How to enable Magento 2 backorders?

Backorders allow customers to purchase products that are currently out of stock so that the orders are fulfilled as soon as the products are back in stock.

The backorder feature in Magento 2, specifically, allows your online business to accommodate customer demand for temporarily unavailable items with options to either disallow backorders or permit negative product quantities, and to notify customers when they place backorders. You can adjust the configuration settings for backorders in the Magento 2 admin panel under the "Catalog" section.

Enabling backorders in Magento 2 can ultimately enhance your business’s flexibility and improve your customer experience during temporary stock shortages. However, managing inventory levels effectively and promptly restocking products will be the key to using backorders successfully.

In this short guide, we’re going to walk you through the steps of enabling and configuring backorders in your Magento 2 ecommerce store.

How Do You Enable Magento 2 Backorders?

Let’s break down the process of enabling Magento backorders, step by step:

1. Log in to your Magento 2 admin panel.

2. In the left sidebar, click on "Stores."

3. Under "Settings," click on "Configuration."

4. In the Configuration menu, click on "Catalog" under the "Catalog" section.

5. Scroll down to the "Product Stock Options" section.

6. Locate the "Backorders" field and set it to one of the following options based on your preferences:

• No Backorders: Customers can't place orders for out-of-stock items.
• Allow Qty Below 0: Customers can place backorders, and the quantity can go below zero.
• Allow Qty Below 0 and Notify Customer: Same as above, but customers are notified.

7. If you chose the option to notify customers, configure the "Notify for Quantity Below 0" field.

8. Click on the "Save Config" button to apply the changes.

9. After saving the configuration, it's recommended to reindex your Magento store to ensure the changes take effect. You can do this by running the following command in the terminal:

php bin/magento indexer:reindex

10. Clear the Magento cache to make sure the changes are reflected on the storefront. Run the following command:

php bin/magento cache:clean

11. To verify that the backorder functionality is working as expected, visit your storefront and try placing an order for a product that is out of stock.

Never Lose a Sale with Magento 2 Backorders

Follow these steps to take control of your Magento 2 backorders and ensure you never miss a sale. For enhanced backorder functionality in Magento 2, check out our Pre Order plugin for Magento 2. With the dedicated Amasty Pre Order plugin, you can allow your customers to pre-order or backorder products that are coming soon or out of stock. You can even collect valuable data on your customers’ preferences to make it easier to fine-tune your ecommerce marketing strategy.