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Activating Pre-Order: Steps and Benefits

Learn how to enable pre-orders in Shopify to keep selling out-of-stock products and maintain customer demand.

Updated this week

What Is the Pre-Order Feature?

The Pre-Order feature lets customers buy products that are currently out of stock. Instead of seeing an “Add to Cart” button, customers will see a “Pre-Order” button, allowing them to place an order now and receive the item later.

Why Use Pre-Orders?

Continuous Sales

Sell even when items are out of stock — don’t miss out on revenue.

✅ Customer Retention

Show customers the product is coming back soon to reduce lost sales.

✅ Demand Forecasting

Use pre-order data to plan restocking more accurately.

✅ Cash Flow Boost

Collect revenue upfront to support manufacturing or restock expenses.

How to Enable Pre-Order in Shopify

*Follow these steps for each product or variant you want to make available for pre-order:

1. Log in to Shopify Admin

  • Go to Products and open the desired product.

2. Update Inventory Settings

  • ✅ Check Track Quantity

  • ✅ Enable Continue selling when out of stock

  • ✅ Set Inventory quantity to 0 or less

3. Save Your Changes

  • Click Save to apply the settings.

Once enabled, the product will display a “Pre-Order” button instead of “Add to Cart.”

Behavior of the Pre-Order Button

The Pre-Order button updates automatically based on product conditions:

  • If inventory increases above 0, the button reverts to “Add to Cart”

  • If “Track Quantity” is disabled, the Pre-Order function is also disabled

  • If both tracking and out-of-stock sales are disabled, it changes to “Sold Out”

This ensures accurate visibility and avoids confusion for customers based on real-time inventory status.

Troubleshooting: Pre-Order Not Showing?

Check the following:

  • ✅ “Track Quantity” is enabled.

  • ✅ “Continue Selling When Out of Stock” is turned on.

  • ✅ Inventory is set to 0 or below.

  • ✅ All variants meet the same conditions.

  • 🔁 No recent theme or app changes reset settings.

💡 Tip: Double-check each variant — one misconfigured variant can hide the Pre-Order button.

Note: For more details, read this article.

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