How do I set up pre-order products?
What you are seeing
Either of these two, and both come from the same setting:
- A product you want to keep selling has gone out of stock, and the storefront now shows a Sold out button instead of letting customers buy it.
- A product shows a Pre-order button when you expected Add to cart, and you want the normal button back.
How the theme decides which button to show
The theme reads the product's inventory settings in your Shopify admin. A pre-order product is simply a product that is allowed to continue selling when it is out of stock. It stays visible on the storefront, and its Add to cart button becomes Pre-order instead of turning into Sold out.
So there is one checkbox behind all three states:
| What you want | What to do |
|---|---|
| Add to cart | Keep the product in stock. |
| Pre-order | Let the product continue selling when out of stock. |
| Sold out | Leave the product to stop selling when it runs out. |
How to set up a pre-order product
Steps:
- From your Shopify admin, go to Products.
- Click the product you want to edit.
- Scroll down to the Inventory section.
- Tick Continue selling when out of stock.
- Click Save.
Result: the product stays on your storefront when stock reaches zero, and customers see a Pre-order button instead of Sold out.
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To turn a Pre-order button back into Add to cart, untick the same checkbox and put stock back in. Products with variants keep this setting per variant, so check the variant a customer is complaining about, not only the first one.
When to contact support
Contact support if the checkbox is set the way you want but the storefront button does not match, for example a product still shows Sold out with Continue selling when out of stock ticked, or a Pre-order button that does nothing when clicked.
Send this with your first message:
- Your store URL, and the URL of the product page.
- The variant involved, if the product has more than one.
- A screenshot of the button on the storefront, and a screenshot of the Inventory section for that variant.
- Theme name and version: Laurel 1.0.0, shown under the theme name in Online Store > Themes.
- A staff account for the support team.
Change the Pre-order button text
The Pre-order label is controlled by the theme’s default language content. You can replace it with wording that better matches your store, such as Reserve now, Order in advance, or Coming soon.
Steps:
- From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.
- Find the Laurel theme, click the three-dot menu, then select Edit default theme content.
- In the search field, enter
Pre-order. - Find the Pre-order button label field.
- Type your new wording into that field, replacing Pre-order.
- Click Save.
Result: the new label replaces Pre-order on every eligible product that is set to continue selling when out of stock.
Changing this text only changes the button label. It does not enable or disable pre-order functionality.
Show a Pre-order badge on product cards
When a product is available for pre-order, the theme can also display a Pre-order badge on its product card. This helps customers identify pre-order items before opening the product page.
Steps:
- From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes > Customize.
- Open a template or section that displays product cards, such as a Collection page or Featured collection section
- Open the Product card settings.
- Enable Show pre-order badge.
- Click Save.
Result: eligible products display a Pre-order badge on product cards while continuing to use the Pre-order button on the product page.
The badge appears when an eligible product is out of stock and Continue selling when out of stock is enabled.
Related pages
- Badges: the labels shown on product cards, including stock related ones
- Product cards : what a product shows in a grid before the customer opens it
- Staff account: how to give the support team access to your store
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