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Managing Pre-orders
on ShipMonk

ShipMonk

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ShipMonk is an omnichannel 3PL platform that integrates directly with Shopify for real-time product and order syncing. Merchants can manage pre-orders, partial shipments, and hold workflows within ShipMonk’s system. Although ShipMonk discourages overselling (negative inventory), it supports flexible fulfillment strategies—both full and partial.

This guide will break down how ShipMonk handles key pre-order functions like negative stock, Shopify’s “On Hold” status, and fulfilment workflows—so you’ll know what to expect, where it excels, and any workarounds you may need.

How 3PLs and pre-orders work together in the modern ecommerce stack

Third-Party Logistics (3PL) providers specialize in managing your fulfillment from start to finish. They:

Receive and store products in their warehouses
Pick and pack orders
Ship to customers using their own software that syncs with your ecommerce platform

Below is a typical flow. Click through to see how Shopify, the 3PL and pre-order application interact.

1

Inventory Sync

The 3PL continuously syncs inventory from either your ERP or Ecommerce platform

Key Considerations for Managing Pre-orders on ShipMonk

In the diagram above you may have noticed the word “should” being used a couple of times… That’s because not all 3PLs fully support Shopify’s pre-order features out of the box. Some may lack support for negative inventory counts or fail to respect Shopify’s “On Hold” order status, requiring workarounds or additional configuration.

If your store uses an ERP, it often instructs the 3PL on which orders to fulfill—meaning you might not need all of the 3PL’s features we’re about to go through.

Read on to see how ShipMonk interacts with Shopify pre-orders and what you might need to adjust.

Syncing Shopify Products and Inventory

ShipMonk’s integration with Shopify imports product data (titles, SKUs) and keeps inventory levels in sync, helping prevent overselling. Merchants can manage product listings within Shopify, and ShipMonk reflects changes in real time.

Resources:

• Shopify Integration

Syncing Shopify Orders

Yes. ShipMonk automatically pulls in Shopify orders (including statuses, customer details, and line items) for fulfillment and sends tracking/status updates back to Shopify in real time.

Custom Workflows with Shopify Tags and Metafields

It’s not clear if ShipMonk allows for custom rules

Respecting Shopify’s “On Hold” Status

ShipMonk’s integration with Shopify recognizes and respects the “On hold” fulfillment status for pre-orders. When a customer places a pre-order in Shopify, the order’s fulfillment status is set to “On hold,” indicating that the item is not yet ready for shipment. ShipMonk’s system acknowledges this status and will not process the fulfillment until the hold is released. Once the product becomes available and you’re ready to fulfill the order, releasing the hold in Shopify will prompt ShipMonk to proceed with the fulfillment process.

Pre-Order-Specific Features

ShipMonk doesn’t have a dedicated pre-order module, but its flexible fulfillment can adapt to pre-orders, holding them until stock is available. Coordination of backorders/pre-orders is handled by combining inventory settings in Shopify with ShipMonk’s order flow.

Partial Order fulfillment

ShipMonk supports partial order fulfillment, shipping in-stock items immediately while holding others until they’re available or ready to ship. This ensures faster delivery for available products.

Resources:

• Manual Order Split

Re-syncs orders from platform

ShipMonk’s integration auto-imports new Shopify orders, but if details (address, line items) change post-import, those may not automatically update in ShipMonk. Merchants can manually intervene to adjust or re-import as necessary.

Summary

ShipMonk support for
Shopify Pre-orders

Pre-order touchpoint	ShipMonk support
Products sync with Shopify	✅ Real-time import of Shopify products and inventory
Orders sync with Shopify	✅ Pulls order details (status, items, customer info) and updates back to Shopify
Negative custom workflows or automations	✅ Basic order rules and tags; advanced flows need manual/integrations
Shopify “On Hold” status recognition	⚠️ Does not respect “on hold” Shopify order status
Specific pre-order support	⚠️ No dedicated pre-order support
partial order fulfilment	✅ Can ship in-stock items first; holding the rest until ready
Re-syncs orders	⚠️ Auto-sync for new orders, but changes post-import may need manual updates

Strengths & Limitations

✅ Strengths
• Omnichannel 3PL with robust integration
• Partial fulfillment for pre-orders/backorders
• Real-time inventory syncing for preventing overselling

⚠️ Limitations
• No explicit negative inventory support
• Post-import order edits may not automatically sync

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