alerts, FBA returns insights, and powerful inventory forecasting help you make informed inventory decisions.

Avoid Amazon Out-of-Stock Situations with eComEngine

For Amazon sellers in particular, keeping the right amount of inventory on hand is an important part of the profit equation. Advanced inventory software takes a ton of the guesswork out of getting it right. This helps you increase your earnings and the time you can dedicate to the other work involved in running a successful Amazon business.

Want to see for yourself? Check out how RestockPro saves this Amazon seller 20+ hours a week or start your free trial today!