Preorders let customers place orders for upcoming delivery events; they're perfect for seasonal boxes, limited releases, or special occasions.
The Setup Process
Step 1: Create a Preorder Event
This step defines the specific week your preorder products will be delivered.
In your Ooooby dashboard, go to Orders → Preorder Events.
Click Create Preorder Event.
Enter an Event Name (e.g., Christmas 2026 or Easter Hamper).
Choose the delivery week for the preorder.
Tick Active to make the event live.
Under Products, customers can preorder; untick any product, and customers should not be able to preorder. Every product starts ticked. Use All or None next to a category to tick or untick the whole category.
Under the list, choose what happens to products you create later. All products, except any you untick adds them to the preorder. Only the products you tick leaves them off until you tick them.
Click Save.
Screenshot showing the Preorder Events page with the “Create Preorder Event” form filled out.
💡 Tip: You can create multiple preorder events. Each event must have its own delivery week.
🌀 You might need to refresh your public shop page once or twice for the new preorder option to appear.
Once active, customers see a pre-order option when they add a ticked product to their order.
⚠️ Note: Customers can’t change their regular delivery day for preorders.
If their normal delivery is on a Thursday, the preorder delivery will also be on a Thursday.
Step 2: Add a Category for Preorder Products
To make your special preorder products easy for customers to find:
Go to Products.
Create a Category and Sub-Category (e.g. Category Christmas, sub-category: festive fresh produce).
Add your preorder products to the appropriate sub-category. ➡️ Guide to Product Categories and Sub-Categories
Step 3: Configure Your Preorder Products
When creating or editing the products exclusive to your preorder event:
Preorder only: Tick Preorder only under Add On Details for a product sold only through the preorder, such as a Christmas hamper. This turns Subscribable off, and the product stays hidden from your website until a preorder that offers it is open. You can't tick it while customers have the product in a subscription or a pending one-off order.
Available on: Under Preorders, tick the preorder events this product can be preordered on. A new product starts ticked on every event, unless that event is set to Only the products you tick.
Stock control (optional): If quantities are limited, put the product under stock control and set the stock for the preorder week.
Go to Stock Control.
Set the stock level for the preorder week. Stock levels only show to the customer if they are at 20 or below.
⏸️ Advanced Strategy: Preorder-Only Period (Pause Shop Orders)
For shops looking to offer special, limited-time catalogues, such as a tiered selection of Christmas boxes or holiday hampers, you have the option to temporarily disable your regular ordering schedule and switch to a preorder-only model.
This is achieved by using Pause Shop Orders for the specific period you need.
Ideal Scenario: Offering special variations (e.g., small, medium, and large Christmas Boxes) that are different from your usual catalogue.
The Benefit: Pausing shop orders temporarily stops all recurring and regular one-off orders, allowing you to focus your customers' attention on your special preorder items.
📝 Customers can also add your regular products to their preorder, unless you untick them on the preorder event.
Communicate with Customers
To notify customers about preorder timings or delivery changes:
Go to Customers → Advanced Search.
Use filters to find all customers with an active preorder.
Send them a message about delivery days or special collection arrangements.
💡 Tip: The Advanced Search tool is ideal for finding everyone who’s placed a preorder for a specific event.
Payments
Pre-orders are not charged at checkout. The system cannot currently keep pre-order payments separate from regular charges, and any changes made to a pre-order after sign-up cannot be billed automatically. For now, card details are collected at sign-up, and clear communication is used to ensure customers understand when charges will occur.
Final Check
After setting everything up:
Refresh your public shop page.
Open a ticked product and check the Preorder option appears.
Your customers can now choose the preorder when they add a product to their order.
Closing Preorders.
Closing preorders is simple; just uncheck the "Active" checkbox.
💡 Once the preorder delivery week starts, the preorder event will automatically close, and customers can order normally.
Preorders in Future Orders
Preorders are amalgamated with regular orders for the preorder date.
Preorder items appear in Future Orders, even when shop orders are paused and you are running a preorder-only period.
This ensures you always have clear visibility of all orders due for future delivery weeks, regardless of whether regular recurring orders are paused.
Daily Product Breakdown for Preorders
You can view a daily breakdown of product quantities for preorder items in two places:
1. Future Orders
Showing preorder numbers amalgamated with regular orders or just preorders if the shop is paused.
2. Preorder Event Page
Each preorder event includes a summary of the total quantities required for that event, making it easy to estimate stock needs.