In short and in plain language
Many shops order goods for the spring in the fall. This is called a pre-order. This text shows how it works in an online shop.
Each item has a set time when it can be ordered. The buyer picks for each line when the goods should come. Up to a set day, the buyer can still make changes.
Often the buyer pays only after the goods arrive. This must be clear in the contract and on the bill. Before that, the seller checks if the buyer can pay.
Then the order goes to the program for stock and bills. The free version of Shopware has no ready tool for this. We build it for you.
In specialist retail for garden, bicycles, leisure and building supplies, the spring season is typically ordered in the fall and winter. Retailers commit to quantities before the first goods reach the shelf, and manufacturers and wholesalers use those orders to plan production, purchasing and delivery. In many companies, this pre-order round still runs on spreadsheet order forms, e-mails and conversations at in-house trade shows. The B2B shop does not know about it, even though it already holds the customers, terms and items. This article shows how to bring pre-orders into the shop as a process of their own: with an order window and a delivery date per seasonal item, with valuta as a payment term that starts at delivery, with minimum quantities, consolidated delivery, changes up to a cut-off date and a clean handover to the ERP. One limitation up front: Shopware CE has no pre-order feature. There is a release date per product, which according to the documentation only serves as an indication, because the product can still be purchased before that date (Shopware documentation). Everything else is custom development, and that is what we describe here.
Key takeaways
- A pre-order is a binding order placed in a fixed order window before the season and delivered at a later date. It differs from a framework contract with call-offs and from ongoing replenishment orders.
- Order window, delivery dates and minimum quantity belong to the seasonal item, and the retailer picks the delivery date per line. The release date in Shopware CE is only an indication; the product can be bought earlier (Shopware documentation).
- Valuta starts the payment term only at delivery or sets a fixed due date. A payment term of more than 60 days after receipt of the goods is only effective if it is expressly agreed and not grossly unfair to the creditor (Section 271a(1) BGB).
- Valuta is credit extended over months: from January to July 2026, corporate insolvency filings were 6.9 percent higher than a year earlier (Destatis). Check the credit limit and creditworthiness before you approve.
- Pre-order prices are set months in advance. Wholesale selling prices in September 2026 were 8.7 percent higher than in the same month a year earlier (Destatis). Decide whether the pre-order price is a fixed price.
- Up to the cut-off date, retailers change quantities and delivery waves themselves. After that, the pre-order goes to the ERP as an order with a requested date per line and valuta as the payment term, and it ships consolidated per wave.
Why seasonal goods need their own order window
Anyone who sells lawn mowers, raised beds, bicycles, camping furniture or building supplies for the garden season makes a large part of their revenue in a few months. The goods have to be on the shelf when the season starts, not once the weather turns. That is why specialist retailers typically order in the fall and winter for the spring. The manufacturer learns early which quantities to produce, buy in or call off from overseas, and the retailer secures goods and terms before the season begins.
Official statistics show how far ahead manufacturers plan with their orders. In manufacturing, the order backlog in August 2026 covered 9.0 months (Destatis), and at consumer goods manufacturers 4.3 months (Destatis). Coverage indicates how long the plants would be busy working off existing orders at constant sales and without new incoming orders. For seasonal goods, this means that whatever has not been ordered by the fall can only be produced to a limited extent in the spring. For many manufacturers, the pre-order is therefore a central basis for planning.
In practice, pre-orders often run alongside the shop: as a spreadsheet to fill in, as a PDF form, by e-mail to inside sales or as a list from the field sales team. The Bitkom study report on digital commerce shows how common this channel is: among the surveyed trading companies with online business, 89 percent accept orders by e-mail (Bitkom). The survey covered 505 companies from wholesale, retail and motor vehicle trade with at least ten employees (Bitkom). As a rule, someone has to type in these orders, check them and create them in the ERP, and that happens in the weeks when many retailers order at the same time.
