Can I display Shopify back-order labels or messaging on the Shop app?

Back-order products can be purchased through the Shop app, but labels and messaging from Early Bird (or any Shopify pre-order apps) won't appear there. This is a Shopify platform limitation.

Pre-orders are different - they won't work on the Shop app at all.

Why this happens

The Shop app doesn't support custom overlays or messaging from Shopify apps. This applies to all apps, not just Early Bird. So even if you've set up back-order labels on your online storefront via Early Bird, customers won't see them in the Shop app.

For pre-orders, it goes a step further. Shopify pre-orders use the Selling Plans API and purchase options, which Shopify only supports on the Online Store and custom storefronts. External sales channels, including the Shop app, Facebook, Instagram, Google, and the Buy Button aren't supported. Pre-orders simply won't be available to purchase there.

Back-orders work differently. Because they run on "Continue selling when out of stock" (a native Shopify setting, not a purchase option), customers can still buy them through the Shop app. They just won't see any back-order labels or custom messaging.

Check out our other help article here to understand if you should be running pre-orders or back-orders for your Shopify store.

What you can do instead

This would be the simplest fix. Whatever you add to your product description syncs automatically to the Shop app.

Add something like this at the top of the description:

"This item is currently on backorder. Expected to ship in 2-3 weeks."

No extra setup needed, and it shows up wherever your product is listed.

Option 2: Include back-order details in the product title

You can add backorder info directly to the product title. For example:

"Vintage Lamp (Back-order - Ships in 3 weeks)"

Trade-off to be aware of:

The product title appears everywhere - your online store, checkout, order confirmation emails, and the Shop app. If you only want the messaging in one place, this approach won't be ideal. It works best for Shopify merchants who are comfortable with it showing across all sales channels.

Where Early Bird helps with back-orders on the Shop app

While our Early Bird app doesn't control what's displayed on the Shop app (again due to it being a Shopify platform limitation), but it does help you bulk-enable "Continue selling when out of stock" across multiple sold-out products at once, instead of you needing to updating each product one by one manually.

Need help?

If you're not sure whether to use pre-orders or back-orders for your Shopify store setup, feel free to email us at support@shopside.com.au - we're happy to help you figure out the right approach!

For Shop app display issues beyond what's covered here, we recommend contacting Shopify Support directly. They can access your account and troubleshoot sales channel configuration issues that we can't see from our end.