Backorder: How to Sell Stock You Don't Have Yet and Keep Trust

A backorder is an order a shopper pays for while the item is out of stock, and you ship it when your next batch of inventory arrives. Unlike accidental overselling, a backorder is a deliberate choice, backed by a supplier order and a ship date the shopper sees before paying.

Every order is a promise. Keeyu keeps it. Keeyu is proactive e-commerce operations software, and a backorder is one of the clearest tests of that idea.

Empire Flippers calls a backorder essentially an IOU from your business to your customer: the shopper pays upfront, and you deliver when the stock comes in.

My view is simple. Every order is a commitment the customer already paid for. A backorder doesn't lower that bar. It raises it. The shopper has paid for something you can't put in a box yet. The only things holding the deal together are the date you gave and how well you keep them posted.

This guide is about running deliberate backorders well. Taking orders you can't fill by mistake is a different problem, covered in our guide to why ecommerce brands oversell inventory.

How to set up a backorder workflow

A backorder workflow is the set of rules for which products can sell out of stock, how orders are held, and what happens if the date slips. It touches your storefront, your order management or ERP system, your warehouse and your support inbox. Design it across all four.

Decide which SKUs qualify

Not every product belongs on backorder. Empire Flippers notes that shoppers are more willing to wait for a high-ticket item, because it is a bigger commitment. A cheap impulse buy with three competitors one click away is a poor candidate. A specialist product with a known inbound date is a good one.

Tie every backorder to a purchase order

My rule: no backorder without a confirmed inbound. Without a purchase order and a supplier date behind it, the ship date is a guess. The shopper is paying for that guess.

Build the hold and release steps

• Tag backordered orders at checkout so they go to a holding state, not the pick queue.
• Store the promised date on the order itself, so a later edit to the listing doesn't erase it.
• When the purchase order lands, release held orders in the sequence they were placed.
• Flag any order that passes its promised date without a release.

Where the workflow usually breaks

Across the 786 labeled pain points we've collected from retailer calls, one keeps coming up. Merchants pull backorder reports by hand out of systems like NetSuite, with no single view of what is waiting on what. The workflow exists on paper, but the visibility doesn't. Someone exports a spreadsheet on Monday, and by Thursday it is wrong.

Inventory accounting and cash flow impact

A backorder means you collect cash before you ship goods. That shifts the timing of money in your business. It also creates an obligation: until the order ships, you owe the shopper the product or their money back.

What the cash looks like

On the plus side, you are paid while inventory is still in transit. That can ease the strain of paying a supplier ahead of a big restock. Empire Flippers adds that backordering can save on storage and carrying costs, since you hold less stock on the shelf.

On the other side, that cash isn't fully yours until you deliver. If the supplier slips and shoppers cancel, refunds come out of the same pool. How you record payments taken before shipment varies by business and state, so ask your accountant before you set it up.

Lead times are the real variable

The number that drives everything is supplier lead time. A wait of days and a wait of months are different promises, so set the date shoppers see from the lead time you can actually get, and see the pre-order guide for longer production waits.

Drop-ship setups add another layer. I've seen cascading delays across 15 to 20 drop-ship suppliers stretch one simple question to as long as three days to resolve. Nobody had a single view of where each supplier was at.

Safety stock and reorder point formulas

Safety stock is the buffer inventory you hold to cover demand spikes and supplier delays. The reorder point is the stock level at which you place your next purchase order. Together they decide how often you need a backorder at all.

The standard formulas

A worked example

Say you sell 10 units a day on average and 15 on your busiest days. Your supplier usually takes 30 days but has taken 40. Safety stock is (15 x 40) minus (10 x 30), or 300 units. Your reorder point is (10 x 30) + 300, or 600 units.

Empire Flippers makes the same point in plainer terms. To forecast demand, look at the rate at which you sell your product, the orders you expect in a period and how long fulfillment takes. Then adjust for seasonality using historic sales.

Why the formula isn't enough

The formula is rarely the weak point. The inputs are. If the stock count feeding your reorder point is wrong, the math is wrong too. Fix the count first, then tune the formula.

Out-of-stock vs. backorder psychology

An out-of-stock badge ends the sale. A backorder label keeps it open by giving the shopper a choice: wait for a date, or leave.

What a date changes

Empire Flippers sums up the difference. With an out-of-stock listing, the customer doesn't know when the product will be available again. A backorder can give them a resupply date. The same piece notes that some shoppers read scarcity as a sign a product is popular. It also points out that an out-of-stock listing can't track how many shoppers come back.

The date has to be real

The date does the persuading, so it has to be one you can hit. If you aren't confident in the supplier date, "sold out, notify me" is the safer label. A missed backorder date is worse than a lost sale, because the shopper has already paid.

Partial fulfillment strategies

Partial fulfillment, or split shipping, means sending the in-stock items now and the backordered item later, as a second shipment. Most of the order reaches the shopper fast, but you pay for a second shipment and a second tracking journey.

When to split

• Split when the backordered item is a small part of the order and the rest is useful on its own.
• Hold the full order when the items only make sense together, like a set or a kit.
• Ask the shopper at checkout when you can, and record their choice on the order.

