Pre-orders
Sell more with pre‑orders
Promote products even when they’re out of stock, gauge interest in new items, and create excitement with customers by adding pre-orders to your store.
Add pre-order app
Don’t have a PlatformDTC store? Start for free. Your first month is $1.
So many reasons to offer pre‑orders
Increase sales
Lock in more sales when you let customers reserve out-of-stock products. You can even offer shoppers the ability to pay now, pay a deposit, or pay later.
Forecast demand
Take the guesswork out of it, and let your customers tell you if they’re committed to buying that shiny new product with so much potential.
Create excitement
Build loyalty by giving your customers exclusive pre-order access to exciting new items, so you can grow your business.
Countless ways to sell
We work every day to create new ways to sell your products and grow your business. From selling with Subscriptions to Try Before You Buy, we’re always looking for new ways to get your customers to click that “buy” button.
Resources to get started with pre‑orders
Support
Have a pre-order question? We’re here to help.
Start selling more today
The time has never been better to give your customers the ability to pre-order your products and grow your business.
Don’t have a PlatformDTC store? Start for free. Your first month is $1.
Frequently asked questions
- Should a pre-order charge at purchase or at ship?
- Charging at purchase is simpler and carries a payments risk most teams miss: card network rules bound how long a merchant-initiated transaction can be attempted against an earlier authorization, so a long pre-order window can outlive the consent that authorised it. Charging at ship avoids that but means holding a payment method that may expire before you use it — which is a pre-dunning problem, not a checkout problem.
- How should pre-order inventory be counted?
- As committed the moment the order is placed, not when stock arrives. A pre-order that does not decrement available quantity will let the same units be sold again to a customer expecting immediate shipment, and that second sale is the one you cannot fulfil. The same reservation logic that protects subscription renewals applies here.
- What is the most common pre-order failure?
- A ship date that moved and was never communicated. The refund request usually follows the silence rather than the delay — customers tolerate a slipped date they were told about and cancel one they discovered themselves. Treat the expected date as a commitment with an owner rather than a field on a product page.