Preorder-Retail options

I am trying to figure out if there is a way to display pre-order items on my website. Due to the visibility settings removing unstocked items from the display, I can't display pre-orders on my website. Is there a way to list an physical item on my website without tracking the stock or if I have to track the stock can it display (-1) when a customer orders it? I am missing out on a very important revenue source by having to have stock of an item before I can sell it when I am competing against Amazon and Walmart for similar/same items.

 

Thanks for your help!!

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@Lootz From your dashboard, go to Online -> Items -> Item Preferences.

 

You have the option to show low inventory indicators on items and to display out of stock items (or not).  If your “Display out of stock items on site” is off, then turning it on should cause these items to now display in your online store.

 

I’m guessing here, since it doesn’t say, but once they are displayed in the store, customers should be able to put them in their cart and pay for them, which would reduce your inventory to below zero until you receive new stock.  That’s easy enough for you to test out yourself, though.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Chip A.
Square Expert & Innovator and member of the Square Champions group. (But NOT a Square employee, just a seller like you)

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Square Champion

Solution

@Lootz From your dashboard, go to Online -> Items -> Item Preferences.

 

You have the option to show low inventory indicators on items and to display out of stock items (or not).  If your “Display out of stock items on site” is off, then turning it on should cause these items to now display in your online store.

 

I’m guessing here, since it doesn’t say, but once they are displayed in the store, customers should be able to put them in their cart and pay for them, which would reduce your inventory to below zero until you receive new stock.  That’s easy enough for you to test out yourself, though.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Chip A.
Square Expert & Innovator and member of the Square Champions group. (But NOT a Square employee, just a seller like you)

Was my post helpful? Take a moment to mark it as a solution. Marked solutions help other sellers find possible resolutions to similar problems. Also, if you find your solution elsewhere (say, through Support), it is helpful to come back to your post and tell us about it, then mark that as a Solution. Solutions are what this Community is all about!
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ChefChip,

That works! Note on it is that the item cannot have "Mark as Sold out" toggled. Thanks for your help!

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Hi can you let me know how this effected your inventory? Did it give a negative number? Then when the item came in and was entered into your inventory did it update correctly? 

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ECSSES,

Yes, when ordered on the website it displayed a negative number. However, this method does require some manual tracking of inventory for items that are sold out or no longer available. When the items came in I entered them as "Stock Received" and it calculated the items purchased minus those that were sold to achieve the correct in-stock items. Although this worked, it was not optimal from a time standpoint and I ended up pulling all the pre-order items off the website for now. I still offer pre-orders in-store (brick & mortar) and use invoices for tracking/payment purposes. It is also not as timely as having a method in the interface. My customers like it though because they can make payments toward the larger items we offer instead of just paying upfront at once. Just some thoughts on this process.

 

-Lootz

www.lootzcollectibles.com

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Lootz,

Thank you for your response it was very helpful! 

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