A shopper has made it through to checkout only to receive a notification that one or more items in their cart is out of stock. Or, even worse, a shopper receives an email days later. Or, in some cases no notification at all.

Retailers lose an estimated $93 billion in sales annually due to out-of-stock inventory. Whether you’re a small retailer or a multi-billion dollar retail giant, inventory mistakes happen. What matters from a service perspective is how you handle that messaging to your valued customers.

We looked at 10 cases from the past two months in which a STELLAService analyst purchased an item and later received an email notification that the product was out of stock.

Here are 10 best practices for email communications for inventory mishaps.

1. Notify customers as soon as possible. Multiple STELLAService shoppers reported waiting 9 to 10 days for the delivery to arrive, then being forced to call the retailer only to discover the product was out of stock and the order was …

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An IBM computer can win Jeopardy. But, can it recommend a tent? Or, find your lost order?

Two years after its triumph on Jeopardy!, the IBM Watson Engagement Advisor is taking on customer service. Leveraging the cloud and online chat sessions, IBM Watson will enable a brand’s customer service agents to provide “fast, data-driven answers,” according a press release.

In one simple click, the solution’s “Ask Watson” feature will quickly help address customers’ questions, offer feedback to guide their purchase decisions, and troubleshoot their problems.

Brands trialing the IBM Watson Engagement Advisor for customer service include Australia’s ANZ Bank, Nielsen, Celcom, IHS, and Royal Bank of Canada.

IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative includes the newest capabilities of IBM Watson, which the company says are a natural fit for customer engagement, based on its ability to understand the nuances of human language, process questions akin to the way …

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“Starting in the next few months, IBM will be rolling out with several key customers an ‘Ask Watson’ feature that will greet and offer help through various channels: Web chats, email, smartphone apps and SMS. U.S. organizations spend $112 billion on call center labor and software, yet half of the 270 billion customer-service calls go unresolved each year, presenting a fairly sizable opening for an enhanced cognitive computer.” [Source: Forbes]

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“Target is trying to follow Walmart’s lead into the digital shopping space, and both retailers are in a relentless pursuit of e-commerce giant Amazon. David Newman, Target’s director of the new tech center, said the company is working on an image-recognition feature that would allow customers to call up information about a product, such as nutritional information for a cereal brand, just by capturing the image on their phone.” [Source: San Jose Mercury News]

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This guest post is by Richard Sexton, president and founder of Carolina Rustica, a multi-channel retailer of high end furniture. Visit Happy Customer for weekly guest posts from leading thinkers in ecommerce and customer service. 

Our industry is littered with dead companies that have tried to exceed customer expectations at the lowest possible cost, at all times and in all situations. As a 17-year veteran of furniture retailing, I can tell you that there is no more difficult customer service challenge than the safe, cost-effective delivery process of getting a piece of furniture into a home.

The Challenge
Furniture is heavy, difficult to move, and easily damaged. Just one scratch on the table, or imperfection in the leather, and that piece is coming back to you at great expense.

Most online furniture retailers employ white glove delivery services that are supposed to “deluxe” a piece before that last mile. Sometimes this happens, but sometimes it doesn’t. And even if …

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