A pre-order process in the B2B shop starts right here. The retailer sees the seasonal items with order window, delivery date and terms in the customer account, puts together the pre-order on their own and can adjust it until the cut-off date. Inside sales only checks the exceptions. How manufacturers connect their specialist retailers through a portal overall is covered in the article on the dealer portal for manufacturers.
Pre-order, framework contract, replenishment: the differences
A pre-order is not the same as a framework contract or a recurring order. The differences determine which data the shop needs and how the ERP handles the order. The table puts the three forms side by side.
| Feature | Pre-order | Framework contract with call-offs | Replenishment of stock items |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time of ordering | in a fixed order window before the season | contract once, call-offs throughout the term | at any time, as needed |
| Delivery date | later date or delivery wave per line | per call-off, usually at short notice | based on availability and lead time |
| Quantity | ordered firmly, with a minimum per item or product range | quota from which goods are called off | single order |
| Payment | often with valuta from delivery | as per contract, invoiced per call-off | under the usual payment terms |
| Changes | up to a cut-off date | call-off quantities within the quota | until the order confirmation |
| Purpose for the manufacturer | plan production and purchasing | secure sales over the term | serve ongoing demand |
A framework contract sets price and quantity for a term, and the customer calls off goods from it. What that looks like in the shop is shown in the article on framework contracts and call-off orders. Recurring orders for consumables are covered in the article on automatic replenishment in B2B, and for stock items with a delivery date from the ERP, real-time availability in the B2B shop is the right approach. A pre-order, by contrast, is a binding order for a later date, bundled into a time window before the season.
Order window and delivery date per item
At the core of a pre-order are two periods per seasonal item: the order window in which the item is offered for pre-order, and the delivery date or delivery waves in which it ships. Both belong to the item, not to the shop. A grass trimmer may be available from February, a wooden raised bed only in March, a bike trailer in two waves. When the order window closes, the item drops out of the pre-order or switches to regular sale with a lead time.
Shopware CE offers a starting point for this, but no finished solution. Every product can carry a release date. If it has not yet been reached, the product detail page shows a message telling the customer when the product can be purchased (Shopware documentation). The documentation explicitly describes the date as an indication only: the product can still be purchased before that date (Shopware documentation). An order window with a start and an end, several delivery dates per item or a choice per line in the cart do not exist in the standard.
The delivery time on the product only helps to a degree. It states roughly how long the goods take to reach the customer and, if maintained on the product, overrides the delivery time of the shipping method (Shopware documentation). That is right for stock items, but not for a pre-order with a fixed delivery date in spring: what counts here is not a period from the order date but a date on the calendar. The six fields below show what should be maintained per seasonal item.
Order window
Start and end of the pre-order for this item. Outside the window, the retailer orders on regular terms with a lead time.
Delivery dates and waves
One date or several delivery waves. The retailer chooses per line when the goods should arrive and can split quantities across waves.
Minimum quantity
Minimum per item, pack size or product range. The cart shows where the threshold has not been reached yet and how much is missing.
Pre-order terms
A discount or special price that only applies within the order window, kept separate from the price list for in-season reorders.
Valuta
Payment term from delivery or to a fixed date, approved per customer and passed to the ERP as a payment term.
Change cut-off date
Until this date, the retailer may change quantities and waves. After that, the pre-order is firmly scheduled.
Valuta: payment term from delivery
In seasonal business, valuta is one of the terms manufacturers and specialist retailers negotiate. Valuta is a dated payment term: the retailer orders in the fall, receives the goods in spring and only pays once the season has started. The invoice is then due not from the invoice date but from delivery or on a fixed date. For the retailer, this protects liquidity before the season; for the manufacturer, it is an argument for getting the pre-order early and in full.
