Articles on: Pre-orders and Backorders

Pre-order Overview

Offering pre-orders allows you to take charge of both inventory and cash flow. Instead of guessing how many units you need or risking excess stock, you secure real customer commitments upfront. This approach provides you with clear insights into production and purchasing, reducing carrying costs, preventing stockouts, and creating genuine anticipation for your launch.

By rewarding early supporters with special perks or exclusive pricing, you can turn your most enthusiastic customers into loyal advocates. Timesact integrates seamlessly with your Shopify store, automating inventory adjustments, dispatching customer notifications, and providing real-time dashboard reports. This integration frees you from manual tasks, allowing you to focus on growing your brand. Let's ensure that every launch is a smooth, data-driven success.

Check out this article if you haven't installed or enabled Timesact yet.

Adding Pre-order Products

Select PRODUCTS > ADD PRODUCT, and choose the items you wish to add as pre-order products.

Select the items you wish to add for preorder, including specific variants if necessary. You can choose multiple products at once.

On the Add Products screen, choose one of three selection methods:

By Products: Select specific products or variants.
By Collection: Add all products within one or more collections.
By Attributes: Filter products by tags, vendors, or other attributes.

Once you’ve made your selections, click “Proceed” to set up the preorder settings.

Pre-order Settings

Under Pre-order Settings, you can customize how pre-orders behave through stock management options, product quantity limits, and time periods.

Stock Management Options

Option	Use Case	Result
Pre-order only when Out of Stock	You want to sell via pre-order only when inventory runs out.	Pre-order is enabled when the stock goes 0 or negative. Reverts to 'Add to Cart' when restocked.
Pre-order regardless of levels	You want to offer pre-orders regardless of the inventory level (e.g., made-to-order items or flexible supply).	Ignores stock levels and always enables pre-orders. The optional limit disables it when met.
Pre-order only when Shopify inventory is available	For an upcoming inventory, sell ahead of time before the stock is available.	Pre-order is enabled when stock is greater than 0 and reverts to 'Sold Out' when all stock is purchased.

Depending on the selected stock management option, the app will automatically check the “Continue selling when out of stock” setting in Shopify to allow sales after inventory reaches zero. Manually checking or unchecking this option in Shopify may interfere with the app’s automation.If the checkbox is changed manually, please select a different stock management option in the app, click Save, then choose your original option and save again to ensure the app functions correctly.If the app is disabled, either because the product has reached its scheduled end date or your store has hit its plan quota, the button behavior will revert to Shopify's default. Products that are out of stock will display "Sold Out," while in-stock items will show "Add to Cart."

Product Quantity Limits

Unlimited: No limit on pre-orders.
Set Product Quantity: Define a limit on the number of pre-orders that can be taken.
Under 'Only When Out of Stock', pre-orders count toward your cap only after the stock reaches zero.
Under 'Regardless of Levels', every sale, whether in stock or in advance, counts immediately against your limit.

Time Period

Start Date: Pick when “Pre-Order” should go live (products will show as “Pending” until then).
End Date (optional): Choose a date after which your pre-order settings automatically disable.

All dates use UTC. If your product still shows "Pending" after the start date, try setting the start date a bit earlier to force activation. Local timezone support is coming soon.

Other Features

Want to add urgency with a countdown timer? Here's how to set it up.
Set up Cart Alerts to reduce drop-offs and increase preorder conversions — see how it’s done.
Make your preorder messages feel personal with Dynamic Variables — learn how to use them here.
Want to customize your buttons, messages, and badges for each feature? Learn how to use Templates here.

Updated on: 06/25/2025

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