If an item is out of stock, you don't necessarily need to cancel the order. Airgoods gives you a few options to manage the order while keeping your customers informed.
If you receive an order for an out-of-stock item
If an order is still Pending or has already been Accepted, you can:
Accept the order instead of canceling it.
Set an Estimated Ship Date (ESD) based on when you expect to restock or produce the item. This lets your retailer know when to expect the shipment.
Edit the order to remove any products you don't plan to ship. Orders can be edited while they are in the Pending or Accepted state (unless you are on the Shopify Market Sync integration).
How to prevent out-of-stock orders
To reduce the chances of customers ordering unavailable products:
Keep your inventory synced
If you use an e-commerce integration, make sure your inventory sync is enabled and working correctly so inventory updates are reflected in Airgoods as quickly as possible.
Keep your catalog up to date
From the Products page, you can:
Mark products as Out of Stock so they can't be ordered.
Set products as Available for Pre-order if you want customers to continue placing orders before inventory is available.
Keeping your catalog up to date helps prevent overselling and reduces the need to make changes after an order is placed.
Best practices
Communicate early. If an order will be delayed, let your retailer know as soon as possible.
Keep Estimated Ship Dates updated. If your timeline changes, update the order so your customer has the latest information.
Use pre-orders when appropriate. If you know inventory is coming soon, enabling pre-orders is often a better experience than marking products as unavailable.