How to set up pre-orders with multiple Shopify locations and 3PLs?

If you're using multiple Shopify inventory locations (like your own warehouse plus a 3PL fulfillment center), you might run into situations where your 3PL can't add inventory until stock physically arrives with them. This creates challenges when running Shopify pre-orders across both locations.

This article covers two approaches to handle this scenario and help you decide which works best for your multi-location Shopify store setup.

Understanding the Shopify multiple locations challenge

When you have multiple Shopify inventory locations and want to run pre-orders, you typically need inventory levels set correctly across all locations. However, some 3PL fulfillment centers can only add stock to their system once products physically arrive at their warehouse.

This creates a problem: if your 3PL location shows zero inventory and you're routing orders there, those orders might get declined even though you intended them as pre-orders. Understanding how Shopify's "Continue selling when out of stock" feature works with multiple locations is crucial for successful pre-order management.

Solution 1: Get your 3PL to add expected inventory (Recommended)

The best approach for Shopify pre-orders is to work with your 3PL to add expected inventory before stock arrives.

Most 3PL fulfillment centers can accommodate this if you:

• Provide them with expected arrival dates and quantities
• Ask them to add the inventory as "expected" or "incoming" stock
• Coordinate timing so inventory appears in their system when you launch your pre-order

This solution maintains normal pre-order functionality and avoids the complications of overselling.

Solution 2: Use Shopify's "Continue selling when out of stock" feature

If your 3PL absolutely cannot add inventory before stock arrives, you can use Shopify's built-in "Continue selling when out of stock" feature. Here's how this works and what to consider:

How it works

When you enable "Continue selling when out of stock" for a product:

• Customers can purchase the item even when inventory shows zero
• Orders will still follow your normal routing rules
• If an order routes to your 3PL and they don't have stock yet, the order may get a 'Request Declined' or similar status" (different systems might handle this completely differently)
• Once stock arrives and your 3PL adds inventory, those declined orders get re-synced and fulfilled

Setting up Shopify pre-orders with Early Bird

You can enable "Continue selling when out of stock" in two ways:

Option 1: Let Early Bird automatically manage Shopify settings

• Choose either "Keep selling pre-orders until the campaign ends" or "Only sell pre-orders while out of stock" in your Early Bird campaign > Availability settings
• Select "Let Early Bird automatically manage this" in the Availability > Continue selling when out of stock section
• Early Bird will automatically enable Shopify's "Continue selling when out of stock" option for your pre-order products

Option 2: Enable manually in Shopify admin

• Go to your product in Shopify admin
• Under Inventory, check "Continue selling when out of stock"
• This applies to that specific product/variant

Important considerations for Shopify multiple locations

⚠️ Quantity limitations: When using "Continue selling when out of stock," Shopify won't limit your pre-order quantities since customers can place orders even when inventory shows zero. This means you'll need to monitor and manually control order volumes if you typically run limited-quantity pre-orders.

📍 Location-specific Shopify settings: If you have multiple locations, inventory assignment and fulfillment settings impact which items are considered out of stock. If one location has zero inventory but fulfills online orders, while another location has stock but doesn't fulfill online orders, the item will still show as out of stock to customers.

🔄 Order status tracking: Orders routed to locations without stock may show "Request Declined" status until inventory arrives and gets synced. (This may differ for different systems.)

Need help?

If you have questions about setting up pre-orders with multiple Shopify locations, we recommend first reaching out to your 3PL to discuss adding expected inventory before stock arrives. If you need additional support with Early Bird setup or have other questions, feel free to connect with us at support@shopside.com.au!

Last updated on May 30, 2025