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Managing Pre-orders
On Your 3PL

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A third-party logistics (3PL) provider manages warehousing, inventory, order fulfillment, and shipping on behalf of businesses.

When it comes to pre-orders, your 3PL will coordinate either with your eCommerce platform or a central ERP system. It’s crucial to know how their software handles key elements of pre-order workflows, like handling orders not backed by inventory, enabling partial fulfillment, and respecting Shopify’s ‘on hold’ status.

This guide outlines the key 3PL features to evaluate before rolling out pre-orders, such as allowing negative stock, respecting Shopify’s “on hold” status, and managing partial shipments. By reviewing these factors ahead of time, you’ll have a clear picture of what’s supported out of the box—and where you might need workarounds to ensure a seamless pre-order experience.

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.

Inventory Sync

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

Individual Pre-order 3PL Guides

We’ve researched some of the most popular 3PLs used in ecommerce and compiled detailed guides for each one. See your 3PL? Click on its logo below. Don’t see your 3PL? Keep scrolling to read the general considerations that apply to most systems.

Looking at what matters for pre-order 3PL support

Key Considerations for Managing Pre-Orders on 3PLs

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 learn about the key considerations and potential challenges to look out for.

Syncing Shopify Products and Inventory

It’s important to clarify how (and how often) product data syncs with your 3PL. Some 3PL integrations schedule syncs, while others offer real-time syncing. Some 3PL platforms fully sync your product catalog (titles, SKUs, inventory counts) to help prevent overselling, whereas others only pull order-level details (e.g., item name, SKU, quantity) and rely on Shopify for actual inventory tracking.

While this is important for pre-orders, it’s not as crucial as for buy-now orders, because most Shopify pre-order apps enable the “continue selling when out of stock” option—which allows for overselling—and then provide a ‘max limit’ feature.

Syncing Shopify Orders

3PL integrations either pull orders directly from Shopify or via an ERP for processing and fulfillment. However, pre-order scenarios—such as delayed shipments or split fulfillment—introduce complexities that require more advanced order management.

If the 3PL talks directly to Shopify, merchants should verify whether their 3PL supports advanced order statuses commonly used in pre-orders, such as “On Hold” and “Partially Fulfilled.” If these statuses aren’t supported or can’t be mapped directly via the integration, you may need to implement custom workflows using Shopify tags, line-item properties, or metafields. Leveraging these custom attributes can trigger automation rules or workflow actions, ensuring accurate order processing, clear customer communication, and timely fulfillment.

Re-syncing orders from platform

Most 3PL providers automatically import new Shopify orders as soon as they’re placed, ensuring that essential data—such as order statuses, customer details, and line items—is available for fulfillment. Many systems, like ShipBob, SFN, and RyderShip™, offer real-time, bidirectional synchronization so that updates on Shopify—for example, when an order containing pre-orders changes from “on hold” to “unfulfilled”—are promptly reflected in the 3PL system.

Some platforms may only re-sync certain order details automatically, while deeper changes (such as adjustments to line items or modifications to hold statuses) might require manual intervention or re-import. Additionally, some integrations may have limitations (for example, only importing orders from the past 90 days, which could be problematic for pre-orders). Merchants should verify if and how their 3PL re-syncs orders after the initial import. In some cases, the 3PL will automatically fulfill orders once inventory becomes available, bypassing some of the requirements outlined in other sections. It’s important to understand ahead of time how your 3PL will operate.

Respecting Shopify’s “On Hold” Status

When it comes to pre-orders, if your 3PL integration communicates directly with Shopify (rather than via an ERP), it’s important to know whether it respects Shopify’s “On Hold” order status. This status indicates that an order should not be fulfilled yet. Once you’re ready to fulfill the pre-orders, you can “release fulfillment” from your pre-order app, which will process any outstanding charges and lift the holds.

Some 3PL providers, such as ShipBob, RyderShip™, and the Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN), natively sync the “On Hold” status from Shopify. Others allow you to map Shopify’s status to their own internal status systems. In situations where neither approach is supported, merchants may need to manually apply holds or establish automation rules (using tags or custom fields) to prevent the 3PL from fulfilling orders prematurely.

Pre-order Specific Features

Usually, 3PLs don’t come with a dedicated pre-order module built in. Instead, they rely on your pre-order app and Shopify signals—such as fulfillment status, order tags, or line-item properties—to determine when pre-orders should be processed.

One critical aspect to consider is partial fulfillment. It’s important to verify whether your 3PL supports split orders, so you can choose whether to ship available items immediately or hold the entire order until all line items are ready.

Since many 3PLs have a preferred approach for handling pre-orders, it’s a good idea to reach out and discuss your options. Pre-order apps can often be quite flexible; for example, at PreProduct we add custom pre-order line-item properties and tags, and we maintain an “on hold” status for any order containing a pre-order item.

Custom Workflows with Shopify Tags and Line-item Properties

Many 3PL systems offer automation rules that enable custom workflows based on Shopify order data. This capability allows the 3PL software to recognize pre-orders and adjust fulfillment accordingly—either by partially shipping available items or holding the entire order until all items are ready. For instance, platforms like ShipStation provide built-in automation rules that leverage order tags or shipping criteria. Other workflows might treat orders differently when they include a “pre-order” line-item property or when available inventory is insufficient.

Merchants should verify whether their 3PL or connector supports the import of Shopify tags and metafields and can execute automated workflows based on those attributes. If the native capabilities fall short, third-party apps or custom code (using tools like Shopify Flow) can be used to build the necessary automation.

Partial Order Fulfillment

A key consideration for merchants offering pre-orders is how mixed orders—those that include both buy-now and pre-order items—are handled. Many 3PLs offer the ability to split orders so that in-stock items can be shipped immediately while pre-order items are held for later fulfillment. For example, platforms like ShipStation, Shippo, ShipBob, Flexport, RyderShip™, DHL Supply Chain, ShipMonk, ShipNetwork, SFN, and Easyship support various forms of partial fulfillment through automated split shipment features or manual workflows.

Shipping available items promptly can reduce wait times, though it may result in additional shipping fees due to multiple shipments. Conversely, holding an entire order until every item is ready may consolidate shipping and lower costs but delay delivery.

Merchants should determine whether to:

Isolate pre-orders from buy-nows via their pre-order app, which simplifies fulfillment but might reduce average order value.
Ship in multiple shipments, sending available items immediately while delaying the remainder.
Hold fulfillment until all items are available, consolidating shipments but potentially delaying customer deliveries.

Before finalizing your strategy, verify that your 3PL supports split shipment or hold functionalities. When in doubt, isolating pre-orders to their own orders is the simplest, most compatible option.

Summary

Does your 3PL have good support for
Shopify Pre-orders?

Pre-order touchpoint	3PL support
Product and inventory sync with Shopify
Order sync with Shopify
Re-syncs orders with Shopify
Shopify “On Hold” status recognition
Pre-order Specific Features
Custom workflows
Partial Order Fulfillment