Legally, valuta is an agreement on when payment falls due, and German civil law (BGB) sets a framework for it. If the creditor, here the supplier, can only demand payment more than 60 days after receipt of the goods, the agreement is only effective if it is made expressly and is not grossly unfair to the creditor (Section 271a(1) BGB). If the invoice arrives after the goods, receipt of the invoice replaces receipt of the goods (Section 271a(1) BGB). When the supplier offers valuta on their own initiative, the focus is mainly on the agreement being explicit. It therefore belongs visibly in the pre-order terms, the order confirmation and the invoice, not only in the customer master data.
The form of the date also matters for default. If a calendar date is set for payment, such as a fixed valuta date, no reminder is needed (Section 286(2) no. 1 BGB). The same applies if the date can be calculated on the calendar from an event, for example as a period from delivery (Section 286(2) no. 2 BGB). Without such a provision, a business customer is in default at the latest if they do not pay within 30 days after the due date and receipt of the invoice (Section 286(3) BGB). In default, the interest rate between businesses is nine percentage points above the base rate (Section 288(2) BGB), plus a lump sum of 40 euros (Section 288(5) BGB).
One point often only comes up in the first pre-order round: VAT. Under taxation based on agreed consideration, the standard case, the tax arises at the end of the advance return period in which the delivery was made (Section 13(1) no. 1(a) UStG), regardless of the valuta date. With valuta over several months, the supplier therefore usually pays the VAT before the retailer pays. If the supplier asks for a down payment on the pre-order, the tax on it already arises at the end of the period in which the down payment is received (Section 13(1) no. 1(a) UStG). Both belong in liquidity planning and in the conversation with your tax advisor.
Economically, valuta is credit extended to the retailer, and for several months. The insolvency statistics suggest taking this seriously: in the first seven months of 2026, the local courts registered 15,185 corporate insolvency filings, 6.9 percent more than in the same period a year earlier (Destatis). Per 10,000 companies, there were 42.8 insolvencies overall in this period and 62.9 in construction (Destatis). Before approving a pre-order with valuta, check whether the credit limit and creditworthiness cover the amount. How the shop does this automatically is shown in the article on credit checks in the B2B shop.
Valuta does not belong in the comment field
Minimum quantities, pre-order price and price risk
Pre-order terms usually depend on a quantity: a minimum per item, a minimum value for the entire pre-order or a tier that raises the discount with the volume. Shopware CE has a minimum order quantity per product. If it is not reached, the product cannot be placed in the cart (Shopware documentation). On top of that come purchase steps, for example a scale of 2, where customers can order 2, 4, 6 and so on, but not 1, 3 or 5 units (Shopware documentation), and a maximum quantity per order.
For pre-orders, this only goes part of the way. The minimum order quantity applies per product and permanently, including when the retailer reorders during the season. A minimum value across the whole pre-order, a minimum per product range or a minimum that may be spread over several delivery waves can only be checked by the shop with an extension. What matters is that the cart makes these rules visible instead of rejecting the order on submission: which line is below the minimum, how much is missing to the next tier, which terms apply at the current quantity. How pack sizes and minimum quantities work in the B2B shop in general is covered in the article on units of measure and pack sizes.
The second point is price. A pre-order often fixes prices months before delivery, and right now they are moving noticeably. Wholesale selling prices in September 2026 were 8.7 percent higher than a year earlier and rose by 1.9 percent compared with August alone (Destatis). Producer prices for industrial products in September 2026 were 6.7 percent above the same month a year earlier; durable consumer goods cost 2.2 percent more, wood and products of wood and cork 7.1 percent more (Destatis). Anyone who promises a fixed spring price for garden furniture, raised beds or construction timber in the fall carries this risk themselves.
So decide before the pre-order starts whether the pre-order price is a fixed price or whether a price adjustment up to delivery remains possible, and display it in the shop exactly as agreed. A fixed price is the stronger argument for the retailer; an adjustment clause must hold up contractually and be traceable in the shop. How to show new prices with a valid-from date early in the customer account is described in the article on the price preview in the customer portal.
