What are the differences between the Shopify order statuses "Scheduled" vs "Unfulfilled" vs "On Hold"?

When setting up a preorder campaign in Early Bird, you can choose how preorders are marked in Shopify. Instead of all preorders defaulting to "Unfulfilled" (as many apps do), Early Bird gives you three options:

⏳ Scheduled

Best for preorders with a longer fulfillment timeline (typically more than a few weeks).
Tells warehouse teams that these orders don’t need immediate attention, so they can focus on in-stock orders first.
Ideal for brands with planned production cycles or batch releases.
You set this by choosing a specific date in your pre-order campaign's Expected fulfillment date section.

Choosing "On a specific date" will display it to your customers on the product page, in their cart, and at checkout.

📦 Unfulfilled

Best for preorders that will be ready for fulfillment soon (usually within 1-2 weeks).
Indicates that the order should be prepared for shipping soon.
Commonly used for mixed-cart orders (when customers buy both in-stock and preorder items).
You set this by choosing "As soon as possible" in your pre-order campaign's Expected fulfillment date section.

Choosing "As soon as possible" will display "ASAP" to your customers, but you can customise the text under "Display" and "Localization".

🔒 On Hold

Best for orders that should be held until all items are available (common for collectibles, toys, and bundled orders).
Tells your team that items are reserved but not ready to be shipped yet.
Useful for mixed-cart orders when the exact fulfillment date is unknown.
You set this by choosing "Not sure" in your pre-order campaign's Expected fulfillment date section.

Choosing "Not sure" will display "Unknown" to your customers, but you can customise the text under "Display" and "Localization".

Why Use These Shopify Order Statuses?

Many other apps simply mark all preorders as "Unfulfilled," which can create inefficiencies and confusion for warehouse teams. With Early Bird, merchants can reduce manual tracking, keep fulfillment workflows efficient, and ensure your preorders are handled the right way from the start.

To bulk-change your preorders from "Scheduled" to "Unfulfilled" order statuses, simply update the expected fulfillment date in your Early Bird pre-order campaign's settings, and a banner will pop-up asking if you'd like to update all orders (and notify customers as well).

Read this article for step-by-step with screenshots on how to bulk-change your preorders from "Scheduled" to "Unfulfilled" order statuses.

A screenshot of Early Bird Shopify preorder app's campaign dashboard showing a banner to bulk send email update to customers after the preorder fulfillment date has changed. — With just one-click, you can bulk-send an email update to all customers who've placed a preorder in that campaign.

Need help?

Got further questions? Feel free to connect with us on LinkedIn or email us at hello@shopside.com.au to see how we can help with your preorders!