What is a Preorder on Shopify?
A pre-order enables you to accept a deposit for any portion of the product's total sale price, deliver the item, then bill the remaining balance using the customer's saved payment method at a later time.
Pre-orders serve as a form of reservation that ensures customers access to the product as soon as it is available, whether it is out of stock or about to be released. They also help you increase cash flow, foster customer loyalty, and more accurately predict demand.
What are the benefits of Preoders on Shopify?
Pre-order sales have several significant advantages that can have a significant positive impact on your operations and customer loyalty. This section goes into details the benefits of setting up preorders on Shopify and Shopify Plus.
Increase sales
Shoppers now have more selections than ever before. A single tap may now access any product, from high-end luxury items and technology to one-of-a-kind handmade creations, putting the entire world at their fingertips. This means that there is now more competition than ever before for merchants. When customers need your goods, if it's unavailable or out of stock, they'll just move on to the next retailer.
Pre-orders provide you an advantage by enabling you to lock in more sales regardless of whether the product is ready to be delivered. Because you are now prepared to sell (even if you aren't prepared to ship) when a customer is ready to buy, you have the power to never say "no" to a customer again. Pre-orders also allow you the option to accept payments as a deposit, up front, or after the product goes through the shipping process. As a result, it is simple to modify your plan to meet your specific cash flow requirements.
Forecast Demand
Pre-orders give firms reliable information about actual demand, which helps turn uncertainty into insights. Selling a physical item entails risks by nature. Retailers have a strong financial interest in knowing exactly how much demand there is for each product they offer, regardless of whether you have invested in the research, design, and production of your products or you have merely acquired inventory.
Pre-orders can assist you in determining exactly what customers want before your production run is finished if you're a merchant trying to perfect and make final tweaks to your goods before putting it to market. Pre-orders provide us a great accurate data forecast of the sizes, colours, and alternatives you should make in order to fulfil current consumer demand and be able to ship within a reasonable timeline.
Spark excitement and promote growth
It can be challenging for a retailer to stand out from the competition and capture customers' attention amid targeted advertisements and the numerous screens the typical consumer views every day. Due to this, spreading the word and creating enthusiasm for a new product launch or the comeback of a fan favourite can be particularly challenging.
But pre-orders can work to raise enthusiasm and expectation for a product before it is released, much like movie trailers do to develop buzz before a movie's debut. Many of the same cues that successful normal marketing efforts use are also used in pre-order marketing initiatives, including:
-Creating professional product imagery and copy. If there are no product images or other content available yet, you can use factory samples or even expert retouching services.
-Offering pre-order incentives. Limited-time offers, early access to release information and other products, free customisation, and other similar strategies are excellent ways to increase pre-order sales while fostering enthusiasm.
-Promoting on paid and social media. Regardless of which social medias such as YouTube, Instagram or Pinterest, online websites or web page is most frequently used by your target audience, make sure to post information about your pre-order there. Marketing campaigns and promotions are paramount to make people aware of new pre-order button.
Offering exclusive pre-order access to customers on your mailing list or through a member loyalty program not only increases the likelihood that these repeat customers will convert but also helps build brand loyalty and demonstrates your appreciation for their patronage and understanding of their purchasing preferences.
Preorder Methods
Pay now. The most typical kind of pre-order is pay now. Prepayment is required in full at the time of the pre-order, and payment is processed just like a regular purchase. It nearly makes sense to compare it to a regular sale with a longer fulfillment period. When placing a pre-order, the customer will be given information on when to anticipate delivery. Preorders with a payment plan are excellent for businesses that want to:
-Get paid up-front. Pay now might help you make sure you always have the cash you need on hand if cash flow management is crucial to you.
-Update out-of-stock products automatically. When a product is out of stock, many pre-order apps can be set to automatically accept pre-orders. This prevents customers from switching to another seller.
-Keep customers informed. The wording on the pay now pre-order site can be changed to provide further details like anticipated arrival dates.
-Capture customers in the moment. Are you concerned on the amount of sales you could miss out on because an item is sold out? Pay now enables you to close the deal whenever a customer is prepared to buy, regardless of availability.
Pay Later
The other type of pre-order is pay later. With this process, clients can "reserve" an item with a deposit or without making a payment at all, and they will only be charged the balance due when the goods ships. Pre-orders with a pay-later option are beneficial for companies that want to:
-Capture orders for upcoming products that may be delayed. Giving customers notice that a product may be delivered later than expected is made easier with pay later.
-Charge customers at the point of fulfillment. Pay later allows you the flexibility to bill customers either before or after paying suppliers, allowing you to customize your cash flow.
-Test the market for new products. Pay later enables you to determine demand for a new product so you can generate the ideal quantity or service capacity.
How to Setup Preorders for Your Shopify Store
Pre-ordering is complicated, and there isn't always a single approach that works for everyone. To ensure that a pre-order app you install will function well with your Shopify store, there are a number of aps to choose from which can be setup in just a few steps, and even an option to create one from scratch using APIs, advanced code editor and custom settings so that is does not use any generic themes or basic template. The route of setting up pre orders will depend your business's and your buyers requirements.
Our favorite pre-order Shopify apps
We suggest these pre-orders apps from the Shopify App Store if you're prepared to start taking pre-orders on your online storefront.
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Pre-Order Manager
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Purple Dot
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PreProduct
Pick the one that works best for you from these three fantastic, dependable apps that are all perfectly integrated with Shopify. For more options, check out
Shopify’s pre-order app collection for a more extensive list. See also our guide on the
Best Shopify Apps of 2022 to learn how to integrate the very best technology to further enhance your customer's experience.
Build a Custom Pre-order Solution
Shopify has introduced pre-order APIs and tooling to make it possible for developers to build completely bespoke pre-order experiences directly within the cart and Shopify Checkout. At Charle, our in-house team of developers is on-hand to build and integrate advanced pre-order, custom-built for your Shopify store. If you’re looking to integrate new technology to create a more powerful ecommerce experience and stand out from the competition, consider using Charle as your Shopify Agency.
Bespoke Shopify Plus Websites