How it works, end to end
Ten steps from setting up a pre-order in Shopify to the reminder in the hub when it closes, and who or what handles each one.
- A person
- Code
- Shopify
Shopify admin
The app
Storefront
Order hub
4
Places a buyer sees the arrival date: product page, cart, checkout and order email
60s
Between checks for pre-order windows that have closed
0
Customer records stored by the app itself
The problem
A popular product sells out, and the next shipment is weeks away. Left alone, the product page says "sold out" and the buyer goes elsewhere - or orders anyway, then emails to ask when it will arrive.
Off-the-shelf pre-order apps charge monthly, guess at dates, and know nothing about the systems the order lands in afterwards.
The build
A small Shopify app that started as the shop's own delivery estimator and then learned pre-orders, so the arrival message and the delivery dates come from one place. Shopify still decides what can be sold; the app decides what the buyer is told.
- Pre-order groups. Products or single variants on their way are grouped with their own button label, message, stock line and closing date. A rule for one variant beats a rule for the whole bike.
- One answer everywhere. What the buyer saw on the product page is written onto the cart line, so the cart, checkout and order emails show the same thing rather than working it out again.
- It closes itself. When a closing date passes, the rule is ignored and the storefront goes back to normal straight away. Within a minute the order hub gets a reminder to check the stock has landed.
- Light on data. The app can only read products. It stores its own rules and settings, and no customer details at all.
Where it fits
The app is one of two custom Shopify apps behind the order management and CRM hub - both talking to the same back office.
What it runs on
- Shopify Remix app with Polaris admin
- Theme app extension for the storefront
- Checkout UI extension
- Prisma and SQLite
Inside the app
- Pre-order groups with closing dates
- Delivery rules by variant, product, collection or supplier
- Cut-offs, business days and UK holidays
- Live widget styling with a preview
- Expiry notices to the order hub
Could this be you?
- If customers ask "when will it arrive?" before they buy, or you lose sales every time stock runs out, this is the pattern that keeps selling.
Next case study
The e-bike shop that runs on one custom hub