What splitting does to support

Every split creates two delivery timelines and two chances for confusion. The first box arrives without the item they wanted most. The next thing you get is a "where's the rest of my order?" email. So each shipment notice has to say what is in it, what isn't, and when the rest is due.

That is the idea behind proactive e-commerce operations: the shopper hears what's happening before they have to ask. Keeyu gets shoppers what they want, on time, as promised.

Every order is a promise. Keeyu keeps it.

Preventing cart abandonment and churn

During a backorder, churn shows up in two places. Some shoppers abandon the cart when they see the wait. Others cancel, or never come back, because the wait went badly.

Before checkout

Show the expected ship date before the shopper commits, not after. A surprise date in the confirmation email is the fastest way to a cancellation request. Make the trade explicit: what they get by waiting, and when.

During the wait

Empire Flippers recommends regular status updates and telling shoppers how they can contact you or cancel. The cancel option matters as much as the updates. A shopper who knows the way out is easy will usually wait more patiently.

When to cancel

Set your rule before you need it:

• If the supplier date moves once, send the new date and offer to cancel.
• If it moves twice, or past a limit you set, offer a refund or an in-stock alternative.
• Never let an order sit past its promised date with no message. Silence turns a delay into a lost customer.

I treat broken delivery promises as a lifetime-value problem, not an ops footnote. Our guide to the top post-purchase issues you can fix proactively goes deeper on that pattern.

Backorder notification email templates

A backorder notification tells the shopper their item is on backorder, when to expect it and what their options are. You usually need three: a confirmation at purchase, a status update during the wait and a delay notice if the date moves.

Confirmation at purchase

Subject: Your order is confirmed, [item] ships around [date]

Thanks for your order. [Item] is on backorder and we expect it to ship around [date]. We'll email you when it leaves our warehouse. Changed your mind? Reply to this email any time before it ships and we'll cancel it.

Status update during the wait

Subject: Update on your [item]

Quick update: your [item] is still on track to ship around [date]. Nothing for you to do. We'll be in touch when it's on its way.

Delay notice

Subject: Your [item] is running late, here's the new date

We're sorry. Our supplier has pushed back delivery of [item], so your order will now ship around [new date]. If that no longer works, reply and we'll refund you in full. Or we can swap it for [in-stock alternative].

What makes them work

Be specific about dates, apologize without excuses and always give the shopper a way out. For more wording you can adapt, see our delivery delay email examples.

Product page best practices

The product page is where the backorder promise is first made. Shoppers should know they're buying something that isn't in stock before they reach checkout.

What to show

• A clear "on backorder" label near the price and add-to-cart button.
• The expected ship date, written as a date or a short range, never "soon".
• A one-line note on what happens if the date changes and how to cancel.
• Separate dates per variant if sizes or colors arrive at different times.

Keep the page and the order in sync

Empire Flippers stresses honesty: tell shoppers how backordering works and what to expect, including when they'll receive their product. The date on the page and the date on the order should come from the same source. If the supplier date changes, update the listing and the open orders together. When they drift apart, support explains the gap one ticket at a time.

For the operating model behind keeping every order on track after checkout, read our hub on proactive ecommerce operations. Then book a Keeyu demo to see it on your own orders.

Every order is a promise. Keeyu keeps it.

Backorder FAQ

What does backorder mean in ecommerce?

A backorder is an order a shopper pays for while the item is out of stock, with the agreement that you'll ship it once new inventory arrives. Unlike a sold-out listing, it gives the shopper an expected ship date and keeps the sale. It works best when you have a confirmed purchase order and a supplier date you trust.

Is a backorder the same as overselling?

No. A backorder is a deliberate choice to sell stock you've ordered but not yet received, with a date attached. Overselling is accidental: you take orders you didn't know you couldn't fill, usually because two inventory counts disagree. We cover the accidental version in our guide to why ecommerce brands oversell inventory.

Should I take payment for a backordered item upfront?

Most stores do, since the shopper is committing to the purchase. The trade-off is that you now owe them the product or a refund, so the date has to be realistic. Make your cancellation policy clear before checkout, and ask your accountant how to record payments collected before shipment.

How long is too long for a backorder?

There is no single limit, because it depends on the product and what the shopper expects. A specialist high-ticket item can carry a longer wait than a cheap everyday product. Give a date you're confident in, update the shopper if it moves, and offer a refund or alternative if it moves more than once.

Should I split-ship a backordered order?

Split shipping makes sense when the in-stock items are useful on their own and the backordered item is a small part of the order. Hold the full order when the items only work together. Either way, tell the shopper what is in each shipment and when the rest will arrive.

What should a backorder email include?

A good backorder email names the item, gives an expected ship date, explains what happens next and offers an easy way to cancel. Send one at purchase, one during the wait and one if the date changes. Our delivery delay email examples show wording you can adapt for each stage.

• 1. Empire Flippers, "What Is a Backorder in Ecommerce?", https://empireflippers.com/backorder-ecommerce/. Supports the backorder-as-IOU definition, backorder vs out-of-stock (resupply date), high-ticket suitability, storage cost savings, demand forecasting inputs, status updates and cancel options, and honesty about what to expect.