Backorder functionality

[polrus]

Hi
I think you guys should add a "backorder" button .
This would allow you to see how much intereset there is in each product so you could shift your focus and resources accordingly and also estimate the sales volumes.

FOr exmaple now pinetab is out of stock and there's no way custommers can give you feedback to plan your future orders.

[bcnaz]

That may not be very accurate, but it could show people are interested 

[Dendrocalamus64]

A backorder without money down doesn't really indicate anything. There have been youtube videos where somebody scratch-built something, it went viral, thousands of people commented "I would so buy that" and forgot about it, and then when they test-marketed a batch they couldn't sell 10. Or people can intentionally taint the data. A single troll simulates 100,000 organic-looking clicks on the backorder button, but, is it reliable data? Can they simulate it accurately enough? Practically speaking, things going viral can have exactly the same effect.

A backorder *with* money down can be a real problem. You start production, and by then they've changed their minds and want a full refund. You have units you can only hope to sell, and not enough money left after production to issue refunds. You try to keep prices as low as possible? Then you don't have extra money. Meanwhile they're going nuts, posting slag all over the internet, filing police reports, and filing disputes with your payment processor.

What percentage of orders can you afford to have go bad before it affects your company's reputation? As the preorder delay and the uncertainty in the time frame increase, the percentage of dissatisfied customers just keeps going up. It doesn't matter if they agreed to the terms, you have to know better for them what they're really going to do.

Pine64 has recently been through this with the Coronavirus delays, and it looks like short, definite preorder periods are a requisite for safety.

[daniel]

Hi
I think you guys should add a "backorder" button .
This would allow you to see how much intereset there is in each product so you could shift your focus and resources accordingly and also estimate the sales volumes.

FOr exmaple now pinetab is out of stock and there's no way custommers can give you feedback to plan your future orders.

So, your proposed button already exists. Is the pre-order button.

I might be wrong, but I think they first sell a number of units as pre-order, then close the pre-order, then they make the units in the factory. So, they are sure all the units they make are sold.

So, they not only know how many people are interested to get one.

[polrus]

Hi
I think you guys should add a "backorder" button .
This would allow you to see how much intereset there is in each product so you could shift your focus and resources accordingly and also estimate the sales volumes.

FOr exmaple now pinetab is out of stock and there's no way custommers can give you feedback to plan your future orders.

So, your proposed button already exists. Is the pre-order button.

I might be wrong, but I think they first sell a number of units as pre-order, then close the pre-order, then they make the units in the factory. So, they are sure all the units they make are sold.

So, they not only know how many people are interested to get one.

So now I can see preorder is disabled , so I cannot express my interest in this device. Me and other ppl/companies.

[tllim]

Hi
I think you guys should add a "backorder" button .
This would allow you to see how much intereset there is in each product so you could shift your focus and resources accordingly and also estimate the sales volumes.

FOr exmaple now pinetab is out of stock and there's no way custommers can give you feedback to plan your future orders.

So, your proposed button already exists. Is the pre-order button.

I might be wrong, but I think they first sell a number of units as pre-order, then close the pre-order, then they make the units in the factory. So, they are sure all the units they make are sold.

So, they not only know how many people are interested to get one.

So now I can see preorder is disabled , so I cannot express my interest in this device. Me and other ppl/companies.

Pine Store has try in Pinebook (not Pinebook Pro) and take up rate is about 10-12%. Due to a lot of resource involve in the BTO process, eventually prefer straight up order process. Pine Store only has limited working capital, financial, logistic, and production team need to make sure rolling forecast and just-in-time production always since up properly.

[polrus]

@tllim
that sounds reasonable , thanks for answering

Still I would keep backorder stats - multiply them by 10-12 % you mentioned and there you have your forecast