Pre-order customers are your most loyal, willing to backorder a product, and are less likely to turn to a competitor. For this reason, It's essential to communicate your pre-order terms and process upfront to manage expectations and improve sales.
1. Define your Pre-Order Terms & Conditions.
Communicating your pre-order terms and conditions clearly helps build customer trust and makes sure you set expectations from the get-go.
✅ DOs
Add a pre-orders "FAQ" section on your store's Terms & Conditions page.
Consider requiring users to opt-in to pre-order before checking out. (Learn how)
Allow customers to refund or cancel a pre-order before a specific date/time.
Consider offering a pre-order guarantee to help set expectations.
❌ DON'Ts
Make it hard to find terms and conditions on your website.
Offer pre-orders on products that are not finalized.
📖 Useful Resources:
2. Configure Your Pre-Order Product Settings
To change the default settings for pre-orders, go to the 'Products' page in the app. Any changes you make here will apply to all pre-orders by default unless you make specific customizations at the Product level.
Here's how each option works, along with some helpful tips to assist you in configuring them effectively for your store:
📖 Read the guide: Setup your default Pre-Order Settings
3. Be Transparent With Pre-Order Lead Times and Order Updates
It's important to be transparent with pre-order lead times and how customers will receive order updates. This allows customers to better plan their purchases and can help ensure a smooth buying experience for your customers.
Providing Specific Dates
When detailing your pre-order lead times, be sure to provide specific dates of when the product will arrive. This ensures that customers know exactly when to expect the product and reduces disappointment if there are delays. Here's a great example:
Notifying Buyers About Delays
If there are any delays to shipping or delivery, it is important to notify the buyer quickly. Providing timely and accurate updates on the status of the product keeps customers informed and builds trust between the seller and the buyer.
Tip: Export a list of pre-orders and customer emails in-bulk
If you ever want to send pre-order updates to your customers you can grab emails individually or in bulk in the analytics dashboard.
4. Managing Pre-Orders Using the App
Identifying and fulfilling your Pre-Orders
The Pre-Order Manager makes it easy to find and fulfill your pre-orders. Syncing seamlessly with the Shopify > Orders page means you won't have to adjust your order fulfillment workflow for pre-orders.
In Shopify's Orders menu, pre-orders can be easily identified with the 'pre-order' tag.
To only view your pre-orders, click on the "Filter" button in the Orders menu and select the "Tagged with" option. Enter the pre-order tag that you have assigned to your pre-orders, and click on "Add filter".
Quickly Access Your Pre-Orders With a Custom View
Set up a custom-filter view and view all your pre-orders with a single click.
Here's how:
Steps by step:
Click the "+" icon in the orders menu.
Add a label name for your custom view.
Click the filters button and click "add filters"
Select the Tagged with option and enter your pre-order tag. ('pre-order' by default)
Click save.
Utilize the Pre-Order Analytics Dashboard
You can also view all your pre-orders via the Analytics dashboard of the app. Here you'll find:
All pre-orders filtered by date.
A summary of orders, customers, and the total value of pre-orders.
An 'export to CSV' button.
