Shopify partial payment: Shopify preorder strategy to sell more

With Shopify preorders, the crucial part is convincing your customers to buy a product that’s still in production. Even if they love your product and are ready to buy, there will likely be a moment of hesitation at checkout when it comes to paying in full. 

“Maybe I should wait till the product is ready to dispatch.”  

“Should I spend so much right now? They don’t even have the product yet.”

That’s exactly what your customers are thinking. The answer to all this is Shopify partial payment. By letting customers secure their order with just a small deposit, you make buying easier, build trust, and lock in sales before your product even launches. 

Shopify partial payment is the winning strategy to sell more on Shopify preorders. Read along to know how it works and how to use it for your advantage. 

What is a Shopify partial payment?

With partial payment, customers pay an initial deposit as an advance, and the balance amount is paid when the product is ready to be dispatched. This offers a flexible payment method for your customers, and it's a promising selling strategy for preorders and made-to-order products. 

For a product priced at $200, customers will pay around $40 in advance and the rest later. It's convenient and reduces the purchase anxiety for high-value products. The ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ market is growing across ecommerce platforms with an expected value of $560 billion in 2025 and a whopping $911 billion by 2030. Partial payment helps break the hesitation of paying in full. 

Partial payment (Split payment) automation is currently available only for Shopify Plus users. The best alternative to offer preorders with partial payment is using a preorder app like Dibs.

Why Use Partial Payments for Preorders on Shopify?

Partial payment for preorders makes it affordable and helps build trust. Paying a smaller amount initially sounds more feasible and less risky compared to paying everything up front. 

Moreover, limited payment options and a lack of trust are some of the main reasons for Shopify cart abandonment. Partial payment on preorders helps reduce Shopify cart abandonment and builds customer loyalty and trust at the same time. 

In short, partial-payment preorders let you understand demand and lock in sales early without scaring off customers with a large upfront price. It helps increase conversion rate and improve cash flow. Customers get the satisfaction of buying without spending much, and you get an upfront payment to pay for production and raw materials. 

Why do you need a Shopify preorder app to offer partial payment? 

Using an app to offer partial payment for preorders is convenient and helps maintain the cash flow. Dibs - Preorder & Backorder is one of the best Shopify preorder apps to offer flexible payment options, including full and partial payment. 

Preorder badge & payment widget:

Once you have set up a preorder on Shopify using Dibs, the app automatically tags the preorder product separately using badges and buttons. 

The payment widget appears on the product page with customizable text options. Details about the payment, as well as the shipping, appear within the widget. 

Flexible deposit options:

For partial payment, you can either set a fixed amount or a fixed percentage as a deposit. 

For example, let’s say you’re taking preorders for a limited-edition t-shirt collection priced between $100 and $200, depending on size and design. Instead of asking customers to pay the full amount upfront, you have two options:

• Collect a flat $40 or $50 deposit for every preorder, no matter the price, or
• Collect a percentage of the total cost. Say 20%, so a $100 t-shirt requires a $20 deposit, and a $200 t-shirt requires $40.

This way, customers only pay a small portion in advance, making it easier for them to commit while you still secure guaranteed sales.

Payment reminder emails:

For partial payments, you can send three different payment reminder emails using the Dibs preorder app. It's completely optional, and the text can be customized. 

With every email, a link for the remaining payment due is also sent. 

Functional dashboard: 

The app comes with a transparent, functional, and user-friendly dashboard. Partial payments are tagged accordingly along with the order fulfillment status. 

Easy cancellation: 

Customers can cancel their preorders after selecting a preset cancellation reason. Ensure you have a clear refund policy for preorders that’s paid partially or in full. An order cancellation email will be sent automatically through the preorder app. 

How to Set Up Partial Payment for Preorders on Shopify

While a manual workaround is possible to set up partial payments on Shopify, it's neither easy nor scalable. The best option is to use a free Shopify preorder app like Dibs. The app comes with a user-friendly setup and flow that helps you create your first preorder in a matter of minutes. 

Step 1: Install the Dibs app, open the app on your Shopify store, and click on Get started.

Step 2: Complete the Basic setup and choose your product or variant.

Step 3: Set preorder availability and quantity limit (Both optional) 

Step 4: Set a shipping schedule and choose your payment methods. 

• Enable the Full payment & Partial payment options. 
• Name your payment options accordingly. 
• For partial payment, select an initial deposit payment option - Fixed amount or a percentage of the total product value. 
• Set when the remaining payment is due - Choose an exact date or a number of days from checkout. 

Step 5: Complete the storefront customization, review your preorder plan, and press Create.

That’s it, your Shopify preorder with partial payment is live on your store. For partial payments, ensure your payment gateways and payment providers are compatible. 

For detailed setup, read: How to Set Up Pre Order on Shopify (With & Without App)

Real store examples: Shopify partial payments for preorders

Offering partial payment for preorders is one of the best Shopify strategies to sell more. You get part of your sales upfront - enough to keep the cash flow while your customers are not burdened with paying in full all at once. Here are some Shopify stores offering partial payments for their preorders. 

Sugar Valley 

Sugar Valley is a Shopify store focused on selling organic, authentic, nutritious fruits and farm goods. Their motto is to replace processed food with real food for people who choose a healthy routine and real food. They offer their preorder for their organic goods with a partial payment. 

Alpha Kilo Accord

Alpha Kilo Accord is a Shopify store that sells rifle chassis for professional shooters as well as for beginners. They have several premium, high-ticket products available in stock, while they offer partial payment for their preorder products.

Frequently asked questions

1. How to accept partial payment on Shopify?

You can accept partial payments on Shopify manually as well as using third-party apps. 

Shopify doesn’t natively support partial payments, but there is a manual workaround. You’d need to create draft orders, manually track balances, send follow-up invoices, and usually rely on a third-party app to collect the rest.

Using an app like Dibs, you can collect partial payments for your preorders directly through the app. It's easy, simple, effective, and hardly takes a few minutes to set up partial payment on Shopify. 

2. What is the best partial payment Shopify app for preorders? 

There are several apps that helps offer partial payments for preorders. One of the best apps among them is the Dibs - preorder and backorder app. 

Dibs is completely free and comes with advanced yet user-friendly features and an interface.

With Dibs, you can schedule your preorder, set a quantity limit, tag products with badges, send customized payment emails, offer flexible payment, and even customize it to fit your store. 

3. Can I offer partial payment for Shopify preorders without an app?

Shopify does not offer native support for partial payments. 

Even if you create a draft order and create a split payment, at some point, you will need a third-party payment app to collect the remaining due from your customers. 

The smart move is to use a preorder app like Dibs to offer flexible payment options for your preorder products. 

4. How much deposit should I charge for preorders? 

For preorder deposits, it's safe to charge anywhere between 20% to 50% of the product value.

Customers are paying only a part of the actual price initially, which helps increase their trust and your overall sales. 

It works best, especially for high-ticket, expensive preorders and made-to-order products. A win-win for both parties. Your customers pay only a deposit upfront, while you are making profits even before the product is available in stock. 

5. Shopify partial payment vs full payment - which one is better? 

If you have the product in stock and if the value is reasonable, then full payment is sufficient and works just fine. 

But, for preorders, made-to-order products, and high-value products, offering flexible payment using apps such as Dibs helps increase your sales and build overall customer trust.  

Customers will be more willing to pay an initial deposit rather than the whole amount up front in such cases.