How to set up preorders on Shopify

What a preorder is and when it helps

A preorder lets a customer buy a product before you have it on the shelf. You take the order now and ship when stock arrives. It is useful for new launches, made-to-order items, seasonal restocks and products stuck with a supplier, because you keep the sale instead of showing a dead Sold out button.

A good preorder is clear about three things: that the item is not in stock yet, roughly when it will ship, and how much the customer pays today. Most customer complaints about preorders come from one of those being vague, so this guide covers each of them.

• Launches: sell a new product before the first batch arrives, and use the order count to size your next production run.
• Restocks with a known date: keep a best-seller buyable while the next shipment is on its way.
• Made to order: take orders for items you only produce once they are paid for.

Your options on Shopify

Shopify gives you the building blocks, but not a full preorder flow. The Continue selling when out of stock setting on a product or variant lets customers buy at 0 inventory or below. It only works when Inventory tracked is on, and Shopify notes that it doesn't apply to POS orders. See Shopify's guide to selling when out of stock.

On its own, that setting keeps the normal Add to cart button, so customers may not realise they are ordering something that hasn't arrived. For proper pre-order purchase options, such as a deposit with the balance charged later, Shopify asks you to use a pre-order app, and notes that pre-orders are currently only available to stores using Shopify Payments or PayPal Express.

Step by step with Nexora Preorder Back in Stock

1. Install and turn on the app embed

   Install Nexora Preorder Back in Stock. On Home, click Enable on theme in the Activate app embed card, make sure the Preorder embed is on in the theme editor, and click Save.

2. Create a campaign

   Go to Preorder and click Create campaign. Enter a Campaign title (only you see it) and check that the switch shows Active.

3. Write the button and message

   Under Button settings, keep Button text as Preorder or change it to something like Pre-order now. Use Preorder message for a short line under the button, for example Ships in early November.

4. Choose how customers pay

   Under Payment, keep Full payment for the simplest setup, or choose Partial payment (deposit + balance later) to take a deposit. Optionally add a Discount for early buyers.

5. Set a ship date

   Under Set fulfillment status for orders with preorder items, choose Scheduled and enter either a number of days after checkout or a fixed due date.

6. Pick the products

   On the Preorder products tab, keep When product is out of stock and the Automatic continue selling mode. Under Apply this campaign to, choose Specific products, All products or Specific collections.

7. Check the emails and save

   On Customer emails, review Confirmation, Reminder before ship, Shipped and Cancelled, use Send test, then click Save.

The settings that matter most

The Show preorder button choice decides when the button appears. When product is out of stock is the usual choice: Preorder shows at 0 inventory and switches back to Add to cart once stock is above 0. Always shows Preorder at any stock level, and When product is in stock shows it only while the product has stock, which suits items you sell ahead of a fixed release.

Example: a jacket that sells out before the next batch

A small outerwear brand sells out of its wool coat in October. The next batch is due in about four weeks. The setup below keeps the product page selling and tells customers exactly what to expect.

• Campaign title: Wool coat – batch 2
• Button text: Pre-order now, Preorder message: Ships around Nov 20
• Show preorder badge on, Badge text Pre-order, Position on image Top left
• Payment: Full payment
• Scheduled fulfillment with a fixed due date, which also tags orders preorder-ship:YYYY-MM-DD
• Show preorder button: When product is out of stock, so sizes still in stock keep Add to cart
• Customer emails: Confirmation and Reminder before ship on, with Days before ship date set to 7

Because the button follows stock per variant, a customer who picks a size that is still in stock sees the normal Add to cart, while a sold-out size shows Pre-order now. If a customer adds both to the cart, the Mixed Cart page decides what happens next.

Tips and common mistakes

• The button doesn't show: check that the Preorder app embed is on and saved, the campaign is Active, and its schedule has started.
• Inventory tracking is off: Shopify's continue selling setting only applies to tracked products, so turn on Inventory tracked first.
• No ship date: even a rough date reduces "where is my order?" emails. Scheduled also drives the Reminder before ship email.
• Overselling a small batch: tick Limit inventory for all products to cap how many units can be preordered.
• Payment gateway surprises: if you use a deposit or discount, test a checkout with Shopify Payments before you announce the preorder.

Every order with a preorder item is tagged preorder, so you can filter them in Orders in Shopify admin. For screen-by-screen detail, see the app documentation or the setup tutorial.

Frequently asked questions