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Spot a stockout-driven sales drop

A stockout-driven sales drop typically shows a sharp decline concentrated on one or a few SKUs, while other SKUs hold steady. This walkthrough distinguishes stockouts from other causes (pricing, audience, attribution).

  1. Open Explore → Sales → DTC dashboard.
  2. Set the date range to Yesterday or Last 7 days (whichever shows the drop clearly).
  3. Scroll to the drilldown panel. Rank by Units sold descending, week-over-week.
  4. Look for a SKU that ranks high historically but has dropped sharply. Stockouts typically show Units = 0 for affected days while sessions or impressions hold.
  5. Cross-check: in the trend chart, switch to Units to see the SKU’s drop in isolation.
  6. Confirm with the ecommerce platform’s inventory view (Shopify Admin → Products → Inventory).
PatternLikely cause
One SKU at zero units while others hold; sessions normalStockout
One SKU’s units down but not zero; sessions normalPrice increase or listing change
Multiple SKUs down; sessions also downTraffic / channel problem (not stockout)
One SKU’s units up sharply, others flatPromotion or feature placement (not a drop scenario)

Once a stockout is confirmed, the next step depends on its timing:

  • Recent (less than ~3 days): note the affected SKU and the date its units went to zero, then monitor the DTC dashboard daily — units should recover once stock is replenished. A Saved View scoped to that SKU makes the daily check one click.
  • Still ongoing: cross-reference the Fulfillment dashboard for unfulfilled-order context, and confirm what’s available to sell on the source ecommerce platform — Ignyte IQ reports what sold, not what’s in stock.
  • Already resolved: quantify the impact. Use the date-comparison control to compare a pre-stockout period against an equal-length post-restock period for the affected SKU; the revenue gap approximates the stockout’s cost.

Real-time inventory levels aren’t part of the standard product. Ignyte IQ reports on what was sold; for what’s available to sell, check the source ecommerce platform.