Unfilled orders

Q:  Would you tell me what happens to customer orders that are unfilled.  Do they affect demand the following quarter (i.e., the customers don't renege)  or do they affect other company's customer orders (i.e., the customers buy  from a competitor) or something else?

A:  In the BPG, customer orders that can't be filled are likely to be filled by  competitors as the customers go somewhere else.  Future demand also is affected--both for the company that stocked out and for the one that still had goods available for sale.  Some of the customers will lose their loyalty and switch suppliers.