Last year, a few weeks after moving into our new home, we were greeted with an unwanted visitor: Hurricane Irene, who managed to drop a tree across the driveway and another on the house. Welcome to the neighborhood, Paul.
Now, forecasts have Hurricane Sandy turning into 'Frankenstorm' in time to mess up Halloween, so having learned my lesson I'm planning in advance. Well, a couple days in advance. Which is clearly not enough, if you want to buy a portable generator. Which leads me to a comment: why, when an e-commerce site is out of stock, do we need to find the product, read the reviews, decide we want it, and THEN discover that it's nowhere to be found in a 12 state vicinity?
After Irene, sensible bricks and mortar retailers posted hand written signs saying 'No Ice' so that customers didn't need to stop and bother the clerk for the 300th time. During the petrol tanker strike in the UK, stations posted signs saying 'No Petrol', again to dissuade motorists from queuing for hours for nothing.
Somehow, this notion of retail sensibility for out of stock situations during times of peak demand does not spread to e-tailers like lowes.com, who merrily let me waste time only to find that the closest my local Lowes has to a generator is a few candles. A simple interstitial either confirming out of stocks, or directing to an availability page, would have been welcomed. The lack of communication is another example of how some retailers just don't get it where their e-commerce sites are concerned. What the ideal e-commerce site provides is the ease of at home shopping, and a virtual replication of, or even enhancement to, the in-store experience. Surely out of stock situations - and it's not just hurricane prep items but hot Christmas toys or fashion 'must haves' - warrant a well thought out contact plan and strategy to save customers time and ensure the experience is less negative.
Unlike my posting last time prior to Irene, I'm not going to say anything tempting fate. Stay safe, anyone in Frankenstorm's path!
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