What is a backorder? The complete Shopify guide

Most Shopify merchants treat a stockout as a switch: inventory hits zero, the buy button goes gray, and revenue waits for the restock. But an empty shelf doesn't have to close the register — that's the entire point of a backorder.

Selling through a stockout is one of the simplest revenue protections available to a Shopify store, and one of the easiest to get wrong. This guide covers what backorders are, when to allow them, and how to set them up and manage them on Shopify.

Quick answer: A backorder is an order placed for a product that's temporarily out of inventory, with fulfillment promised once new stock arrives. The customer buys now and receives the item when the restock lands. Backordered means you can still sell it. You just can't ship it yet.

What is a backorder?

The backorder meaning is straightforward: a purchase made against incoming inventory rather than stock on hand. A product "on backorder" stays purchasable at zero inventory. The order waits in your queue until the restock arrives, then ships — usually in the sequence orders came in.

Backorders exist because demand and supply rarely cooperate. A product sells faster than forecast, a supplier ships late, a production run gets delayed; and suddenly your bestseller has an empty shelf and a line of willing buyers. A backorder lets those buyers commit while you restock, instead of drifting to a competitor.

Two neighboring terms get tangled up with it, so let's separate them before going further.

Backorder vs out of stock

Both mean zero inventory; the difference is purchasability. A backordered product can still be bought because a restock is expected. An out-of-stock product can't be purchased at all, and there may be no restock coming. For the full head-to-head, including which one to use in each situation — see backorder vs out of stock: what's the difference.

Backorder vs preorder

A preorder sells a product that hasn't launched yet; a backorder sells an existing product that's temporarily out of inventory. Both collect payment before you can ship. A preorder anticipates a release date, a backorder anticipates a restock date.

With the terms sorted, the mechanics. Every backorder follows the same four-beat lifecycle:

1. A customer orders a product with zero stock on hand. Payment is collected at checkout as normal.
2. The order confirmation sets the expectation; the customer sees that the item is backordered and when it's expected to ship.
3. The restock arrives and is counted into inventory.
4. Backorders are fulfilled, typically first ordered, first shipped.

Everything that goes wrong with backorders goes wrong at step 2. If the customer never learns the item is backordered, or the promised date quietly slips, the goodwill of "you can still buy it" turns into support tickets and chargebacks.

Here's the lifecycle in practice. A skincare brand's bestselling moisturizer sells out on the 1st of the month, with the next production run already scheduled to finish in three weeks. Rather than switch the product to sold out, the brand enables backorders and updates the product page: "Available on backorder — ships by the 25th."

Over the next three weeks the product keeps taking orders from shoppers who would otherwise have bought elsewhere, or bought nothing. When the run arrives on the 22nd, the queued orders ship in the sequence they came in, and the brand banked three weeks of revenue during what would have been a dead stretch. The stockout still happened. The sales pause didn't.

When to allow backorders (and when not to)

The skincare brand's bet paid off because the restock was certain. That's the whole calculus: backorders trade a fulfillment delay for uninterrupted revenue, and the trade only works when you can keep your end of it.

The rule of thumb: allow backorders when the restock is confirmed and dated; a scheduled supplier delivery or a production run already in progress. When the restock is a hope rather than a date, mark the product out of stock and capture demand with a back-in-stock alert instead.

How backorders work on Shopify

If you've decided backorders make sense for a product, Shopify makes the mechanical part almost invisible. It all runs through one inventory policy: "Continue selling when out of stock." It's set per variant, so you can allow backorders on your core bestseller while its seasonal colorway shows sold out.

With the setting enabled, three things happen. Customers can check out at zero inventory. Your inventory count goes negative, which is how Shopify represents the backorder queue; a count of −8 means eight units are owed. And the storefront shows... nothing special. By default, the product page looks exactly like an in-stock listing: no badge, no ship date, no warning.

That last part is the trap. Shopify flips purchasability, but all customer-facing backorder communication is on you; the "available on backorder" label, the expected ship date, the note in the cart — through theme edits or a backorder app.

How to set up backorders on Shopify (step by step)

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products and open the product.
2. If the product has variants, select the variant you want to allow backorders on.
3. In the Inventory section, check "Continue selling when out of stock."
4. Save. The variant can now be purchased at zero inventory.

Repeat for each variant, or use the bulk editor to apply the policy across many products at once. Then do the part Shopify doesn't do for you:

Add backorder messaging where customers will see it; the product page (a label and expected ship date), the cart, and the order confirmation. Tag backordered products (a "backorder" product tag works) so you can filter them in the admin and target them in your theme. And if you use incoming-inventory transfers in Shopify, record the expected restock. It keeps your team's dates honest. [screenshot]

How to manage backorders on Shopify

Setup is one checkbox; management is where backorders are won or lost. Backorder management on Shopify comes down to five habits.

