Enabling pre-orders on products

In today’s competitive e-commerce environment, engaging customer’s interest even before products are even released, is crucial. One effective way to achieve this is by allowing pre-orders.

A pre-order product is a product that was never in stock before (perhaps not even released yet), however you expect to stock it and fulfill its pre-orders when it becomes available.

In contrast, a backorder product is a product that used to be in stock, but its stock has been exhausted. However, it can be purchased, and it will be fullfilled once it’s back in stock.

In this guide, we will walk you through the process of setting up pre-orders for your upcoming products using a special “pre-order” template in the Athens theme. Whether you’re new to Shopify or looking to optimize your store’s functionality, this guide will provide step-by-step instructions to help you leverage the power of pre-orders and keep your sales going strong.

Setting up the product

A couple steps are needed to set up a product for pre-ordering:

1. Navigate to Products: Once you’re on the Shopify admin panel, find and click on the “Products” link on the left-hand side menu.
2. Select the product: From the products page, select the product you wish to allow pre-orders for. You can do this by clicking on the product’s name.
3. Assign the Pre-order template: After you’ve opened the product’s page, scroll down to the “Online section” section on the right sidebar. Here, you will see a drop-down menu labeled “Theme template”. Click on this menu and select the “pre-order” template from the list.
4. Check the “Continue Selling” Setting: In order to allow pre-orders, the “Continue selling when out of stock” setting needs to be enabled. This can be done in the “Inventory” section of the product’s page. Here, you’ll find a checkbox labeled “Continue selling when out of stock”. Ensure that this box is checked.
   If your product has variants, you need to check this setting for each variant. Click on the “Variants” section, and for each variant, ensure the “Continue selling when out of stock” box is checked.
5. Save your Changes: After you’ve assigned the “pre-order” template and checked the “Continue selling when out of stock” setting, click on the “Save” button at the top right of the product page to save your changes.

Now, even when the product or its variants are out of stock, customers will be able to pre-order them. You will notice that the product’s “Add to cart” button will say “Pre-order” and its availability badge will say “Coming soon”.

Remember to manage your inventory properly to fulfill these pre-orders when the product is stocked.