Choosing the Best Shopify Preorder Sales App for Your Store
Shopify preorder sales are an excellent way of maximizing sales opportunities and customer engagement for merchants. It also opens up additional avenues for managing product availability in Shopify in your store beyond the native “active” and “draft” status.
As a member of the Magical Apps team behind the Magical Preorder app, I’ve searched the world of Shopify apps dedicated to these functions far and wide. I wanted to better understand how they work, and how to best serve merchants looking to take advantage of the benefits of preorder sales. Ultimately, we want to better understand this in order to know where our app succeeds and where it could be improved.
But there are hundreds of apps in this space, making it difficult to choose which one is best. Both as a merchant and app developer. Each has their own set of strengths and weaknesses.
After extensive research and experimentation, I’ve uncovered four of the top options available. In this article, I explore their features, pros and cons, and how they cater to different merchant needs and preferences.
From affordable pricing plans to unique features like intelligent rules to manage every step of the preorder process, we’ll break down the key aspects of each app, helping you make an informed decision based on your specific requirements.
Join me on this journey as we explore the best Shopify preorder apps, empowering you to make the right choice for your e-commerce store.
Magical Preorder is the best preorder app on Shopify
Magical Preorder has 58 five star reviews amounting to an overall rating of 4.5 stars out of 5.
Design, affordability, and its unique automated preorder process set it apart from the pack for us. Read our full review below to see why we picked Magical Preorder as the best preorder app on Shopify.
The best preorder Shopify apps:
- Magical Preorder – Unique automated preorder process, but lacks SMS and push notifications
- PreOrder Globo | Back in Stock – Affordable with a clean interface, but can’t display back in stock on the homepage or collections
- Preorder, Back In Stock ‑ Stoq – Dedicated focus to back in stock alerts but expensive
- Notify! Back in Stock|PreOrder – Solid functionality but slightly subpar user interface
#1 Magical Preorder
Unique automated preorder process, but lacks SMS and push notifications
Free plan available.
Magical Preorder Pros vs. Cons
| Magical Preorder Pros | Magical Preorder Cons |
| Clean Interface Easy to Set Up and Use Unlimited Preorders Unique Three-Stage Automated Preorder Process Auto-activate preorders when low stock Preorder and Coming Soon Badges Bulk Settings Affordable Analytics Dashboard Button, Badge & Email Customization Mixed Cart Warnings Set Preorder Quantity Limits | Lacking SMS/Push Notifications Lacking Reminder Notifications Lacking Email Marketing Integrations Not Multilingual |
Magical Preorder Overview
The world of preorder sales apps on the Shopify App Store is competitive. Magical Preorder stands out among them.
It’s a reliable and feature-rich solution for merchants looking to:
- Boost their sales
- Gauge interest and build hype for new products
Magical Preorder offers a combination of unique functionality and affordability to help stores succeed.
Many apps in this space have similar overlapping, core functionality. The first way in which Magical Preorder sets itself apart from the competition is its unique and intuitive three-stage automated preorder process. This process, made up of Active, Preview and Closed stages, is set up using intelligent rules that will automatically enable preorders under certain conditions, such as scheduled dates and times, when products are low in stock, when preorder limits are reached, or set to run indefinitely.
This automation gives merchants peace of mind – customers stay happy by securing what they want to buy while lost sales are prevented due to out-of-stock items.
The three-stage automated preorder process also includes Preview stages which will enable Coming Soon badges automatically, and Closed stages which will automatically close the preorder.
The app is also free giving merchants an opportunity to try it with no risk and use it at no cost!
Getting started is easy. Shops can enable preorder sales on their products within minutes. Built-in customization options ensure a smooth integration with website themes. Built-in analytics offer valuable insights into pre-order and product request performance. And a clean interface makes navigating everything a breeze.
It is worth noting that Magical Preorder is a new version of the app, replacing Fortescue Preorder Pro. Customers using Fortescue Preorder Pro will have access to some features that are not available on Magical Preorder, such as back-in-stock alerts and Coming Soon badges on the home page and collection pages.
