Stock management

Stock Management decides when the Pre-Order button shows, evaluated per variant from the variant's Shopify stock. It is one of the reusable pre-order building blocks, for the overview see How Pre-Orders Work. Set it under Feature settings.

How it works

Timesact calculates a status for each variant from its Shopify stock and the mode you choose, and the storefront shows the matching button. There are three modes.

Mode 1 — Pre-order only when out of stock

Pre-Order replaces Sold Out once the variant's Shopify stock reaches 0, and reverts to Add to Cart when stock goes above 0.

• Scenario: a variant has 8 units. Shoppers see Add to Cart and buy normally. The 8th sells, stock hits 0, the button becomes Pre-Order. You restock 20 units and it flips back to Add to Cart.
• Use it as a safety net, so you never show Sold Out and never lose the sale when you run out.

Mode 2 — Pre-order regardless of levels

Pre-Order shows immediately, in stock or not. Add to Cart or Sold Out is replaced right away.

• Scenario: a launch product with 0 stock on hand. From the moment you assign it, every shopper sees Pre-Order and can reserve it.
• You can cap how many pre-orders to accept. Once the cap is reached, the button reverts to Add to Cart or Sold Out. See Pre-order Limit.
• Use it for launches and campaigns where you always want the item presented as a pre-order for a window of time.

Mode 3 — Pre-order only when inventory is available

Pre-Order shows only while the variant has stock above 0, and becomes Sold Out when stock reaches 0.

• Scenario: you have 50 units and want to pre-sell them as pre-orders rather than normal sales. While stock is above 0, shoppers see Pre-Order. When the 50th sells, it becomes Sold Out and no more can be ordered.
• Use it to sell a limited allocation on pre-order terms, then stop cleanly when it is gone.

Active vs Pending

Each variant shows a status in the admin that reflects the mode and its current stock:

• Active: the variant's stock condition is met right now, so the Pre-Order button is live.
• Pending: the template is set up correctly but the stock condition is not met yet, so the storefront still shows the normal button. Pending is not an error, it is the feature waiting for the right stock level.

Because status is per variant, a product can have some variants Active and others Pending at the same time. The button a shopper sees depends on the variant they select.

With inventory locations

If you scope the customer experience template to specific inventory locations, only those locations' stock is counted when deciding Active vs Pending.

• Scenario: you scope to your US warehouse only. The variant flips to Active when the US warehouse hits 0, even if another warehouse still has units.

Related

• Cap the number of pre-orders with the Pre-Order Limit
• Keep out-of-stock variants buyable with Continue selling, covered in Inventory and Fulfillment
• Overview of all the building blocks: How Pre-Orders Work

Updated on: 07/01/2026