How Axeman uses STOQ to capture demand while waiting months for inventory

Customers wanted products before they arrived

Axeman started as a hobby. Jeremy Whitford expected to sell an axe or two a day, or maybe a week. Instead, the business quickly grew beyond what he imagined.

Today, he runs Axeman alongside his work as a firefighter, with his wife helping pack and ship orders while he's at work. The business carries premium products from brands around the world, including products sourced from Sweden, Germany, and Japan.

That international sourcing creates a challenge. Getting products into Canada can take upwards of two months, while customers may want to buy them long before they arrive.

Jeremy needed a way to give those customers an option while also seeing how much demand existed for products that were still on the way.

Capturing demand before inventory arrives

Before STOQ, Axeman had used apps that could notify customers when products came back in stock. The apps worked, but they didn't give Jeremy the option he wanted for customers who were ready to purchase before inventory arrived.

With STOQ, Axeman could offer both options.

Customers could sign up to be notified when a product became available, or pre-purchase products that were still weeks away from arriving.

"It just didn't have the different avenues where like the pre-purchase was a big one."

Jeremy is transparent with customers about the wait. If a product could take several weeks to arrive, customers knew that before purchasing. Those who were comfortable waiting could secure the product in advance.

Preorders aren't the biggest part of Axeman's business. Jeremy estimates they account for roughly 1–2% of total revenue.

For him, the bigger value is giving customers another way to stay connected to products they want.

"It's just a great avenue that people really want that product. They don't want to miss out on it."

Back-in-stock alerts bring customers back

For Axeman, Notify Me is probably the bigger part of the workflow.

When a shipment arrives, Jeremy puts the products back online and customers who were waiting receive their back-in-stock notifications.

He says those restock days can be particularly busy.

"That day is definitely a busy day. It probably is 24 hours of tons of orders."

The notifications also give customers a reason to return to Axeman's site, even when they don't end up buying the product they originally requested.

Jeremy has seen customers sign up to be notified about an axe, return after receiving the email, and ultimately buy something else, such as a saw.

"It does remind them to come back and all of a sudden they wanted a reminder on an axe, but they actually bought a saw."

The notification gets an interested customer back to the store at a time when they're already showing interest in a product.

Customer interest helps guide what to order

One of the most useful parts of STOQ for Jeremy happens before inventory arrives.

He can see how many customers are waiting for different products and use that information when deciding how much inventory to purchase.

His example is straightforward: if 50 people are waiting for one axe, buying 30 or 40 may mean those units are already sold when they arrive.

If another product has no one waiting, that's a signal too. Jeremy can choose not to buy as many because there simply isn't the same demonstrated demand.

"It's a really good gauge of me knowing what is demands are."

These signals are particularly useful when products have long lead times. Jeremy can see customer interest while products are unavailable instead of waiting until inventory is back in the warehouse.

He also sees demand change throughout the year, making those signals useful when planning different orders.

"Having that ability to kind of watch the market even before we even have to buy it or even as it's coming, it's a great way for me to see exactly how to order."

More options without more work

Jeremy came into ecommerce without a technical background. He built Axeman's website himself while learning Shopify and figuring things out along the way.

That made automation important.

He didn't want another system that needed constant attention. After working through the initial setup and a few technical issues, STOQ became something he could largely leave running.

"I don't want to have to babysit this cuz there's a lot of other stuff I have to deal with."

Today, he says STOQ runs by itself, giving him one less thing to manage.

Support mattered too

The early support from the STOQ team also stood out to Jeremy.

When he ran into technical issues, the team helped him work through them. They also helped with details such as banner placement and getting the experience on his site looking the way he wanted.

Some issues were resolved within minutes.

"I could easily send her an email and it would be done within sometimes in minutes."

For someone learning ecommerce as he built the business, having someone who understood the product and could help when something wasn't obvious made the process easier.

Jeremy says that kind of personal support is also how he tries to run Axeman. He doesn't see himself as a salesman. He wants to help customers find the product that's right for them, whether that's the cheapest or most expensive option.

"Just don't sit on the fence"

Jeremy spent years thinking about starting his own business before finally doing it.

His advice to other founders is simple:

"Just do it. Don't sit on the fence."

His own experience has been about learning as he goes, using the resources available, finding people who can help with the things he doesn't know, and trying something different when the first solution isn't right.

For Axeman, STOQ became one of those systems Jeremy could rely on without having to constantly manage it.