Like with any app, there are positives and negatives. But in my eyes, the positives outweigh the negatives for Magical Preorder. I don’t say that just because Magical Apps, the team I’m a member of, manages it. It makes boosting sales, promoting products, and engaging customers easy. That’s the bottomline. But don’t just take my word for it; try it for free today.
The first way in which Magical Preorder sets itself apart from the competition is its unique and intuitive automated preorder process.
#2 PreOrder Globo | Back in Stock
Affordable with a clean interface, but can’t display back in stock on the homepage or collections
Basic free plan available, alongside paid plans starting at $6.70/month with a 7-day free trial.
PreOrder Globo | Back in Stock Pros vs. Cons
| PreOrder Globo | Back in Stock Pros | PreOrder Globo | Back in Stock Cons |
| Clean Interface Embedded App Preorders Back in Stock Alerts SMS/Push Notifications Reminder Notifications Email Marketing Integrations Multilingual Full/Partial Payments Bulk Settings | Back in Stock Not Compatible with Homepage or Collections |
PreOrder Globo | Back in Stock Overview
In the world of pre-order and back in stock apps on Shopify, PreOrder Globo | Back in Stock is a great choice. It helps sellers manage pre-orders, restock alerts, presales, and backorders.
With PreOrder Globo | Back in Stock, you can easily set up pre-orders, tag orders automatically, add conditions for when to start and stop pre-orders, and more. Additional highlights include:
- You can let customers know through email or SMS when products are back in stock.
- Partial payments for pre-orders
- Analytics
- A wide array of integrations, particularly for email marketing platforms.
- Multilingual support, making it usable for a wide range of merchants around the globe
PreOrder Globo | Back in Stock is an embedded app using Shopify’s native Polaris design language. So, this means use the app from within the Shopify admin. It’s a more native-like experience this way. The overall presentation of the interface and user experience helps make the app feel natural and easy to understand.
Some apps in this space take a reductive approach to targeting the products to apply their pre-order or back in stock features to. I found the additive approach of PreOrder Globo | Back in Stock more intuitive. Instead of choosing which products to exclude, you choose which products to include.
The dashboards for the two key features–pre-orders and back in stock–are filled with a variety of deep features. This could easily have been overwhelming. But the way in which information is presented is smart. The app employs a tabbed interface within these dashboards. This ensures that users are never overwhelmed with too many options at once.
Among the four apps I reviewed, it is the cheapest overall option. As such, it’s an affordable option for merchants looking to add pre-order or back in stock features to their website.
In a nutshell, PreOrder Globo | Back in Stock is a useful app with features that cater to different parts of the pre-order and back in stock process. It’s a great tool for sellers looking to enhance their Shopify store with these functions.
#3 Preorder, Back In Stock ‑ Stoq
Dedicated focus to back in stock alerts but expensive
Basic free plan available, alongside paid plans starting at $10/month* with a 7-day free trial.
*Pricing temporarily starts at $4/month due to sale at time of writing.
Preorder, Back In Stock ‑ Stoq Overview Pros vs. Cons
| Preorder, Back In Stock ‑ Stoq Pros | Preorder, Back In Stock ‑ Stoq Cons |
| Back in Stock Alerts Embedded App SMS/Push Notifications Reminder Notifications Multilingual Google Translate Built-In to App | Lacking Preorders Lacking Email Marketing Integrations Lacking Custom CSS Option Relatively Higher Cost |
Preorder, Back In Stock ‑ Stoq Overview
As a back in stock alert Shopify app, Preorder, Back In Stock ‑ Stoq acts as a dedicated solution for boosting sales through timely restock notifications.
Unlike its competitors, this app focuses solely on the back in stock functionality. This enables a specialized, focused approach to this aspect of inventory management that other apps cannot match.
Preorder, Back In Stock ‑ Stoq offers a straightforward solution for merchants looking to create waitlists for out-of-stock products. Upon installing the app, a dashboard appears. It first offers a clear step-by-step setup guide, ensuring you get up and running fast. Below that, you’ll find components outlining the performance of your alerts and more.
The app makes it easy to add a “Notify me when available” button and popup form on the store. In turn, this makes it easy for customers to express their interest in your products. Although, some users may find the full-screen editing interface for this jarring. The app is typically embedded into the Shopify admin outside of this.
