Using Flow to Hold orders containing PREORDER items

[Marty_HS]

Hello,

I was wondering if there is any flow able to automatically Hold Fulfilment of order including preorder items.

Thanks,

Martina

[paul_n]

Probably, but usually pre-orders are managed through an app and apps handle pre-orders differently. What is unique about items that are pre-order? You can use Flow to check for that unique thing and place a hold. 

[Marty_HS]

Hello Paul,

thank you for answering.

Yes we use an app already, SplitOrder, to separate preorder items from available to sell ones. In this way the order is split in 2 new orders, one can be fulfilled the other one I would like to hold it. 

Why do I want to hold it?

To avoid our external warehouse to receive it when importing orders directly from Shopify.

Is there any feature in Flow able to hold the new order created from the app containing the Preorder item?

Thanks,

Martina

[paul_n]

I'm not an expert in SplitOrder so not sure. It's possible you could check the source of the order using the `order / app / name` field, but it depends on how they do that split (the other part of the order may also appear to come from SplitOrder). If the product has a "pre-order" tag or something like that, you could also check for that (order / lineItems / product / tags)

[Marty_HS]

Hello Paul,

yes, the product contains the word Preorder in its name and the SplitOrder App is automatically tagging orders containing this products.

I was wondering if with Flow there was a feature similar to this one, setting a rule by which if an Order contains a preorder product name, automatically the order fulfilment moves to the On Hold status.

[paul_n]

You build a workflow in Flow that does something like:

1. Order created
2. Check if at least one order/tags == preorder
3. If true, Hold fulfillment order

You could also substitute checking if at least one order / lineItems / title includes "preorder" for #2. 

Obviously you'll need to enter the exact string used in the tag or title

[Sandy--STOQ]

Hey @Marty_HS! (And to anyone else that found this through search 😄)

If you use a preorder app, it's most likely that the app won't be able to place the entire order on hold if it contains a preorder product. It is technically possible, but requires a few other integrations on the app developer's part. Regardless of whether the app supports it or not, you can definitely do it with Shopify Flow.

I came across this because one of our merchants wanted to hold the entire order since they didn't want their shipping team to ship the order twice - once for in-stock and again for preorder. The suggested solution should work and I tested it out real quick with a flow on my test store. Attached a screenshot of it, but here's the steps - 

1. Set your trigger to be 'Order created'
2. Next, add a condition to check if the order has a tag or note matching the string you want. With our app at least, you can set a tag unique to the offer. So I set it up to check if the order contains the tag 'preorder'
3. Next, add an action to 'Hold all fulfillment orders'. Set the reason to 'Other' and add a note if needed.

You can add any type of condition depending on the app. Thanks again for the solution!