Pre-Order Order Confirmation Emails on Shopify

When a customer checks out a pre-order on your Shopify store, Shopify sends its standard order confirmation email — that always happens, and it can’t be switched off. On top of it, Timesact can send an optional pre-order notification email if you enable one. So your real setup decision is simple: one email (Shopify’s confirmation on its own) or two (Shopify’s confirmation plus a branded Timesact pre-order email).

The good news for most stores is that the one email is already enough. Shopify’s confirmation isn’t silent about the pre-order — it renders the Selling Plan name inside the line item, so if you’ve named your plan well, the customer’s single confirmation already tells them what they bought and when it ships. This guide covers what that default gives you, and when adding the second email earns its place.

Here’s the shape of it:

This is the simplest setup and the right one for most first-collection launches and capsule drops. The customer places a pre-order, Shopify sends its confirmation, and that single email already carries the pre-order signal — because Shopify pulls the Selling Plan name into the line item automatically.

That makes the Selling Plan name the field to get right. Write it as a short, specific label — “Pre-Order — ships early September” rather than just “Pre-order” — and the customer’s one confirmation reads clearly: this is a pre-order, and here’s the window. No extra configuration, no second email.

One thing to avoid: don’t edit Shopify’s order confirmation template (Settings → Notifications → Order confirmation) to add pre-order wording. That template is global — any change there applies to every order, including in-stock ones — so it’s the wrong tool for a pre-order-specific message. The Selling Plan name already carries the pre-order context into that email without touching the template.

To run this setup:

1. In Timesact (Settings → Selling Plans), write the Selling Plan name as the customer-facing label you want in the cart and confirmation — carry the shipping window in it. 2. Leave the Timesact pre-order notification email disabled (its default state).

The result: one clean email per pre-order, sent by Shopify, with the pre-order context already inside it.

Some brands want a second, branded email that does more than confirm the order — it explains the production timeline, shows what’s coming, and sets expectations for the wait. That’s what Timesact’s pre-order notification email is for. It’s an addition to Shopify’s confirmation, not a replacement — Shopify’s email still goes out, so this is the “two emails” path.

The Timesact email pulls the cart label you set in your pre-order template, so it needs two things to send: the notification enabled, and the cart label filled in the template. Because it lands alongside Shopify’s confirmation, the one rule that matters is that it shouldn’t repeat what Shopify already said. Shopify’s email is the receipt — what they bought, what they paid. Write the Timesact email as the next message: “Thanks for pre-ordering — here’s what happens next,” then the production milestones and how to reach you.

To run this setup:

1. Set the cart label in your Timesact pre-order template (Settings → Templates) — the shipping-window phrasing the email will carry. 2. Enable the Timesact pre-order notification and write it as a follow-on message, not a duplicate confirmation. 3. Send yourself a test pre-order and read both emails back to back. If they feel like one message split in two, rewrite the Timesact one until it earns its own send.

The result: two emails per pre-order, each doing a different job — Shopify’s receipt, and your pre-order narrative.

For most launches, the default is the right answer: Shopify’s confirmation, with a well-written Selling Plan name carrying the pre-order window — one clear step in the pre-order customer journey from checkout to delivery. The customer is buying something they’ll wait for, and what they want from your email is clarity, not volume.

Add the Timesact email when the pre-order itself is part of the story — limited drops, made-to-order lines, founder-led launches with a strong voice — where a branded “what happens next” message adds something the receipt can’t. Whichever you choose, decide it once at setup and keep it consistent across your catalog. If your customers often check out a mix of pre-order and in-stock items, our guide to handling mixed carts on Shopify covers how those orders read end to end.

Pre-order email setup is a one-time decision that shapes everything after checkout. Shopify sends one clean confirmation either way, and the Selling Plan name carries the pre-order signal inside it — so start there, and add the Timesact email only when a branded second message earns its send. It’s a small choice that keeps the whole post-checkout experience clear, from confirmation to delivery.

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