Backorders & oversell
OversellOversellSelling beyond what is on hand. Deliberate oversell is a per-warehouse switch that is off by default; accidental oversell usually means a warehouse is not linked to a Shopify location. Read more → is selling stock you do not have yet. Done deliberately it is a legitimate commercial tool; done accidentally it is the fastest way to disappoint a customer.
On this page
Section titled “On this page”- The switch
- What happens to an oversold order
- When the stock arrives
- The other kind of oversell
- See also
The switch
Section titled “The switch”The Accept backorders switch lives on the warehouse (Settings → Warehouses → your warehouse → Settings), and it is off by default.
Per-warehouse is the right granularity: a main distribution centre with reliable inbound supply may happily take backorders, while a retail store shipping its own shelf stock should never promise what is not on it.
What happens to an oversold order
Section titled “What happens to an oversold order”An order that cannot be reserved becomes a backorderBackorderAn order waiting on stock that could not be reserved. When stock arrives, it is reserved for the orders waiting on it, which are then picked and packed as usual. Read more → . It:
- Lands in the Backordered view on the order list.
- Shows on Home under Needs attention as short of stock.
- Shows Not enough stock rather than silently reserving nothing.
Nothing about it is hidden. A backorder is a visible commitment with a date attached, not an order that quietly fails to pick.
When the stock arrives
Section titled “When the stock arrives”When stock reaches a sellable bin in that warehouse (goods received or put away, a count that finds more, a return graded back to sellable, a transfer received), Floormode tries again to reserve it for the orders waiting on that item. Nobody has to remember which orders were waiting.
Reserving is all that happens on its own. Once all its stock is reserved, an order joins the queue like any other ready order: when no hold is left on it, when its pack day has come (where you use delivery dates), and, where you hold work back for a release, when it is released. It is then picked, packed and shipped as usual. Nothing is picked, packed, shipped or fulfilled automatically, and a customer’s parcel is not on its way until someone has packed it.
The other kind of oversell
Section titled “The other kind of oversell”See also
Section titled “See also”- Warehouses — the switch and the other stock policies.
- Views — the Backordered view.
- Stock — where committed and available diverge.