In Ooooby, adjusting your product offerings according to seasonality, stock availability, or changes in your product range is straightforward. Depending on the situation you have two options:
Set a product as Inactive
Set a product to Crew Only visibility
These are essential features that allow you to manage your inventory efficiently without deleting historical data. Here’s a guide on how to use these tools to manage product availability, including why and how to use them, and the implications of doing so.
What is an Inactive Product?
An inactive product is one that is no longer available for any existing or future orders. It remains in the system but is moved to the inactive category of products, making it invisible to customers browsing your hub and removing it from any orders that have already been added for the upcoming week.
Why Make a Product Inactive?
Seasonality: For products that are out of season and temporarily unavailable.
Availability: For products that you can no longer provide to anyone. This could be because a supplier can no longer supply you or because your harvest has failed unexpectedly.
How to Make a Product Inactive
Navigate to All Products: Access this from the Admin Dashboard by going to
Products->All Products.Choose the product you wish to make inactive and click on ‘Edit’.
Untick the ‘Active’ box at the top of the page. A confirmation alert may appear, especially if making the product inactive affects any subscriptions or pending orders.
Confirm your decision in the alert popup. If customers are affected, you’ll be advised to inform them prior to making the change.
Handling Affected Customers
Notification: If deactivating a product impacts any active subscriptions or pending orders, it’s best practice to notify affected customers beforehand. You can identify these customers using the 'Advanced Person Search' feature and communicate any changes or offer alternatives via email. To do this go to Admin Dashboard > Customers > Advanced Search > filter customers by product type using the 'Product Filter' tool.
Replacing an Inactive Product
Offering Alternatives: If a product being made inactive is part of a subscription or a pending order, you have the option to offer a replacement. This helps maintain customer satisfaction and continuity in subscriptions.
Communication is Key: Inform customers about the replacement to ensure transparency and avoid any confusion.
Reactivating a Product
Simple Process: To reactivate a product, reverse the inactivation steps by ticking the ‘Active’ box in the product edit page.
Subscription Reintegration: Note that reactivated products will not automatically be added back to any subscriptions they were previously part of.
What is a Crew Only product?
A Crew Only product is a product that you have run out of as a result of the number of orders you've received up to that point. Unlike the Inactive setting, setting a product to Crew Only doesn't remove it from existing orders, but stops anyone else from being able to order it.
Why Set a Product As Crew Only?
Stock Availability: When a product is no longer in stock.
Historical Data Preservation: Setting a product as Crew Only rather than Inactive keeps the product in historical orders for accurate records.
How to set a Product As Crew Only
Navigate to All Products: Access this from the Admin Dashboard by going to
Products->All Products.Choose the product you wish to set as Crew Only and click on ‘Edit’.
Click on the Product Visibility field and set to Crew Only.
Press Save
Please note: When a visible product is set to Crew Only visibility it will no longer be visible on the customer dashboard of any customer who already has it on order. This is important to be aware of if a customer asks why they can no longer see a particular product in their existing order.
Conclusion
Managing product availability by either activating and deactivating products or setting them as Crew Only allows for flexibility in your inventory management while preserving important historical order data. Always communicate changes to your customers, especially when their subscriptions are impacted, to maintain trust and satisfaction. This approach ensures your product listings remain accurate and reflective of what’s currently available for order.