Consolidated delivery and delivery waves
When all retailers order for the same season, delivery becomes the bottleneck. It makes sense to combine pre-order lines per retailer and delivery wave into one consolidated delivery: one shipment, one delivery note and one invoice per wave, instead of shipping each line separately as soon as it is available. That saves freight and handling, especially for freight-forwarded goods such as garden sheds, boxed bicycles or palletized building supplies.
In the shop, this requires two things. First, the retailer chooses the delivery wave per line, and the cart summarizes what arrives in which wave. Second, a rule defines what happens with partial availability: is the wave held back until everything is in stock, or does it ship with partial quantities and the rest follows? This rule belongs in the pre-order terms and the ERP logic, not in a case-by-case decision in the warehouse.
With consolidated delivery, a lot of goods arrive at the retailer at once, and between merchants the duty to inspect and give notice of defects applies: the buyer must inspect the goods without undue delay after delivery, as far as this is feasible in the ordinary course of business, and notify a defect without undue delay (Section 377(1) HGB). A delivery note per wave listing the pre-order lines and a complaint option directly in the customer account make this inspection easier for both sides.
Changes up to the cut-off date
Hardly any pre-order stays the way it was sent in the fall. The retailer looks at last year's sell-through, plans a new branch or wants to wait for the weather and would like to adjust quantities, add lines or move a wave. The manufacturer, on the other hand, needs binding figures at some point to order material and schedule production. The balance is a cut-off date: until then, changes are possible in the customer account; after that, the pre-order is firmly scheduled. For this to work without back-and-forth, the shop shows the retailer where they stand at every point:
- Cut-off date visible in the cart, the order overview and the confirmation e-mail, with date and time.
- Changes to the open pre-order in the customer account: change quantities, add or remove lines, switch the delivery wave.
- Every change with a timestamp and user, so inside sales and field sales can trace who changed what.
- Recalculation of minimum quantity, tier and terms after every change, with a notice when a threshold is no longer met.
- A reminder before the cut-off date to retailers with an open or incomplete pre-order.
- After the cut-off date, only change requests approved by inside sales instead of direct editing.
The order of systems matters. If the ERP already holds the pre-order as an order after the first submission, every later change in the shop has to arrive as a change to that order, not as a second order. It is often simpler to collect pre-orders in the shop until the cut-off date and only hand them over afterwards. Which variant fits depends on whether production planning needs provisional quantities before the cut-off date.
Handover to the ERP: order with a requested date
In the end, the pre-order has to arrive in the ERP as what it is: a customer order with its own order type, a requested delivery date per line and its own payment term. Only then does planning work correctly, does shipping avoid sending anything early and does invoicing put the right due date on the invoice. The fields have different names in every ERP, but the content is usually the same. The data example shows one possible form of the handover.
{
"order_type": "PRE_ORDER",
"customer_number": "K-20417",
"order_window": "SPRING-2027",
"changes_until": "2027-01-15T23:59:00+01:00",
"payment_terms": "VALUTA_FROM_DELIVERY",
"lines": [
{ "sku": "HB-LARCH-120", "quantity": 12, "delivery_wave": "W1", "requested_date": "2027-02-15" },
{ "sku": "GT-CORDLESS-36", "quantity": 8, "delivery_wave": "W2", "requested_date": "2027-03-01" },
{ "sku": "BT-KIDS-2", "quantity": 6, "delivery_wave": "W3", "requested_date": "2027-04-01" }
]
}Three points are decisive. The requested date sits on each line, not just in the header, because a pre-order can contain several waves. The payment term arrives as a key the ERP knows, not as free text. And the handover must be repeatable: if the retailer changes something before the cut-off date, the new version replaces the old one instead of creating a second order. How such handovers between shop and ERP are built is described on our page on shop and ERP integrations.
In the other direction, the shop needs data back from the ERP: the status per line, that is scheduled, in production, ready to ship or delivered, plus the actual delivery dates and the invoice with the valuta date. The retailer then sees in the customer account what has become of the pre-order without calling inside sales. The B2B customer portal is where this information comes together.
