Overview
STOQ Preorders lets you sell products before they're in stock by adding a Preorder button to out-of-stock (or in-stock) products. Customers buy today, pay in full or partially, and stay informed through automated notifications, so you capture demand instead of losing it to a "sold out" page.
You manage everything from Preorders in the left menu of the STOQ app. If you're setting this up for the first time, start with How to set up preorders.
Before you begin
Some preorder features are limited on the free plan. Automatic payment collection, bulk fulfillment actions, and Hold all fulfillments all require a paid plan.
What do you want to do?
Find your goal and jump straight to the right article.
| I want to… | Start here |
|---|---|
| Sell a specific product (or a few) before it's back in stock | Set up preorders → Add products to an offer |
| Automatically offer preorder on all out-of-stock products | Preorder inventory settings (the All products type) |
| Charge the full amount at checkout | Set up payment |
| Take a deposit now and collect the balance later | Set up payment → Collect remaining payments |
| Control when preorders ship (now, on a date, or held) | Choose a fulfillment setup |
| Run preorders without Shopify's purchase option | Hold without the purchase option |
| Sell preorders on Shopify POS | Preorders on Shopify POS |
| Show the button on collection / home / search / Quick Buy pages | Show the button on store pages |
| Require customers to accept preorder terms | Set order limits |
| Offer a discount on preorders | Preorder discounts |
The articles above get your offer live. Once orders come in, manage them elsewhere: find and read preorder orders, collect remaining payments, and handle failed charges. Before you publish, test your offer; if the button doesn't show, see Troubleshooting the Preorder button.
The four tabs
The Preorders section has four tabs.
| Tab | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Overview | An analytics dashboard: total sales, average order value, orders, preorder sales, unpaid and unfulfilled orders, plus revenue charts and a products-by-revenue table |
| Products | Every product variant, where you add or remove products from an offer and toggle Continue selling when out of stock |
| Offers | Your preorder offers, each with a status (Enabled / Disabled / Scheduled), markets, products, and revenue |
| Settings | Notifications, storefront Pages (the Preorder button), Integrations, and other options |
Key concepts
- Offer: the rule set you apply to products: button design, inventory, payment, shipping/fulfillment, schedule, markets, and more. A product becomes a preorder by being added to an offer.
- Continue selling when out of stock: the Shopify setting that lets an out-of-stock product still be purchased. The Preorder button relies on it, so STOQ helps you turn it on when you add products to an offer.
- Fulfillment status: when the preorder fulfills: Unfulfilled, ready to fulfill right away; Scheduled, on a specific date or a set number of days after purchase; or On hold, held until you release it. See Choose a fulfillment setup.
- Payment: full payment, a partial payment or deposit, or both. See Set up payment for preorders.
- Notifications: automated emails/SMS: preorder confirmed, shipping update, and payment-collection-failed.
Stuck on setup or have a question? Look for Quinn, STOQ's AI assistant, from the chat icon in the corner of the app: it can walk you through setting up an offer or answer questions about how Preorders works.
FAQ
Can I use preorders for in-stock products too?
Yes. An offer can apply to in-stock products (for example, to take a deposit or sell ahead of a launch), not just out-of-stock ones.
What's the difference between a product and an offer?
An offer is the configuration (payment, fulfillment, button, schedule). Products become preorders by being added to an offer. One offer can cover many products.
Do customers know it's a preorder?
Yes. The storefront shows a Preorder button, and you can display a shipping timeline and payment breakdown. Customers also get a preorder confirmation notification.
Where do I see preorder orders and revenue?
Preorder analytics are on the Preorders page's Overview tab; individual orders are under Reports → Preorders (or open an offer from the Offers tab and use its Orders tab), where you collect payments and manage fulfillment.
