Hide Out Of Stock Products in v4

[simononline]

Hi,

There currently doesn't seem to be an option that lets you hide out of stock products on the storefront in the latest release of SunShop v4.

This could either be an optional setting under Settings >> General Settings >> Shop Settings on the Admin site that applies to all products on the site.

OR

It could be an optional setting for each individual product on the Edit Product page on the Admin site so that you could specify which products would be hidden once they are out of stock. I think this would the better option as it would for example let you hide some products that you know your suppliers won't be able to provide for a while.

Hopefully this might be able to be added into the final stable release of 4.0

Cheers,
Simon

[SunShopper]

Hello Simononline!

The functionality to hide products has always been possible with V4 and was possible with earlier versions as well.

1. Go to the Admin
2. Go to Manage Products
3. Form the PRODUCT LIST, select the product you would like to hide and click the edit icon to the right
4. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the EDIT PRODUCT PAGE and you will see a VIEWABLE option - It defaults to YES.
5. Switch this to NO
6. Be sure to hit the UPDATE PRODUCT button after you make this change.

This item will now be hidden (or no longer viewable) on the website. When your stock comes in, simply switch the VIEWABLE option back to YES.

[miloheckport]

What would be a nice feature is to be able to override by product the out of stock message that is defined in the language file. A simple radio button "Override Out of Stock Message" Yes/No and a custom text field for the product. The logic could not be too complex to implement this type of functionality. It would also be nice to see a column for the Product's "viewable field" when viewing the product list in the admin section. Turnkey is this something you would be willing to implement?? Simple nice to have's like this would be nice to have!!

[simononline]

Hi SunShopper,

What I mean is an option that can be turned on that automatically hides products in the storefront once there stock level gets to 0.

Simon

[miloheckport]

Hi SunShopper,

What I mean is an option that can be turned on that automatically hides products in the storefront once there stock level gets to 0.

Simon
I think that would be great especially if you have the option to do it globally or at the product level. Maybe the developers will read this and take note. A response would be nice...

[redpeachdesigns]

To add to this suggestion, since I don't see it in the current version, would be instead of just hiding the Add to Cart button when at item goes out of stock, it would display an Out of Stock message/button instead. I would like to keep the out of stock items on the site and visible but I have had several people contact me who are confused about why they can't order a product since there is no indication that it's out of stock.

I know I could enable the show stock feature, however I don't want all of the inventory quantities to show since some of my items are dropshipped and have like 1000 inventory level and/or they are custom items so I don't want people to think the custom items are "in stock" as in ready to ship. Anyway, just a suggestion that would really help.

[imacsoap]

I would also like to see an out-of-stock icon or text to show the customer when an item is out of stock. Having the button disappear with no indication only confuses the customer and they end up calling and asking why they can't order a particular item.

[Pooch]

This might help:

SunShop currently allows you to display 'In-Stock' or 'Out-of-Stock' based on your product's stock. As coded though, it shows the # of units remaining. Most professional style carts only display the status (In / Out). This is an incredibly easy fix:

From the Admin main menu, click Manage Templates and from the dropdown menu, select product_detail.html.

Find:
<td>$product[in_stock]</td>

Replace with:
<td>$product[stock]</td>

[cchrissyy]

thanks Pooch, that was such a simple, quick fix!

[Pooch]

Your welcome!:D

[NinjaTech]

I find it best not to hide the item, but to display the out of stock message so it still gets indexed by search spiders. HOWEVER! One thing I probably need to write up is an "image" that says "out of stock" so the spiders don't also grab "that" bit of information.

[Pooch]

I find it best not to hide the item, but to display the out of stock message so it still gets indexed by search spiders.
Not only that, but removing the item will cause a lot of confusion with customers who have shopped that item before, or frequently.

I still don't entirely agree with using the stock status as displaying an "out-of-stock" on anything. It can be an instant sale killer. For my store, if an item is out of stock, I know about it, as we use a POS/retail management system in-house. I can usually have that item restocked in less than 24-48 hours. So, knowing it would be restocked quickly, I prefer not to scare potential customers away with those three unfriendly words.;)

[DianeV]

Pooch, could you not edit the lang file to ask customers to contact you so that you may reorder the item? Something along those lines?

[NinjaTech]

Ok I'm working on a mod that does a number of things in the category, but I would appreciate any feedback from other store owners on how best to apply the functionality.

1. Graphical images or text to indicate.
a. In Stock
b. Out-Of-Stock
c. Back Order
d. Ships Separately
e. Special Shipping
f. Free Shipping
g. Ships Within 24 hours
h. Ships Within 48 hours

2. Rules on inventory and stock per item to trump global, if set.

3. Create special groups for notes about shippings to apply to individual products. Like I have computers I build on my website that take 2 weeks before they are ready to ship. Other computers can ship in 48 hours, I could then add a note specific about each computers shipping rules. These notes would be displayed on product detail page and in the checkout so it's perfectly clear to the customer that product has special shipping rules.

Does anyone also drop ship that thinks something special should also be applied for drop shipping items?

[Pooch]

Pooch, could you not edit the lang file to ask customers to contact you so that you may reorder the item? Something along those lines?

Hey Diane!! I could, but for my store, my restock period is so quick that I'd rather not risk "annoying" the customer with any message regarding an out-of-stock. In the rare instance where I know an item is going to be backordered for a while, I just add an Attribute to the item:

Stock: Backordered

By no means should my method apply to all stores. I was just offering up my 2-cents above, so Sunshop users can at least "think" about the potential risks involved with displaying an out-of-stock message (from a customer's perspective). But I agree, you could edit the lang file to maybe read, "Backordered, usually ships in 72-hours", or something.:D

[DianeV]

Interesting stuff, Pooch. Good ideas there.