What Shopware CE provides and what is custom development
Shopware CE has no pre-order feature. Some building blocks are available in the standard and can be used; everything that makes the pre-order a process comes as an extension. The table separates the two.
| Building block | Standard in Shopware CE | To be developed for pre-orders |
|---|---|---|
| Date | release date per product as an indication, product purchasable earlier | order window with start and end, delivery dates and waves per item |
| Cart | minimum order quantity, purchase steps and maximum quantity per product | delivery date per line, minimum value and minimum per product range |
| Delivery time | delivery time on the product or the shipping method | fixed delivery date instead of a period from the order |
| Payment | availability of payment methods via rules | valuta as a payment term with a due date per order |
| Changes | no standard building block | editing open pre-orders in the customer account until the cut-off date |
| ERP | orders retrievable via the API | pre-order order type, requested date per line, status feedback |
One building block is easy to overlook: the Rule Builder offers conditions such as a date range or an item with a release date (Shopware documentation), and rules can determine which payment methods are available (Shopware documentation). This makes it possible, for example, to offer a payment method with valuta only when the cart contains an item whose release date lies after a given day. It does not replace the due date, the order window or the ERP handover, but it shrinks the part that has to be programmed from scratch. How we build, maintain and carry such extensions through updates on Shopware CE is described on the page on Shopware development.
Roadmap for your next pre-order round
- Define the terms: order window, delivery waves, minimum quantities, pre-order discount, valuta and cut-off date per season, agreed between sales, accounting and logistics.
- Flag the seasonal items: which items belong in the pre-order, with delivery dates per item and a rule for sales after the order window closes.
- Clarify the ERP side: order type, a field for the requested date per line, a key for the valuta payment term and how to handle changes up to the cut-off date.
- Set approvals: which retailers may place pre-orders with valuta, with a credit limit and credit check before confirmation.
- Extend the shop: pre-order area in the customer account, delivery date per line, minimum quantity checks, editing up to the cut-off date and consolidated delivery per wave.
- Test with pilot retailers: one round with a few retailers, comparison with the previous form, then invite all retailers to the next order window.
With seasonal ranges, timing decides. If you want to offer the spring pre-order in the shop, the process should be ready before the order window opens, not in the middle of it. If the current round already runs on forms, it is a good opportunity to collect requirements: which questions come up, which errors happen when typing orders in, which changes arrive after the cut-off date. That list becomes the specification for the next season.
How we implement pre-orders in the B2B shop
We build pre-order processes as an extension for Shopware CE, connected to your ERP. It starts with a workshop on your terms: which order windows, waves, minimum quantities and valuta rules apply today, and how does your ERP map them? From that, we derive a data model for seasonal items, cart logic with a delivery date per line and a handover that creates the pre-order in the ERP as an order with a requested date and payment term.
For manufacturers selling through specialist retail, we integrate the pre-order into a B2B portal for dealers where retailers also find reorders, invoices and complaints. For wholesalers with a seasonal range, for example in the building materials trade, we combine pre-orders with regular stock items in the same shop. If you no longer want to collect your next pre-order round by spreadsheet, talk to us about your pre-order round. We will look at your current form and your ERP interface and estimate the effort.
Related Articles
B2B Shop Cost: How to Plan a Realistic Budget for 2027
License-free core, demanding details: the cost drivers that shape a B2B shop budget for 2027, from pricing logic and ERP to e-invoicing and operations.
2027 prices in advance: a price preview in your B2B portal
Show the 2027 price list in your B2B customer portal before it applies: valid-from dates from the ERP, December orders, open quotes, contracts and carts.
B2B Shop Terms: When Buyers Bring Purchasing Conditions
Section 305(2) BGB does not apply to business buyers. How to include terms in a B2B shop, fend off purchasing conditions and record the terms version per order.