What is a digital pre-order?
A digital pre-order is a sale you take before the product is released. The buyer pays now and gets the files, links or license keys on a release date you set. In Alva Digital Downloads that date is called a launch, and every order placed before it unlocks at the same moment.
Checkout doesn't change. Buyers pay the full price as usual, and Alva doesn't take a deposit or charge a balance later. The pre-order only controls when the content unlocks. Orders placed after the release time are delivered straight away, like any other order.
When should you sell a digital product as a pre-order?
Sell as a pre-order when every buyer should get the product on the same day: a course that opens on a set date, an album or ebook with a release day, or a software version that ships on launch day. You take orders while you build interest, and nobody gets the files early.
- Course launches. Take enrollments now and open the lessons, workbooks and links for everyone on the start date. More for course creators.
- Album and ebook drops. Sell the release ahead of time and unlock it for every buyer at once. Mark a single or a sample chapter as bonus content so buyers get something today.
- Software releases. Pre-sell a new version. License keys are assigned to each buyer at launch and arrive with the download.
If each buyer should instead wait a set time after their own purchase, a download delay is the better fit. The comparison below shows the difference.
How digital pre-orders work in Alva Digital Downloads
Alva Digital Downloads groups pre-orders into launches. A launch is one release date and time, in your store's time zone, that any number of products and variants share. Orders for an attached product placed before that moment wait. At the release time, access opens for every waiting buyer at once and the download email goes out.
1. Create a launch
In the Alva admin, go to Products and open the Pre-orders tab. Click Create pre-order, give the launch a name for your own reference, and pick the release date and time. The release must be at least 1 hour from now and no more than 365 days ahead.
2. Attach products and variants
Pick the products to sell as pre-orders. A product can join with all of its variants or only some, so one edition can be a pre-order while another delivers today. You can also start from a product: turn on Sell as a pre-order in its Pre-order card, choose a launch and save the product.
3. Give buyers bonus content right away
On the product's page, set each file and link to At launch or Right away (bonus). Bonus content opens at purchase: in the confirmation email, on the thank-you page, the download page, the order status page and the customer account. License keys always wait for the launch.
Bonus downloads don't count toward the download limit, and the bonus link doesn't expire before launch. If you add bonus content after people have ordered, tick Email waiting buyers about the new bonus before you save, and Alva emails it once to every buyer who is still waiting.
4. Show the pre-order on your product page
Add the Pre-order notice app block to your product template in the Shopify theme editor. It shows a Pre-order badge and the release date in the buyer's own time zone, with an optional countdown, and hides itself once the release date has passed.
The block doesn't change your theme's Add to cart button. If you want the button to say Pre-order, edit the button text in your theme.
5. Move the date or release early
Open the launch and click Move date to pick a new date, earlier or later, until 5 minutes before release. Every waiting buyer moves with it. When you move it later, buyers get the old and the new date by email unless you untick Email buyers about the new date.
Release now on the launch page opens the whole launch early, and Release pre-order now on an order page opens a single order. Resending the download email doesn't release a pre-order.
6. Get ready for launch day
Each launch page has a Launch readiness list. It checks that every product has content, ZIP downloads are ready, there are enough license keys, watermarked copies are prepared and customer emails are on. If a check fails, Alva emails you 72 hours, 24 hours and 1 hour before the release.
If you watermark PDFs, click Content is final — prepare launch once your files are in place, and Alva prepares every buyer's watermarked copy ahead of time. If you don't, Alva starts this automatically 24 hours before the release.
At the release time, every waiting buyer gets access and the download email with their files, links and license keys. When the launch finishes, Alva emails you a summary, and Retry failed on the launch page resends any email that didn't go out.
What buyers see before and after launch
Right after ordering, the buyer gets a Pre-order confirmed email with the release date and time, plus a button for any bonus content. Until launch, the thank-you page, the order status page and the customer account show the pre-order with its release date. At the release time, every page switches to live downloads.
Pre-orders work beyond the online store. A sale on Shopify POS waits for the release like an online order, and the POS screen shows the release date. If your customer emails are turned off, buyers still get access on time, but no confirmation or release email.
You can edit the wording of the three pre-order emails, Pre-order confirmed, Pre-order date changed and Pre-order bonus added, in your email settings. See Customize your delivery email.
Pre-orders vs a download delay
A download delay and a pre-order both hold content after payment, but they solve different problems. A delay holds each order for a set time after its own purchase, so buyers unlock on different days. A pre-order holds every order until one shared release date, so every buyer unlocks at the same moment.
Download delay vs pre-order
| Download delay | Pre-order | |
|---|---|---|
| When content unlocks | A set time after each buyer's own purchase | One release date and time for every buyer |
| Changing the timing | Applies to new orders only | Moving the date moves every waiting buyer |
| License keys | Not held by the delay | Held and assigned at launch |
| Shopify POS sales | Delivered immediately | Held until the release date |
| Bonus content before release | Not available | Optional files and links at purchase |
| Plans | Every plan, including Free | Paid plans |
A product can't use both at once: remove its download delay before you add it to a pre-order. Personalized products can't be pre-orders. For the per-buyer wait, see how scheduled download delivery works.
Which Alva plans include pre-orders?
Digital pre-orders are included on every paid Alva Digital Downloads plan; the Free plan doesn't include them. If a store downgrades to Free, launches it has already sold still release on time, but it can't create new launches or attach products. The pricing page lists what each plan includes.
Good to know before your first launch
A pre-order in Alva Digital Downloads changes when content unlocks, not how the order is paid or fulfilled. Buyers pay in full at checkout, Shopify fulfilment isn't delayed, and cancelling or fully refunding a waiting pre-order removes access automatically. Check these rules before you announce a launch date.
- No deposits or pay-later. Buyers pay in full at checkout. Alva doesn't take a deposit or charge a balance at release.
- Auto-fulfilment isn't delayed. If you auto-fulfil digital orders, Shopify marks the order Fulfilled at purchase while the buyer waits for the release.
- Cancellations and refunds. If a pre-order is still waiting for launch, cancelling the order or refunding its full quantity removes access automatically. A partial refund keeps access, and a cancelled pre-order never uses up a license key.
- Removing a product from a launch affects new orders only. Buyers who already pre-ordered still get everything at launch.
- Automation and API. Shopify Flow gets Pre-order placed and Pre-order released triggers, and the external API manages launches through
/preordersendpoints. See the API changelog.
The step-by-step setup, with every setting, is in the help article Sell digital pre-orders.
Frequently asked questions
No. Buyers pay the full price at Shopify checkout, and Alva Digital Downloads doesn't charge anything later. The pre-order only controls when the files, links and license keys unlock.
Yes, earlier or later, until 5 minutes before release. Every buyer who is still waiting moves to the new date. When you move it later, Alva Digital Downloads emails them the old and the new date unless you untick Email buyers about the new date.
Yes. Mark files or links as Right away (bonus) on the product's page, and buyers get them at purchase, in their confirmation email and on their order pages. Bonus downloads don't count toward the download limit. License keys always wait for the launch.
A download delay holds each order for a set time after its own purchase, so buyers unlock on different days. A pre-order holds every order until one release date, so all buyers unlock together. Download delays are on every plan; pre-orders need a paid plan.
Access still opens on time, but Alva Digital Downloads holds the release email for any product with no content and emails you. Add the content, then click Retry failed on the launch page to send the emails.
Yes. A pre-order sold on Shopify POS waits for the release date like an online order, and the POS screen shows the release date. Download delays are different: they never apply to POS sales.