The app goes beyond email notifications too. It also offers automatic, instant, and multi-language back in stock alerts through SMS or push notifications. This enables merchants to build a comprehensive communication strategy.
Other notables features include:
- Its versatility in customization. Merchants can tailor the alerts to match their brand.
- The 24/7 live chat support and setup help enhance the user experience, ensuring a smooth integration for sellers of all backgrounds.
- Synchronization with platforms like Klaviyo to help with the growth of mailing lists.
- The ability to send purchase reminder notifications contributes to revenue recovery. Ultimately, this creates additional opportunities for sales.
In summary, Preorder, Back In Stock ‑ Stoq is a great solution that helps merchants to improve sales and customer communication. Dedicated focus coupled with robust customization options and support features make it a valuable tool for inventory management.
This enables a specialized, focused approach to this aspect of inventory management that other apps cannot match.
#4 Notify! Back in Stock|PreOrder
Solid functionality but slightly subpar user interface
Basic free plan available, alongside paid plans starting at $19/month* with a 7-day free trial.
*Pricing temporarily starts at $7.96/month due to sale at time of writing.
Notify! Back in Stock|PreOrder Pros vs. Cons
| Notify! Back in Stock|PreOrder Pros | Notify! Back in Stock|PreOrder Cons |
| Preorders Back in Stock Alerts Embedded App SMS/Push Notifications Reminder Notifications Analytics Dashboard Button, Badge & Email Customization Mixed Cart Warnings Preorder Quantity Limits Email Marketing Integrations Multilingual Full/Partial Payments | Slightly Bloated Interface Reductive Approach to Selecting Products Lacking Mixed Cart Warning |
Notify! Back in Stock|PreOrder Overview
Like the other apps on our list, Notify! Back in Stock|PreOrder is a versatile Shopify app designed for offering pre-orders and back in stock alerts.
Merchants can add the “Notify me” or “Preorder” widget on product, home, and collection pages. Notifications can be sent via email, text, or push messages. You can even send reminder notifications to users who have not yet converted. Users can also tailor their campaigns with discounts and accept partial payments.
Customization is a strong suit of this app. It features a plethora of style customization options for every aspect of its functionality. This includes both the features affecting the store as well as the email notifications. An AI-based theme style matching feature ensures seamless integration with any theme, be it on the home or collection pages. Although, this does seem to require the help of their success team.
It is also compatible with various marketing tools and page builders. This enables the creation of efficient workflows.
By most measures, Notify! Back in Stock|PreOrder is a competent app in the preorder and back in stock alert space on the Shopify App Store. However, when compared to the other apps we’ve reviewed, it does fall slightly short in one area.
Despite being an embedded app, on the whole it does feel a little bit bloated and confusing. There are so many tabs and dropdowns all over the place to configure everything this app can do. The way it applies features like pre-ordering in a subtractive way rather than an additive way felt unintuitive to me.
Ultimately however, this is a personal opinion and minor criticism. Functionally, Notify! Back in Stock|PreOrder gets the job done. It has almost everything you could ask for, and sometimes more, when considering adding preorder or back in stock alerts to your Shopify store.
Conclusion
The best Shopify preorder and back in stock alert app for you ultimately depends on a variety of factors. As each of the apps we covered in this article offer a free trial (as well as others on the app store), I would suggest that you try them out for yourself to see what feels the best.
When it comes down to it however, it may feel difficult to distinguish them from each other besides a few key factors:
- Does the app feel intuitive to use?
- Does it offer the precise functionality you’re looking for?
- Will the support team be there to help me when I need it?
- Is it fairly priced?
The list goes on. But, based on my experience diving into each of these apps for this review, I’d like to again reinforce that my top pick is Magical Preorder. Full disclosure, it is an app that the team I am a part of–Magical Apps–manages. Nevertheless, it demonstrated a strong combination of ease of use, customization, affordability, and customer support for the core features that matter most. In my eyes, this makes it a potential match for a wide range of retailers.
Magical Preorder
Everything you need to add preorder sales to your shop. Forecast demand. Build hype. Boost sales.