Pre-Orders in Chat for Shopify
Yes. Customers can place a pre-order in the chat, with your Shopify store built in. When a shopper asks about a product that is not out yet or sold out, AeroChat checks it in Shopify, explains your pre-order terms and the expected ship date from your knowledge base, and sends the product link so they pre-order through your store’s checkout. Later it answers “when does my pre-order ship?” from the order.
This recipe answers the pre-order questions that decide whether a shopper commits, and the ones that follow after they pay. Part of connecting Shopify to WhatsApp and AI chat.
What happens today
Shopify runs pre-orders through a pre-order app from the Shopify App Store. The app handles the checkout. The questions still come to you: “is this a pre-order or in stock?”, “when will it ship?”, “will you charge me now?”, “can I add an in-stock item to the same order?”. Shoppers who don’t get a clear answer leave, and the ones who did pay write again closer to the date.
Each of those answers is already in your product data and your pre-order terms. Someone just has to look them up every time.
The flow that works
- The shopper asks about a product that is on pre-order or sold out.
- AeroChat checks the product and variant in Shopify.
- It explains your pre-order terms from your knowledge base: when it is expected to ship, whether you charge now or later, and what happens if the date moves.
- It sends the product link so the shopper pre-orders through your checkout.
- Later, when a customer asks about their pre-order, AeroChat verifies them, finds the order in Shopify and replies with the ship window you set.
- If they want to cancel a pre-order, it follows your cancellation rules.
What it looks like on WhatsApp
Customer: Is the Terra stoneware set in sand available? (example)
AeroChat: The Terra stoneware set in sand is on pre-order. It is expected to ship in the first week of March (example). You pay in full at checkout, and if the date moves we’ll tell you here. Here is the link to pre-order it.
Customer: If I also order the mugs, do they wait for the set?
AeroChat: The mugs are in stock. If you order them together, they ship together in March. Order them separately and the mugs ship within 2 business days.
In Shopify: nothing changes. AeroChat read the product and variant, and the pre-order terms came from your knowledge base.
The recipe
Copy this into AeroChat
When a shopper asks about a product that is on pre-order or sold out, follow these steps.
- Find the product and variant in our Shopify catalog and check whether it is on pre-order.
- Explain our pre-order terms from the knowledge base: expected ship window, when we charge, and what happens if the date moves.
- Send the product link so they can pre-order through our checkout.
- If they ask about mixing pre-order and in-stock items, explain how we ship them, from the knowledge base.
- When a customer asks about a pre-order they placed, ask for the order number and the email on the order, verify them in Shopify, and reply with the ship window for that product.
- If they want to cancel a pre-order that has not shipped, follow our cancellation policy and hand anything outside it to our team.
Never promise a ship date earlier than the one in our knowledge base. Reply in the customer’s language.
Change the ship windows and payment terms to match each pre-order campaign before you paste it.
What to connect
- Your Shopify store. Built in. Install AeroChat from the Shopify App Store and connect your store in the dashboard. AeroChat reads products, variants and orders from your store.
- Your pre-order app. Shopify runs pre-orders through an app. If you use Notify Me or STOQ, AeroChat also reads pre-order details from it through its API. See checking pre-order status with Notify Me.
- Your knowledge base. Add each pre-order campaign’s ship window and payment terms, so AeroChat answers from your own rules.
After you paste the recipe, AeroChat builds the workflow as a draft and shows a checklist of what is left: add your pre-order terms to the knowledge base and connect your pre-order app if you want its data in the chat, then switch it on.
Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.
Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.
What you still decide
- The ship window AeroChat quotes for each pre-order product.
- Whether you charge in full, take a deposit or charge at shipping, as your pre-order app allows.
- Who handles pre-order cancellations and date changes.
The result to expect
Shoppers commit to a pre-order once they know when it ships and when they pay. Customers who already paid get their ship window in seconds instead of writing in again.
Measure it with your own numbers: pre-orders placed after a chat, and pre-order status questions answered in chat, for a month before and after.
Next: see the pre-order workflow across every channel and how to handle pre-order ship date updates.
Works on every chat channel
This workflow runs the same way on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, the chat on your Shopify store and email, with the same Shopify connection behind it. See what each channel does on the Shopify integration page.
Answer your first pre-order question in chat
Install AeroChat, add your pre-order terms, paste the recipe, and ask your own chat when a pre-order item ships.
7-day free trial.