How to set up and manage preorders by product variant

The Products tab in STOQ gives you a central place to configure preorder by product variant. Instead of editing each offer individually, you can view all your product variants in one table - link them to offers, set custom shipping info, manage quantity limits, and control inventory settings in bulk.

How the Products Tab Works

The Products tab shows every product variant from your Shopify store in a searchable, filterable table. From here, you can manage preorder settings at the variant level without leaving the page.

Each row in the table displays:

• Product — The product name, variant title, and image.
• SKU — The variant's SKU from Shopify.
• Status — Two icons showing inventory status and whether "Continue selling when out of stock" is enabled.
• Offer linked — A dropdown to link or unlink the variant to a preorder offer.
• Actions — An Edit button to expand the row and view per-variant details.

Open the Products Tab

Follow these steps to access the Products tab.

Steps

1. Open the STOQ app in your Shopify admin.
2. In the left menu, click Preorders.
3. Click the Products tab.

You will see a table listing all product variants from your store.

Link a Variant to a Preorder Offer

You can link any product variant to a preorder offer directly from the Products tab.

Link a Single Variant

1. Find the variant in the table using search or filters.
2. In the Offer linked column, click the dropdown for that variant.
3. Select the preorder offer you want to link.
4. Click Save in the top bar.

When you save, STOQ may ask if you want to update the Continue selling when out of stock setting for the variant. Choose one of:

• Turn on 'Continue selling when out of stock' — Lets customers purchase the variant even when inventory is zero.
• Turn off 'Continue selling when out of stock' — Prevents purchases when inventory is zero.
• Don't change 'Continue selling' setting — Keeps the current Shopify setting as-is.

Link Multiple Variants in Bulk

1. Select the checkboxes next to the variants you want to link.
2. Click Add to offer in the bulk action bar.
3. In the modal, select the preorder offer from the dropdown.
4. If the offer uses STOQ as the inventory provider, choose whether to enable Continue selling when out of stock for the selected variants.
5. Click Add.

Unlink a Variant from a Preorder Offer

You can remove a variant's preorder offer link at any time.

Unlink a Single Variant

1. Find the variant in the table.
2. In the Offer linked column, click the dropdown.
3. Select No offer linked.
4. Click Save.

Unlink Multiple Variants in Bulk

1. Select the checkboxes next to the variants you want to unlink.
2. Click Remove from offer in the bulk action bar.
3. If any selected variants have "Continue selling when out of stock" enabled, STOQ will ask if you want to disable it:

• • Yes — Disables "Continue selling when out of stock" for the selected variants.
  • No, I'll disable it myself — Keeps the current setting unchanged.

4. Click Remove.

Edit Per-Variant Details

Each variant can have its own shipping info and quantity limit. Click the Edit button in the Actions column to expand the variant's details panel.

Shipping Info

The Shipping info field lets you set a custom shipping date or timeline for a specific variant. This text appears in the preorder widget, cart, and at checkout.

• Enter a value like Ships in 2-3 weeks or Expected March 15.
• This field is only editable when the linked offer's shipping settings are configured per product (not as a single timeline for all products).

Quantity Limit

The Quantity limit field sets the maximum number of units a customer can preorder for this variant. Leave it empty for unlimited preorders.

• Enter a number (e.g., 1 to limit to one unit per variant).
• This field is only editable when the linked offer uses STOQ as the inventory provider.

Units Sold

Below the fields, you can see Units sold — the total preorder count for this variant under the linked offer. This is read-only.

Offer Details

The details panel also shows a summary of the linked offer's settings:

• Widget — The preorder button text shown on the storefront.
• Payment — The payment type (Full, Partial, or Full and Partial).
• Click Edit offer to go directly to the offer editor.

Understand the Status Icons

Each variant row has two status icons in the Status column. These help you quickly see whether a variant is set up correctly for preorders.

Toggle Continue Selling in Bulk

You can turn the Shopify "Continue selling when out of stock" setting on or off for multiple variants at once.

Steps

1. Select the checkboxes next to the variants you want to update.
2. Click Toggle 'Continue selling' in the bulk action bar.
3. Choose Turn on 'Continue selling' or Turn off 'Continue selling'.
4. Click Update.

Filter and Search Variants

The Products tab provides search and filter tools to find variants quickly.

• Search — Type a product name or SKU in the search bar. Results update automatically.
• Filter by offer — Click the Filter by offer filter to show only variants linked to a specific offer, or variants with no offer linked.
• Products per page — Choose to display 20, 50, or 100 variants per page.

Troubleshooting

FAQs

Q: Can I link a variant to more than one preorder offer?

A: No. Each variant can be linked to only one preorder offer at a time. To change the linked offer, select a different offer from the dropdown in the Offer linked column.

Q: What happens if I remove a variant from an offer?

A: The variant is unlinked from the preorder offer. Customers will no longer see the preorder button for that variant. Existing preorder orders for the variant are not affected.

Q: Do I need to enable "Continue selling when out of stock" for every variant?

A: It depends on your offer's inventory provider. If the offer uses STOQ as the inventory provider, "Continue selling when out of stock" should typically be enabled so customers can place preorders when inventory is zero. STOQ can enable this automatically when you add variants to an offer.

Q: Can I set different shipping info for each variant in the same offer?

A: Yes, as long as the offer's shipping settings are configured per product (not as a single timeline). Each variant can have its own shipping info text, such as different expected ship dates.

Q: How do I see which variants are already linked to an offer?

A: Use the Filter by offer filter at the top of the Products tab. Select the offer name to see only variants linked to that offer. You can also select No offer linked to find variants that are not yet assigned.

Updated on: 23/04/2026