How do I create a Pre-order?

[wangjueliang]

Hi,

I am following this article to create an item in Square Online for pre-order.

https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002116567-Accepting-pre-orders

I couldn't find the option this article talked about.

Can you help please?

Thanks.

[Seamus]

Hey @wangjueliang,

Thanks for your message.

It looks like you've actually stumbled upon a support article for Squarespace, who are a dedicated online store platform and a different company to Square - despite the similar name and both companies providing online store builders!

Unfortunately pre-orders are not currently available via Square Online - this is a feature that may be coming in the future, however I don't have an ETA on this at the moment.

Sorry for the confusion here! 

[JaseShore]

Hi Seamus, 

Has the Preorder option come any closer to being an option?

[Seamus]

@JaseShore Unfortunately I don't have any updates on this one. I understand it's in the pipeline, however I don't have an ETA right now. I'll be sure to update this thread with new information as soon as I'm able to!

[Youngbondi]

yeah i second that hard on the pre order functionality to be added. its really needed asap

but most all developments i want asap - trying hard to to move to shopify but its hard not to 

[Arie]

Thank you for adding your vote to this feature request @Youngbondi! We'll let you know as soon as we have an update, and understand that you need to do what's best for your business in the meantime. 

[Olivia1108]

I also third this. I am a florist and a pre order option is something I really need. This is frustrating for me because most of my orders are pre ordered and I have no way of choosing an option for the person to pay later

[Smokinmbbq]

Yes I also vote for this.. 

[ballbadges]

Agreed, a preorder or backorder function is well past due

[k88]

Is Square any closer to implementing a pre order feature?

[Laurie_]

We don't have any further updates to share currently, @k88, but this one is still on our radar.

While we can't share internal development timelines, we'll be sure to update this thread with an announcement as soon as we're able to.

[DiamondDog]

I am using Square online for people to pre-order food for a monthly event. I have found the PRE-ORDER function within the ITEM set up but I have to re-configure the pre-order dates for up to 100 items every month. Can this be done as a bulk update or can a Whole Category be set for pre-order?

[Laurie_]

Hey there, @DiamondDog,

Can you walk me through the workaround you've used to create an item for pre-order?

This isn't something we currently support so I'm interested in understanding how you've created pre-order items on your account.

I'll keep a lookout for your reply here.

[DiamondDog]

Go to ITEM edit.

[Laurie_ · Accepted solution]

Thanks for including your screenshots, @DiamondDog!

I can see now you're referring to the preorder feature which is newly available to Square Sellers on the Plus and Premium plans as of 2023. This is part of a recent change to Square Online plans which consolidated the previous five plans into three, including Free, Plus and Premium, and introduced some additional features.

At this time, you're able to use the bulk edit tool to schedule multiple items to be visible/available or show an updated sale price starting at a specific time using these steps. This is more geared towards product launches and sale events. 

We don't yet support bulk updating for preorder settings. This information will still need to be updated on the individual item level. However, I can certainly see how your use case would benefit from a bulk preorder update feature. I'd be more than happy to flag this feedback with our Product Team.

Cc: @wangjueliang @Dandee @JaseShore @Youngbondi @Olivia1108 @Smokinmbbq @ballbadges @k88 

Looping you in here to make you aware of the updates to the preorder feature which is now available through the Square Online Plus and Premium plans only.

[Smokinmbbq]

Hey, Can you explain more about this new preorder option? It's something i've been after since I started with square... I have a catering business and have pop up nights every now and again... Does this mean i can now open my online shop and take orders for a particular night into the future?  Or do i still have to block out all the dates leading up to the night i'm open and future nights like before? 

[Laurie_]

Absolutely, @Smokinmbbq, I've had to play a bit of catch-up here as this feature seems to have been launched a little under the radar.

A few things to note here, the preorder feature is only available when you upgrade your Square Online plan to Plus or Premium. Also worth noting are the fulfilment options. Currently, only items with pickup or delivery are able to be set up as preorder items. We do not yet offer the preorder feature for items with shipping assigned as the fulfilment method.

Another important note is that the preorder tool is designed for individual items. So, if you usually sell a wide range of items ahead of time, you may run into similar issues highlighted by @DiamondDog, where the option to create multiple preorder items simultaneously isn't yet available.

I've tracked down the steps to set up preorder items here. You'll also get an idea of the buyer experience when they select a preorder item from your website.

I would suggest a batch order style set-up, however, this option really only works when you're consistently taking orders for pickup at a specific time, like a bakery for example taking orders each day for the following day. 

But let me make sure I've understood you properly, for your case, you'd need to be able to let people order in advance for specific dates/events so you have an idea of how much product to prepare, correct?

[Smokinmbbq]

Hi Laurie, That's pretty much it.... Whilst I'm not a code writer I would think that having an option to have your online store open for one day into the future wouldn't be that had to write, any anything on that online store at the time is available. (leaving it up too the creator to take items away or add them in....)

But yes... As you wrote above, having the option to to let people order a few weeks ahead of time, for a predetermined date and opening hours would allow me to use this effectively. But it seems even the paid version isn't going to help me much, and I'm still going to have to use the free version, by being open only on Saturdays, between 530pm and 1000pm then block out all the Saturday dates leading up the event, and the Saturday dates after it.. Unfortunately it still leaves me with the slight possibility that someone will pick a future date when I'm not actually open. 

[Laurie_]

I get your frustration around this, @Smokinmbbq.

While you're able to set cut-off times for pickup and delivery orders for the following day, this option doesn't really cater to unique events scheduled for future dates, but more of a rolling order basis.

Sorry, I don't have better news for you at this time!

[Smokinmbbq]

That's ok Laurie, I'm not expecting Square to do this, I just got excited that square may have actually come up with the goods. I guess we'll continue to wait like many others, have been asking for, for 2-3 years now and get the same response.. 😔 Or move to a different provider. 

[Smokinmbbq]

Is this on a paid plan? or free account?