Manage Backorders

Products are typically only available for purchase when there is available stock. With the backorders feature, buyers can purchase products even when they are out-of-stock, providing flexible inventory management.

Backorders can be enabled and disabled at any time, with the backordered amount displayed on the product or variant.

Permissions

Only marketplace operators can enable backorders.

Enable backorders in the marketplace

1. Go to Settings -> Marketplace configuration.
2. Turn on the Sellers can accept backorders option.
3. Select Save.

Configure backorders for products

Once backorders are enabled at the marketplace level, sellers can specify backorder availability and thresholds for products and variants at each warehouse.

Permissions

Sellers and marketplace operators with the "Manage inventory" permission can allow backorders and configure thresholds on products they can access.

Steps

1. Go to the product variant for which you want to allow backorders.
2. In the inventory section, set the backorders field to Allow backorders.
3. Set the backorder threshold for each warehouse.
4. Select Save.

Backorder threshold

When backorders are allowed for a product or variant, you can set a Backorder threshold when managing inventory. This controls the maximum backorder quantity per warehouse when stock depletes.

Backorders are warehouse-specific. To disallow backorders at a warehouse, set its threshold to 0.

Tracking backorder status

In the inventory section on a product variant, the On backorder field shows how many units are on backorder at each warehouse.

Fulfilling backorders

To fulfill backordered stock, first replenish the amount of stock required to fulfill the order. If multiple warehouses are available, you may partially fulfill the order with the available stock.

note

For backordered items in the same warehouse, restocking is necessary before using the Dashboard to create the fulfillment. The orderFulfill mutation in the API allows partial fulfillment of backordered items from a single warehouse.

Storefront considerations

This feature requires frontend customization. Backorders are not implemented in the reference storefront.

See the developer guide for more information about how backorders work in the API and storefront considerations.