How to Remove Sold Out Items from Shopify: A Comprehensive Guide for Streamlining Your Online Store

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction

Introduction

At first glance, keeping sold-out items on your Shopify store might not seem like a big deal. However, it can lead to a cluttered and confusing shopping experience for your customers. Imagine the frustration of finding the perfect product, only to realize it's not available. This scenario can discourage potential purchases and even deter customers from returning to your store. This is precisely why understanding how to remove sold out items from Shopify is crucial for maintaining an appealing and customer-friendly online store. In this blog post, we will dive deep into the methods for managing sold-out inventory—ranging from automated solutions within Shopify's native features to utilizing third-party apps and custom coding approaches. By the end of this read, you will be equipped with the knowledge to effectively streamline your store's inventory, enhancing the overall shopping experience for your customers.

Why Manage Sold Out Items?

Before we jump into the how-tos, let's explore the importance of managing sold-out items. Sold-out products can create a barrier in the path to purchase, pushing away potential sales. Furthermore, they can negatively impact your store's SEO and usability, making it harder for customers to find available products. Managing these items efficiently can lead to a more navigable and user-friendly store, ultimately improving conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

Methods to Hide or Remove Sold Out Items

Automated Collections

Shopify's automated collections feature is a powerful tool for managing inventory visibility. By setting conditions based on inventory levels, you can automatically exclude sold-out products from appearing in your collections. This method ensures that only available items are showcased, providing a smoother browsing experience. Here's a step-by-step guide:

  1. Enable inventory tracking for your products in the Shopify admin.
  2. Modify the conditions of your collections to only include products with an inventory count greater than zero.

This approach keeps your collections fresh and relevant, without the need for manual intervention.

Using Shopify Apps

For those seeking an even simpler solution, numerous Shopify apps are designed to handle sold-out products. Apps like "Wipeout" and "Nada: Sort & Hide Out-of-Stock" can automate the process by hiding or deleting out-of-stock items. These apps offer various features, such as automatic re-publishing of products when they're restocked and eliminating 404 errors by creating redirects.

Custom Coding Solutions

Sometimes, a more tailored approach is necessary, especially for specific themes or unique store requirements. Custom coding allows for precise control over how and when sold-out items are displayed. For example, you might want to hide sold-out variants without hiding the entire product. This requires modifying your store's theme code to conditionally render product variants based on availability. While effective, this method demands a certain level of coding knowledge or the assistance of a professional developer.

Shopify Flow

For advanced users or stores on Shopify's Standard, Advanced, and Plus plans, Shopify Flow offers a customizable automation platform. It enables the creation of workflows that can hide or republish products based on inventory levels. Although it provides great flexibility and automation capabilities, it's worth noting that Shopify Flow might not be available to all Shopify store owners due to plan restrictions.

Best Practices for Managing Sold Out Items

  • Regularly review your inventory to identify and address sold-out items promptly.
  • Consider using back-in-stock notifications to capture interest and convert sales once the item is available again.
  • Maintain a balance between hiding sold-out items and informing customers about upcoming restocks to keep engagement high.

Conclusion

Efficiently managing sold-out items on Shopify is essential for providing a seamless and enjoyable shopping experience. By leveraging automated collections, utilizing Shopify apps, or implementing custom coding solutions, store owners can ensure their shops remain organized and focused on available products. Remember, the goal is to make your customer's journey as smooth as possible—from discovery to purchase.

FAQs

  1. Can I hide sold-out products without removing them from my store? Yes, you can hide sold-out products by using automated collections or third-party apps to prevent them from appearing to customers while they're out of stock.

  2. Will hiding sold-out items affect my SEO? Properly managing sold-out items by hiding or temporarily removing them can actually improve your store's SEO by eliminating dead ends and improving user experience.

  3. How do I bring back hidden products once they're restocked? With automated solutions like Shopify apps or custom coding, products can be set to automatically reappear in your collections once they are restocked.

  4. Is custom coding necessary to manage sold-out items on Shopify? While not necessary, custom coding offers more flexibility and control over how sold-out items are managed and displayed on your store. It's an option for those with specific needs not addressed by automated collections or apps.

  5. What's the best method to handle sold-out items for a small Shopify store? Automated collections are a straightforward and effective method for small stores. This feature is easy to set up and requires no additional costs, making it ideal for smaller operations.