Set an ETA and show it everywhere

The expected ship date belongs on the product page, in the cart, at checkout, and in the order confirmation email. A customer who sees the date four times before paying will wait patiently. A customer who discovers it after paying will open a ticket.

Notify customers before they ask

If a restock slips, say so — immediately, with a new date. Proactive delay emails cut cancellations dramatically compared to silence.

Templates for delay notices and every other backorder message are in our backorder message and notification examples [→ notification spoke].

Fulfill first ordered, first shipped

When the restock lands, work the queue in order. If an order mixes in-stock and backordered items, decide your partial-shipment policy in advance — ship what's available now and the rest later, or hold the order and ship complete — and state it at purchase.

Make cancellation painless

Backordered customers who want out should get a fast, full refund without friction. A graceful cancellation preserves the relationship. A fought one guarantees a chargeback and a one-star review.

Read backorders as a demand signal

A backorder queue is a purchase order writing itself. Track which products go on backorder, how deep the queue gets, and how fast it fills; then feed that into your next buy so the same product isn't backordered every month.

Backorder messages and notifications

Every stage of a backorder has a message attached — the product-page label, the confirmation email, the delay notice, the shipping confirmation; and the wording carries real weight. "Available on backorder — ships by March 25" converts and reassures. A bare "backordered" label mostly raises questions.

We've collected copy-paste templates for each stage in Shopify backorder message and notification examples.

When a backorder app earns its keep

Shopify's built-in setting only flips purchasability. Everything customer-facing, and most things operational, comes from your theme or an app. A backorder app typically adds an automatic "available on backorder" label with an expected ship date, per-product controls and limits on how deep the queue can go, deposit or partial-payment options, and notify-me alerts for products you'd rather not backorder. If you only have 50 units incoming, Shopify’s native setting won’t automatically stop you from accepting 200 backorders.

Whether that's worth an install depends on volume. A store that backorders one product a quarter can manage with a product-description note and manual emails. A store where stockouts are a monthly reality needs the automation — that's the problem apps like STOQ are built for. What to evaluate before installing anything is covered in Shopify backorder apps: what to look for.

Frequently asked questions about backorders

What does backordered mean?

Backordered means a product is out of inventory but still available to purchase, with delivery promised once new stock arrives. If you've ordered a backordered item, your payment has been taken and your order is queued to ship when the restock lands.

How long do backorders take?

Backorder timelines vary by supplier, product, and shipping method. A routine replenishment from a domestic supplier can mean days; a manufacturing delay or overseas freight can mean months. What matters is that the timeline is shown before checkout and updated when it changes.

Do customers pay upfront for backorders?

On Shopify, yes by default, customers pay the full amount at checkout, exactly as they would for an in-stock item. Taking a deposit and charging the balance at shipment requires a partial-payment or preorder app; Shopify has no built-in deposit option for standard product pages.

Is backorder good or bad?

Neither — it's a tool. Backorders are good when the restock date is confirmed and clearly communicated: revenue continues and customers get what they want, slightly later. They turn bad when used to paper over unreliable supply, because every missed date converts a patient customer into a refund request.

Do backorders cost more?

The product price is normally the same, customers pay the listed price, not a premium, and charging more for backordered stock is rare. The real costs are operational: extra support contacts, occasional cancellations, and split shipments when orders mix in-stock and backordered items.

Can I cancel a backordered item on Shopify?

Yes. Backorders are standard Shopify orders, so you cancel and refund them from the admin exactly like any other order — and customers can request cancellation any time before the item ships.

How do I show a backorder message on my product page?

Shopify doesn't add one automatically. You have three options: write the backorder status and ship date into the product description (simple, manual), customize your theme to display a badge when inventory drops below zero (clean, requires theme work), or use an app that shows the label and estimated date automatically per product (scales best).

The takeaway

A backorder turns a stockout from a revenue pause into a fulfillment delay; but only when three things hold: the restock is confirmed, the date is visible before checkout, and customers hear from you the moment anything changes. On Shopify, the mechanics are one checkbox. The trust is everything you build around it.

From here: compare the two stockout states in backorder vs out of stock, grab wording from the backorder message and notification examples, and if stockouts are a recurring event in your store, see what to look for in a Shopify backorder app.

Stop losing sales to stockouts. Use STOQ to add preorder/backorder messaging, restock alerts and customer-friendly out-of-stock flows to your Shopify store.

Try STOQ for free!