How to Sell preorders in a specific Market

If you sell in multiple markets (countries or regions), STOQ allows you to control where your preorder offers are available. You can restrict offers to specific markets, and STOQ automatically handles inventory based on the locations tied to each market. This means a product can show as available for preorder in one market while appearing in stock in another, depending on the inventory at each location.

Understanding Markets and Locations

Before setting up market-specific preorders, it's important to understand how Shopify's markets and locations work together.

What Are Markets?

Markets in Shopify represent the countries or regions where you sell. Each market can have its own:

• Currency and pricing
• Language settings
• Domain or subdomain
• Shipping rates
• Payment methods

For example, you might have a "United States" market and a "Canada" market, each with different settings.

What Are Locations?

Locations are the physical places where you store and ship inventory, such as warehouses, retail stores, or fulfillment centers. Each location can have its own inventory levels for each product.

How Markets and Locations Connect

In Shopify, you can link specific locations to specific markets. This determines which inventory is available to customers in each market. For example:

• US Market → US Warehouse (New York)
• Canada Market → Canada Warehouse (Toronto)

When a customer in the US views a product, they see the inventory from the US Warehouse. A customer in Canada sees inventory from the Canada Warehouse.

How Preorders Work with Multiple Markets

STOQ respects Shopify's market and location settings when determining whether to show the preorder button.

Location-Based Inventory Example

Consider a store selling in both the US and Canada:

• Product A has 0 units in the US Warehouse but 50 units in the Canada Warehouse.
• A preorder offer is set up for Product A.

What customers see:

• US customers: See the Preorder button because the US Warehouse has no inventory.
• Canadian customers: See the regular Add to Cart button because the Canada Warehouse has inventory.

This automatic behavior ensures customers only see preorder options when the product is actually out of stock in their market's linked location.

Restricting Preorder Offers to Specific Markets

You can configure a preorder offer to only be available in certain markets. This is useful when you want to offer preorders in some regions but not others.

Accessing Market Settings

1. From your Shopify admin, open the STOQ app.
2. Go to Preorders > Offers.
3. Click Edit on the offer you want to configure.
4. Look for the Markets section or tab in the offer editor.

Choosing Market Availability

You have two options for market availability:

All Markets

• The preorder offer is available in all markets where your store sells.
• This is the default setting.
• Preorders will show based on inventory at each market's linked location.

Specific Markets

• The preorder offer is only available in the markets you select.
• Customers in other markets will not see the preorder option, even if the product is out of stock.

Selecting Specific Markets

If you choose "Specific markets":

1. Click on the market selector field.
2. Search for or browse available markets.
3. Select the markets where you want the offer to be available.
4. Selected markets appear as tags in the field.
5. Click Save to apply your changes.

Removing Markets from an Offer

To remove a market from your selection:

1. Find the market tag in the selection field.
2. Click the X on the tag to remove it.
3. Click Save to apply your changes.

Configuring Market-Location Settings

For STOQ to correctly determine inventory by market, you need to configure how markets and locations are linked.

Accessing Location and Market Settings

1. From the STOQ app, go to Preorders > Pages.
2. Look for the Locations and Markets settings.
3. Click to open the configuration panel.

Market Setup Types

STOQ offers two market setup types:

Single Market

• Use this if you sell in one market or don't need location-based inventory.
• All locations are treated as one pool of inventory.
• Preorders show when total inventory across all locations is zero.

Multiple Markets

• Use this if you sell in multiple markets with different locations.
• Each market can be linked to specific locations.
• Preorders show based on inventory at the market's linked locations.

Linking Locations to Markets

When using the "Multiple markets" setup:

1. Enable Market locations to link specific locations to markets.
2. For each market, select the locations that serve that market.
3. Save your settings.

Use Cases for Market-Specific Preorders

Here are common scenarios where market-specific preorder settings are useful.

Regional Product Launches

If you're launching a product in one region before others:

1. Create a preorder offer for the product.
2. Restrict the offer to the markets where you're launching first.
3. Customers in other markets won't see the preorder option until you expand availability.

Different Inventory Levels by Region

If you have different stock levels in different warehouses:

1. Set up the "Multiple markets" configuration.
2. Link each market to its corresponding warehouse location.
3. STOQ automatically shows preorders only where inventory is zero.

Exclusive Preorder Markets

If you want to offer preorders only to certain markets:

1. Create a preorder offer.
2. Select "Specific markets" and choose only the markets where you want to offer preorders.
3. Other markets will see the product as out of stock (if no inventory) or in stock (if inventory exists).

#Creating Separate Offers for Different Markets

If you need different preorder settings for different markets (such as different fulfillment timelines or payment options), create separate offers:

1. Create one offer for Market A with its specific settings.
2. Restrict this offer to Market A only.
3. Create another offer for Market B with different settings.
4. Restrict this offer to Market B only.
5. Add the same products to both offers.

Best Practices

Follow these recommendations for managing preorders across multiple markets.

Keep Configurations Aligned

• Ensure your STOQ market-location settings match your Shopify fulfillment configuration.
• Review settings when you add new markets or locations.
• Test the customer experience in each market after making changes.

Communicate Clearly

• Use market-specific fulfillment timelines if shipping times vary by region.
• Consider translating preorder messaging for each market's language.
• Set appropriate customer expectations for each market.

Monitor Inventory

• Regularly check inventory levels at each location.
• Update preorder offers when inventory arrives at specific locations.
• Consider using preorder limits to avoid overselling in specific markets.

Known Limitations

Market-specific preorders have some constraints to be aware of.

• The "Specific markets" option is a paid feature and may not be available on all plans.
• Quantity limits apply to all selected markets as a group. To have different limits per market, create separate offers.
• Market-location linking must be configured correctly for location-based inventory to work properly.
• Changes to market or location settings in Shopify may require updating your STOQ configuration.
• If a market has multiple linked locations, STOQ considers the combined inventory of all linked locations.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues with market-specific preorders, use this guide to identify and resolve common problems.

FAQs

Q: How does STOQ know which inventory to check for each market?

A: STOQ uses the market-location configuration you set up. When a customer from a specific market views a product, STOQ checks the inventory at the locations linked to that market. If inventory is zero at those locations, the preorder button appears.

**Q: **Can I have different preorder prices for different markets?

A: Preorder pricing follows your Shopify market pricing settings. If you have different prices configured for different markets in Shopify, those prices will apply to preorders as well.

Q: What happens if I don't configure market-location settings?

A: If you don't configure market-location settings, STOQ uses the "Single market" mode by default. This means it considers total inventory across all locations, and preorders show when total inventory is zero regardless of market.

Q: Can I restrict an offer to exclude specific markets instead of including them?

A: Currently, STOQ uses an inclusion model—you select which markets should have access to the offer. To exclude a market, simply don't select it when choosing "Specific markets."

Q: Do I need to create separate offers for each market?

A: Not necessarily. If you want the same preorder settings across multiple markets, you can use one offer and select all applicable markets. Create separate offers only if you need different settings (like different fulfillment timelines or quantity limits) for different markets.

Q: How do I test preorders in a specific market?

A: To test preorders in a specific market, you can use a VPN or Shopify's market preview feature to view your store as a customer in that market. Verify that the preorder button appears correctly based on the inventory at that market's linked location.

Updated on: 25/03/2026