What is a pre-order?
A pre-order lets a shopper buy a product before it is in stock to ship. The store takes the order now and commits to fulfill it on a stated date, when the run arrives or the launch goes live. It turns a "coming soon" page into a working buy button, so demand is captured at the moment of interest.
Example
Say you are launching a jacket and the next batch lands in three weeks. Without pre-orders, the product page shows "Sold out" and 60 interested shoppers leave empty-handed. A pre-order button reading "Ships March 3" lets those 60 buy today. If even 30 commit at $90, that is $2,700 booked before a single jacket reaches your shelf.
The orders also size the reorder. Thirty pre-sold tells you the batch should be bigger than you guessed.
On Shopify stores
On a Shopify store, a pre-order swaps the disabled "Sold out" button for an active one labeled with a ship date. Behind it, the order is tagged for delayed fulfillment and held until stock lands. The honest part is the date: a pre-order that ships late, or hides when it ships, costs more trust than the sale was worth. Set the expectation on the button and on the confirmation.
Related terms
Pre-orders with Sledge
Sledge Pre-order turns a sold-out or upcoming product into a working buy button with a ship date, so interest converts the day it arrives instead of leaking away. Shoppers pay in full now, or put down a deposit and settle the balance later where the payment gateway and region allow it.
14-day free trial · No code · Works with any theme · Uninstalls clean