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How can Shopify Pre-Orders help your business retain its income?
Running out of stock in your Shopify store is not just a minor inconvenience; it’s a significant challenge that can halt your brand’s profits and potentially drive away customers.
But running out of stock doesn’t mean your orders must run dry.
You can still keep customers engaged even when your products are temporarily unavailable.
Running out of stock indicates that your product is in high demand.
The key is to find solutions that keep customers interested and committed when they visit your product page.
Rest assured, there are effective strategies to manage out-of-stock products on Shopify without losing potential customers.
Moreover, Timesact can help with all these solutions, making it easy to accept pre-orders, manage customer communications, deliver back-in-stock notifications, and continue earning without stock.
Learn more about the benefits and how to handle out-of-stock products like a pro!
The Power of Pre-Orders on Shopify
Pre-orders on Shopify are a strategic way to retain sales and customer engagement, even during inventory shortages.
By allowing customers to order products in advance and notifying users when products are back in stock, your brand can secure sales ahead of restocking, ensuring a continuous revenue stream.
This setup keeps cash coming in, and because every pre-order arrives as a tagged Shopify order you can see what’s committed in Shopify Orders when you plan your next buy.
Pre-orders, or pre-sales, can turn the challenge of stockouts into an opportunity to grow, providing a proactive solution to manage customer expectations and build hype for upcoming products.
This strategy empowers Shopify store owners to leverage anticipation, turning potential lost sales into committed purchases and fostering a loyal customer base eager for new releases.
Start with the preorder basics to continue earning even when stocks have sold out.
Leveraging Back-in-Stock Notifications
Back-in-stock notifications are essential for Shopify store owners to keep customers engaged and informed.
When products sell out, these notifications allow customers to sign up to receive alerts once their desired items are available again.
Implementing back-in-stock notifications can:
- Minimise Lost Sales: Customers interested in out-of-stock products can opt to be notified, reducing the likelihood of purchasing from competitors.
- Enhance Customer Experience: Proactively communicating product availability improves customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- See Who’s Waiting : Your Notify Me sign-ups sit in the Back in Stock list — search a variant to see who’s waiting on it, or export the list as a CSV.
- Automate Engagement: Automatically sending restock alerts saves time and ensures customers are promptly informed, increasing the chances of a sale.
Once Timesact is installed, enable the App Embed in your theme, then open the Products tab, add the products you want covered, and pick or create a Back in Stock template for each variant. The template holds the Notify Me button label and the message shoppers see after they sign up; the email subject and body live in the Notifications tab. Start with the basics here.
Set the Notify Me button label and the post-signup message in the Back in Stock template, and write the alert’s subject and body in the Notifications tab, so the wording sounds like the rest of your store.
Your Back in Stock list shows who signed up and whether their alert has sent, and exports as a CSV — read it alongside Shopify Analytics to see how those shoppers come back and buy.
Results: 15% Average Revenue Increase with Shopify Pre-Orders
Let’s explore some of the data and statistics behind offering these solutions to your store’s customers and how the Timesact app can benefit you as a store owner.
Timesact is used by more than 18,000 Shopify merchants. Pre-orders keep sold-out and upcoming products earning while you wait on stock, and you can see the revenue side in Shopify Analytics.
Communicating clearly with your customers and offering ways for them to still purchase from your stores even when products are out of stock has significant implications for your business.
Timesact + Social Media Marketing = Product Hype
Turn the stress of out-of-stock products into a unique marketing opportunity.
Not only are “empty shelves” a good sign to you that your product is in demand, but it is also a great signal to your store’s users that a product is scarce, in demand, and valuable.
Paired with social media, Shopify Pre-Orders with Timesact allows a unique opportunity to create hype around pre-orders.
Promoting the fact that a new batch will be launching soon, paired with messaging related to the product’s scarcity (e.g., “be the first to get notified” or “get yours while stocks last”), will lead to further interest in your product and more sales.
Turning your out-of-stock products into a marketing opportunity is a great way to increase your revenue on Shopify further without investing heavily or running an expensive campaign.
Timesact Brings Back-In-Stock Notifications and Pre-Orders to Your Shopify Stores
In conclusion, running out of stock can be a significant challenge for Shopify store owners, but it doesn’t have to be the end of sales.
By implementing pre-orders and back-in-stock notifications, you can keep your customers engaged and informed, reducing the likelihood of losing sales to competitors.
The Timesact app can help Shopify store owners efficiently manage out-of-stock products, enabling them to maintain a continuous revenue stream and build a loyal customer base.
By leveraging these strategies and tools, Shopify store owners can turn potential lost sales into committed purchases and foster business growth.
FAQs
How do Shopify pre-orders help retain revenue?
Pre-orders let customers purchase out-of-stock items in advance, maintaining cash flow, securing sales ahead of restocking, and turning potential lost revenue into committed purchases.
Why are back-in-stock notifications essential for Shopify stores?
They keep customers engaged, reduce lost sales, and automatically alert shoppers when products return, bringing them back to the product page instead of losing them at Sold Out.
How does Timesact work with my Shopify inventory?
Timesact reads your Shopify inventory and switches the variant between pre-order, Notify Me and Add to Cart based on the rule you set — Shopify stays the source of truth for stock. Every order with a pre-order item is tagged Pre-order in Shopify (mixed orders also carry Partial Pre-order), and your Back in Stock subscriber list is in the app, so you can plan the next buy from Shopify Orders and Shopify Analytics.
How can out-of-stock products drive marketing opportunities?
Limited availability signals high demand. Paired with social media and pre-order messaging, it creates hype, urgency, and excitement, boosting engagement and sales.
What results can Shopify stores expect with Timesact?
Merchants pair pre-orders with back-in-stock alerts so a sold-out page keeps capturing demand instead of losing it — pre-orders for shoppers ready to commit, Notify Me for the ones who aren’t yet. You’ll see the sales side in Shopify Analytics.