How do I set up pre-orders in one market and normal sales in another on Shopify?

Scenario:

You have a product with stock available in one market (e.g. AU) but out of stock in another (e.g. US). You want to keep the product selling as normal in the AU and run pre-orders in the US. (And set clear expectations for US customers that it's a pre-order.)

In this article, we'll list out the step-by-step to make this work using Shopify’s built-in functionalities and our Early Bird app for added functionality.


We answered the original question from a Shopify merchant here.

Our approach below separates your inventory by location and ensures customers in each market see the correct product availability. Screenshots are taken from our test development store. We'll be using AU and US as location examples, and the 2.47m Cool Grey Beach Mat as product example.


Step 1: Set up markets

  1. Go to Settings > Markets in your Shopify admin.
  2. Ensure your AU and US markets are activated and include the product in both markets.
A screenshot of Shopify's Markets settings displaying Australia, International and USA Markets.
Make sure your newly added markets are Active.
A screenshot of Shopify's Products and Pricing section within Markets to select the products to sell in each markets.
Make sure you've included the product you want to manage in each Market.

Step 2: Create separate locations

  1. Navigate to Settings > Locations.

    Create two locations to represent your AU and US inventory separately:

    • One for your AU inventory.
    • One for your US inventory.
A screenshot of the inventory locations within Shopify's Locations setting.
We added the two warehouses. My Custom Location and Shop location are available by default.

Step 3: Create custom shipping profiles

  1. Go to Settings > Shipping and Delivery.
  2. Under the Shipping section, create a new custom profile for the product.
  3. Under the Products section, click Manage Products and include the product.
  4. Add the two locations you created earlier as separate fulfillment locations.
A screenshot of Shopify's Shipping and delivery settings, showing how to create a custom shipping profile to manage pre-order products in two different countries.
We've named the custom shipping profile as "Pre-order Products".
A screenshot of a custom shipping profile in Shopify's Shipping settings.
Click Manage Products and include the product , so it'll have a custom shipping setting.

Step 4: Set up shipping zones for each location

  1. In the new custom shipping profile, scroll to the Shipping zones section.
  2. Assign only the AU location to the Fulfillment location with the AU warehouse.
  3. Assign only the US location to the Fulfillment location with the US warehouse.
  4. Adjust shipping rates as needed for each zone.
  5. Scroll down to the Not shipping from these locations section and exclude all other fulfillment locations to prevent customers from ordering inventory from the wrong market.
A screenshot of two separate fulfillment locations created under Shopify's Shipping & delivery settings.
Two fulfillment locations, only shipping locally.
A screenshot of the Not shipping from these locations settings within Shopify's Shipping & Delivery settings.
Not shipping the product from any other fulfillment locations.

Step 5: Enable back-order functionality for pre-orders

  1. For the product you’re managing, enable Continue selling when out of stock under the Inventory section of the product settings.

    Make sure you inform customers that the product is a back-order item:

    • You can add a note to the product name or description.
    • If your theme has a built-in functionality to display badges or labels with custom text, utilise it to set expectations for customers - e.g. “Pre-order now” or “Ships in 2 weeks.”
A screenshot of Shopify's
Once "Continue selling when out of stock" is enabled, customers can continue to purchase even if your product's inventory level is at 0 or below.

Step 6: Consider using a pre-order app for advanced features

If you need functionalities such as partial payments (deposits) or want to display pre-order information prominently across the cart and checkout pages, a pre-order app like ours (Early Bird) can serve as an out-of-the-box solution and help you offer a great pre-order customer experience.


Testing the setup

Finally, test the setup before you start driving traffic to the product page:

  • View the product as a US customer to confirm it displays as out of stock or pre-order.
  • View the product as an AU customer to confirm it displays as in-stock and available for immediate purchase.
A screenshot of a Shopify store front selling beach mats as preorders to US customers with partial deposit option.
What the US customers see: The product is available for pre-ordering since the US warehouse's stock level is at -2.
A screenshot of a Shopify store front selling beach mats as normal orders to AU customers, paying in full.
What the AU customers see: The product is available for pre-ordering since the AU warehouse's stock level is at 30.

Now you should be able to manage pre-orders and normal sales across different markets.

If you encounter any issues or have further questions, please email us at support@shopside.com.au.

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