Managing Preorder Partial Payments in Shopify with Essential Preorder App

Payment Options in the Essential Preorder App

With the Essential Preorder app, you can choose between two payment options for preorders:

1. Full Payment

Customers pay the entire order amount immediately.
Shopify Payments is not required for full payments.

2. Partial Payment

Customers are charged immediately for the downpayment.
You can set a date for the remaining balance to be automatically collected.
The downpayment can be set to 0, allowing customers to secure a preorder without an upfront charge.
You can set different partial payment amounts for different products by creating multiple preorder campaigns.
Shopify Payments is required for this option.

Orders & Payment Status

How do orders with partial payments appear in Shopify’s order dashboard?

When a customer places a preorder through the Essential Preorder app, the order will appear in your Shopify dashboard with a payment status of either "Paid" or "Partially Paid," depending on the payment option selected:

Full Payment: The entire amount is charged immediately, and the order status will be marked as "Paid."
Partial Payment: The customer is charged only for the downpayment, and the order status is "Partially Paid." The remaining balance is scheduled for automatic collection on the date you set.
If you set the downpayment to 0, the order will still be marked as "Partially Paid," and the full amount will be collected later.

Does the order status change automatically when the final payment is made?

Yes. Once the final payment is successfully collected, Shopify will automatically update the order’s payment status to "Paid." You do not need to manually mark the order as paid.

How should I manage fulfillment when only a deposit has been paid?

Shopify does not block fulfillment based on payment status, so you will need to track this manually. Best practices include:

Checking the order’s payment status before fulfilling.
Adding order tags like "Deposit Paid" or "Balance Due" to keep track.
Holding fulfillment until the order is fully paid, if necessary.

Refunds & Cancellations

How do refunds work for partially paid orders?

You can issue refunds for either the deposit or the full payment. Shopify allows you to refund any collected amount and cancel the remaining scheduled payment if necessary.

Can I make the initial deposit non-refundable?

Shopify does not enforce non-refundable deposits. If you want deposits to be non-refundable, you should clearly state this in your product descriptions, preorder terms, or store policies.

Can customers cancel their preorder?

Yes, customers can cancel their order at any time before fulfillment if it contains a preorder item. This ensures flexibility while maintaining trust with your customers.

Customer Communication

Does the Essential Preorder app notify customers about their remaining balance and due dates?

Currently, the Essential Preorder app sends a preorder confirmation email, but it does not send partial payment reminders or shipping notifications yet. These features are in our backlog and will be available in future updates.

For now, you can manually follow up with customers using Shopify’s invoice system or email them reminders about their remaining balance.

Can I customize the emails sent for follow-up payments?

At this time, the Essential Preorder app does not send follow-up payment emails. You may customize preorder confirmation emails in your Shopify settings, but Shopify does not send automated reminders for remaining balances.

Reporting & Tracking

How can I track which preorders are fully paid and which still have an outstanding balance?

You can track your preorder payments directly from the Shopify Orders dashboard by filtering orders by Payment Status:

"Partially Paid": Orders where the deposit has been collected, but the final payment is still pending.
"Paid": Orders where the full balance has been collected.

Adding order tags (e.g., "Deposit Paid" or "Balance Due") can help with tracking.

Can I generate reports on how many partial payment orders were placed?

Shopify does not provide a built-in report specifically for partial payments. However, you can:

Export order data to CSV and filter by "Partially Paid" status.
Use Shopify Analytics to track preorder revenue and sales trends.

By leveraging these features, you can efficiently manage preorder payments while keeping customers informed and orders organized. Stay tuned for upcoming updates, including automated email reminders for due balances!