With the Backorder/Preorder add-on, you can allow your customers to order out-of-stock products.
Configuring Products for Backorder
Follow the steps described in Installing Add-ons from X-Cart App Store to install the add-on.
After the add-on installation, you will find a new option in the "Prices & Inventory" section of the product details page - "Available for backorder":
Enabling the "Available for backorder" toggle allows you to specify the backorder promo that the customers will see for this product. You can also set the maximum number of items for backorder if applicable:
Customers will see the backorder promo text for the out-of-stock products allowed for backordering on the product lists and the product details page in the storefront. A store admin can also specify the number of units available for backordering in the promo text using the %number% placeholder, where %number% will be automatically substituted by the maximum backorder quantity specified.
Product details page
Product listing page
You can add a backorder option for products on a per-product basis by enabling the "Available for backorder" option on the product details page or for more than one product at a time by importing the required field values.
The backorder-related fields in a CSV file are as follows:
availableForBackorder;
backorderQtyLabel;
isBackorderLimited;
backorderLimit.
A sample products.csv file may look as follows:
For a detailed description, please refer to CSV import: Products.
Order Processing Routine
When a customer places an order for an out-of-stock product, a store admin receives a special email notification. The notification contents can be configured on the Email Notifications page (Store Setup > Email Notifications) as described here:
The backorder products are recorded in the "Backordered Products" section in the Admin area (Orders -> Backordered Products), where a store admin can check the required amount:
The orders with the backorder products get a special fulfillment status - "Backordered." A store admin can differentiate such orders on the order listing page (Orders -> Orders List) and give them particular attention:
Order containing a product available for backorder cannot be split and processed separately. Hence a store admin can ship such orders only when all products from the order are available in the required amount.
A store admin will also need to notify a customer about a delay in order processing manually if required.
Related pages: