Pre-orders need a paid plan. In the Alva admin they live under Products → Pre-orders.
How it works
A pre-order in Alva Digital Downloads is a launch: one release date and time that any number of products and variants share. Every order for an attached product placed before that moment waits. At the release time, access opens for every waiting buyer at once, and each buyer gets the normal download email with their files, links and license keys. License keys are assigned at launch, not at purchase.
Moving the launch moves every waiting buyer with it, so one date controls the whole release. Orders placed after the release time are delivered straight away, as usual.
Create a pre-order
1. Open Products → Pre-orders
In the Alva admin, go to Products and open the Pre-orders tab. Click Create pre-order.
2. Name the launch and set the release date
Enter a Launch name for your own reference. Then pick the Release date and the Time (24-hour). Both are in your store's time zone, which is shown under the fields. The release must be at least 1 hour from now and no more than 365 days ahead.
3. Choose 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. Click Create pre-order.
Alva admin, Products, Pre-orders tab, Create pre-order modal. Show the Launch name "Album launch", a Release date, Time (24-hour) "09:00" with the store time-zone note, and two products ticked in the picker, one with a single variant selected. No real customer data visible.
You can also start from a product. On its page in Alva, turn on Sell as a pre-order in the Pre-order card, choose a launch or click Create a launch, then save the product.
Give buyers bonus content right away
A pre-order doesn't have to be all or nothing. On the product's page, the Bonus content list sets when each file and link is Available: At launch or Right away (bonus). Mark an early single, a sample chapter or a teaser video as bonus, then save.
Buyers get bonus content at purchase: in their confirmation email, on the thank-you page, on the download page, and on the order status page and customer account. Bonus downloads don't count toward the download limit, and the bonus link doesn't expire before launch. License keys always wait for the launch.
Adding bonus content after people have pre-ordered? Tick Email waiting buyers about the new bonus before you save, and Alva emails it once to every buyer who is still waiting.
Alva product page, Bonus content list of a pre-order product: one audio file set to "Right away (bonus)", the other files "At launch", and the row "License keys — always at launch". No real customer data visible.
Move the date or release early
Open the launch from Products → Pre-orders and click Move date to choose a new release date, earlier or later. You can move it until 5 minutes before release. The new date must be at least 1 hour from now and at most 365 days ahead. Only buyers who are still waiting move with it; anyone who already has access keeps it.
When you move the date later, let buyers know: Email buyers about the new date is ticked by default and sends every waiting buyer the old and the new date, with your optional message. Untick it to move the date without an email.
To release early, click Release now on the launch page. Every waiting buyer gets access and the release email straight away, and this can't be undone. To release one buyer only, open their order in Alva and click Release pre-order now.
Resending the download email doesn't release a pre-order. On a waiting order Alva says there is nothing to resend until the release date. To send the confirmation again, use Resend pre-order confirmation.
What customers see
Checkout doesn't change: buyers pay the full price as usual. Right after ordering they get a Pre-order confirmed email with the release date and time, in your store's time zone with the zone name, plus a button for any bonus content.
Until launch, the thank-you page, the order status page and the customer account show Pre-order — available on the release date, and the download page says the pre-order is confirmed. At the release time every page switches to live downloads and the normal download email arrives, license keys included.
To change the wording of the pre-order emails, pick Pre-order confirmed, Pre-order date changed or Pre-order bonus added in the Email menu of your email settings. See Customize your delivery email.
Show the pre-order on your product page
Alva Digital Downloads adds a Pre-order notice app block to your theme. It shows a Pre-order badge and the release date in the buyer's own time zone, with an optional countdown. Add it once: in the Shopify theme editor, open your product template, add the Pre-order notice app block, and save.
The block appears only on products you sell as a pre-order, follows the variant the buyer picks, and hides itself once the release date has passed. In its settings you can turn on Show a countdown to the release and choose the badge and text colours.
The block doesn't change your theme's Add to cart button. Edit the button text in your theme if you want it to say Pre-order. If you use the EU Withdrawal Consent block, it adapts its wording on pre-order products.
Get ready for launch day
Each launch page has a Launch readiness list. It checks that every product has files, links or license keys, ZIP downloads are ready, there are enough license keys for every buyer, watermarked copies are prepared, and customer emails are turned on. If a check fails, Alva emails your notification address 72 hours, 24 hours and 1 hour before the release, and the Alva dashboard shows a warning.
If you watermark PDFs, click Content is final — prepare launch once your files are in place, so Alva prepares every buyer's watermarked copy ahead of time. If you don't, Alva starts this automatically 24 hours before the release.
Access opens at the release time even if a product has no content yet. Alva holds that product's release emails and emails you: add the content, then click Retry failed on the launch page to send them.
While the launch releases, its page shows the progress. When it finishes, Alva emails you a summary of how many release emails were sent and how many failed, and Retry failed on the launch page sends the failed ones again. If the launch runs short of license keys, you get one alert with the shortfall.
Cancellations and refunds
Alva Digital Downloads automatically removes access to a pre-order that is still waiting for launch when the order is cancelled, or when a refund covers the full quantity of that pre-order. A partial refund keeps access. Because keys are assigned at launch, a cancelled pre-order never uses up a license key.
This applies only to pre-orders still waiting for launch. Released pre-orders and ordinary purchases keep their access after a refund. To remove it, turn access off on the order page, as described in Revoke download access after a refund or chargeback.
Good to know
- In-person POS sales are held too. A pre-order sold on Shopify POS waits for the release date like an online order, and the POS screen shows the release date.
- License-key-only products can be pre-orders. Their keys are assigned at launch.
- Removing a product from a launch affects new orders only. Buyers who already pre-ordered still get everything at launch.
- 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.
- Customer emails turned off? Buyers still get access on time, but no confirmation or release email.
- Downgrading to the Free plan. Launches you've already sold still release on time, but you can't create launches or attach products.
- Automation. Shopify Flow gets Pre-order placed and Pre-order released triggers, and the Grant additional downloads action gets a Release pre-orders early option, off by default. The external API manages launches too: see the API changelog.
Limitations
- No deposits or pay-later. Buyers pay in full at checkout. Alva doesn't take a deposit or charge a balance at release.
- No pre-order and download delay together. A product with a download delay can't be a pre-order until you remove the delay. Personalized products can't be pre-orders.
- The date locks 5 minutes before release. After that you can only release now.
- Split refunds on older orders. For a pre-order on an order older than 60 days, Alva may miss earlier partial refunds that together cover the full quantity. Turn access off on the order page in that case.
Frequently asked questions
No. Buyers pay the full price at checkout, and Alva Digital Downloads doesn't charge anything later. The pre-order only controls when the files, links and license keys unlock.
Your store's time zone, shown next to the date fields. Buyers see the release time in their own time zone on the product page and their order pages, and the pre-order emails show your store's time with the zone name.
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, they're emailed the old and the new date unless you untick Email buyers about the new date.
No. Only Release now on the launch page, or Release pre-order now on an order page, releases a pre-order early.
If the pre-order is still waiting for launch, cancelling the order or refunding the full quantity removes access automatically, so nothing is delivered at launch. A partial refund keeps access. After launch, a refund doesn't remove access on its own: turn access off on the order page.
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.
See also
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Last updated 2026-11-04