Product·March 5, 2026·4 min read

Pre-Order Management: Ship What You Can, Hold What You Can't

Pre-orders are one of the trickiest problems in e-commerce fulfillment. A customer orders three items — two are in stock, one doesn't release until next month. Do you hold the entire order? Ship what you can? Split it?

WarpWare's pre-order system gives you full control over this decision, per-SKU, with zero code.

Split-or-Hold Logic

When an order contains a mix of in-stock and pre-order items, WarpWare supports two modes:

Split Mode: The in-stock items ship immediately. The pre-order items are held in a separate child order that releases on the configured date. The customer gets their available items fast, and the pre-order ships when it's ready.

Hold Mode: The entire order is held until all items are available. This is common for brands where the unboxing experience matters — they want everything to arrive together.

You configure this per-SKU or per-rule. Different products can have different pre-order behavior.

How It Works

1.You create a pre-order rule in WarpWare targeting specific SKUs

2.Set the release date (or "release when in stock")

3.Choose split or hold mode

4.When orders come in, WarpWare automatically identifies pre-order items and applies the configured behavior

The rule engine handles the complexity. Your warehouse only receives orders that are ready to fulfill.

Automatic Release

When the release date arrives, WarpWare automatically releases held orders into the pipeline. They flow through rules, push to the warehouse, and fulfill — no manual intervention required.

You can also trigger manual releases from the dashboard or via Walter AI ("release all pre-orders for SKU SUMMER-24").

Why This Matters

Brands launch new products all the time. Seasonal drops, limited editions, crowdfunded products — they all involve pre-orders. Without a proper pre-order system, 3PLs end up managing spreadsheets and manual holds.

WarpWare makes pre-orders a first-class feature. Configure once, and the system handles every future pre-order automatically.