Preorder, Back In Stock ‑ STOQ

STOQ Shopify Help: Preorders, Deposits and Restock Alerts

The STOQ Shopify app, listed on the App Store as Preorder, Back In Stock ‑ STOQ, adds preorder and Notify me buttons to products and sends back-in-stock alerts by email or SMS when items return. It handles deposits, partial payments, order limits and availability dates, and comes from Artos Software. As of October 2026, the free plan covers 10 preorders a month and paid plans run $10 to $69. App listing.

The buttons appear quickly. Experts are hired for the decisions behind them: how much to collect up front, when preorder orders release to the warehouse, how a cart mixing stocked and preorder items ships, and who hears first when stock lands.

If nobody in the listing below matches what you need, the inventory and email marketing experts linked lower down handle the same setup.

Send them the products you plan to preorder, the expected ship dates and your payment gateway.

STOQ setup work an expert should own

Each setting below touches money, stock or a customer promise. That is why they are worth a second pair of eyes.

Offer structure. One offer per launch or product group, with the name shown in cart and checkout, button text, badge, an optional disclaimer, a shipping timeline message, discount, start and end dates and order limits.

Deposits and balances. Offers take full payment, a deposit or partial payment, or let the customer choose, which needs a paid plan. Partial payment requires Shopify Payments. An expert plans when the balance is collected and what the customer is told.

Release timing. Each offer sets preorder orders to Unfulfilled, Scheduled or On hold. Scheduled orders release on a date you set; held orders wait for someone to release them. Match that to the warehouse calendar.

Mixed carts. When a cart holds preorder and in-stock items, a shipping setting decides what happens to the rest of the order. Split shipping is available, at a cost someone should check.

Alerts that sell the restock. Automatic or manual alerts, batch sending, email and SMS in several languages, and waitlist sync to Klaviyo for email flows. With short stock, batch size matters.

Demand data. Customer demand and inventory reports show which sold-out items have waitlists, useful when deciding what to reorder.

Self-serve territory. One full-payment preorder offer on a few products is a job for the free plan and STOQ's 24/7 live chat.

How to vet a preorder and restock alert expert

Preorders go wrong after checkout, not on the product page. Ask about that half of the job.

Ask how express checkout buttons are handled. The right answer: Shop Pay and Buy it now bypass the preorder purchase option, so those orders don't count as preorders. They should have a plan for that before launch.

Ask how the balance gets collected. Listen for the gateway requirement, the timing and the reminder customers receive. Vague answers here become refund requests later.

Ask how they stop overselling. STOQ wants Continue selling when out of stock switched on for its button to show. A good expert pairs that with order limits per offer.

Ask how alerts are batched. If 500 people wait for 50 units, who hears first, and does everyone get the alert at once? Have them explain the trade-off.

Proposals to question. Deposits promised on a gateway other than Shopify Payments. Custom code for buttons and badges the app already provides. No test orders before go-live.

A paid trial offer. One preorder built end to end: button live, a deposit test order placed, then refunded and canceled so reports stay clean, and the fulfillment status checked in the admin.

STOQ rules, plan limits and checkout caveats

Theme app embed. The preorder button appears through STOQ's app embed, which has to be enabled on the theme.

Inventory policy. STOQ checks each variant for Continue selling when out of stock and offers to turn it on. In-stock products can show a preorder button too, through a separate option.

Missing button checklist. App embed off, the variant not allowing out-of-stock sales, the product not in an offer, or the offer status not set to Available now.

Express checkout gap. Shop Pay and Buy it now skip the preorder purchase option, so those orders won't register as preorders.

Plan limits. As of October 2026: Free allows 10 preorders and 30 email alerts a month. Lite costs $10 for 100 preorders and 1,000 alerts, Pro $29 for 400 and 2,000, Unlimited $69 with no caps. Extra preorders cost $0.25 on Lite and $0.10 on Pro, and SMS is $0.025 per message. Paid plans have a 14-day trial.

Reach. The listing names multiple locations and markets, B2B preorders, a POS widget, Shopify Flow and 24 languages.

Clean test data. STOQ asks you to refund and cancel test orders so they don't distort its reports.

STOQ projects to scope

These are the jobs merchants usually bring to someone for this app. Scope one at a time.

Launch pre-sale

A dated offer with order limits, a countdown and ship-date messaging

Deposit checkout

Deposit or partial payment, with balance collection and reminders planned

Restock waitlist

Notify me buttons plus batched email or SMS alerts on return

Backorder rules

Sold-out variants kept selling, capped by order limits

Fulfillment holds

Scheduled or on-hold release lined up with warehouse dates

Waitlist to Klaviyo

Sign-ups synced to your email list for follow-up flows

STOQ Shopify app questions: costs, deposits and alerts

How much does the STOQ Shopify app cost?

As of October 2026, Free covers 10 preorders and 30 email alerts a month. Lite is $10, Pro $29 and Unlimited $69, with preorder and alert allowances rising by tier. Extra preorders are billed on Lite and Pro, SMS costs $0.025 per message on paid plans, and each paid plan has a 14-day trial.

Can customers pay a deposit on a STOQ preorder?

Yes. An offer can take a deposit or partial payment now and the balance later, or let the customer choose between that and paying in full, which needs a paid plan. Partial payment requires Shopify Payments and the Shopify purchase option, so check your gateway first.

Why aren't some orders showing up as STOQ preorders?

Most often because they went through Shop Pay or a Buy it now button. Those accelerated checkouts bypass the preorder purchase option, so the order isn't recorded as a preorder. Decide before launch whether to hide those buttons on preorder products or handle the orders by hand.

Do I need a developer to set up STOQ?

Usually not. The button comes through a theme app embed and most settings are in the app. A developer helps when the button must sit in a custom product template, when express checkout buttons need hiding on preorder items, or when Shopify Flow automations act on preorder orders.

What should I send a STOQ expert first?

The products and variants you want on preorder, expected ship dates, and whether you want deposits. Add your payment gateway, your warehouse or 3PL, your email platform, and roughly how many preorders and alerts you expect a month, since plan limits depend on it.