Sales page with pre-order

Pre-orders help to measure interest and traction.

Make a sales page to test an offer before developing the product or service.

A sales page presents your offer and asks for payment to pre-order it.

Why customers pre-order

There are a few key psychological factors at play:

Anticipation and excitement: Pre-ordering an item you‘re eagerly awaiting can give you a sense of excitement and something to look forward to. It builds anticipation as you count down to the release date delivery.

Fear of missing out (FOMO): For highly popular or scarce products, some shoppers worry if they don‘t lock in a pre-order, they‘ll miss their chance and have to wait a long time for a restock after launch. Pre-ordering alleviates this anxiety.

Desire to be an early adopter: Some consumers take pride or satisfaction in being among the first to own a cutting-edge product. Pre-ordering increases the odds they‘ll have the latest gadget or game on day 1.

Securing the best price: With Amazon‘s pre-order price guarantee, shoppers can feel confident they‘re getting the lowest price by ordering ahead, with no downside if the price drops later. It reduces the chances of buyer‘s remorse.

Convenience: Rather than having to remember to go out and buy something when it launches, pre-ordering allows shoppers to set it and forget it, knowing their purchase will simply show up at their door on release day without additional effort.

Pre-order statistics

Pre-order rate is the percentage of visitors who commit to purchasing products before their availability.

Typical Pre‑Order Rate Range (10–20%)
Successful ecommerce launches see 10–20% of visitors commit to pre‑orders before a product is available
Countdown Timer Uplift (9%)
Displaying a countdown timer on pre‑order pages can boost conversion rates by up to 9%.
But only do this if you attach a real consequence to not ordering before the time is up, for example people who pre-order before a certain date will get a bonus.
Limited‑Quantity Badge Impact (20%)
Showing low‑stock notifications increases purchase likelihood by about 20%
Email & Social Proof Boost (50%)
Targeted email campaigns combined with social proof can lift pre‑order conversions by as much as 50%
Early‑Bird Discount Effect (30%)
Offering special discounts or early‑bird bonuses drives pre‑order conversions up roughly 30%
Tiered Access Reward Gain (25%)
Implementing tiered VIP access programs can raise pre‑order rates by up to 25%
Scarcity Perception (60%)
Around 60% of shoppers are more likely to pre‑order when they believe supplies are limited
Overall Sales Lift (40%)
Effective pre‑order campaigns can boost overall sales by up to 40%
User‑Generated Content Engagement (75%)
Incorporating customer photos or videos on pre‑order pages increases engagement by 75%, aiding conversions
Influencer Trust Factor (49%)
Collaborations with influencers can raise the pre‑order trust factor by about 49%, improving conversions
Pre‑Order Rate Trend (2019→2025)
Pre‑order rates have risen from about 5–10% in 2019 to 10–20% in 2025 as consumers embrace early‑access purchasing
Baseline Ecommerce Conversion (2–4%)
In 2025, average site‑wide ecommerce conversion rates range from 2% to 4%, making pre‑order rates of 10–20% particularly strong
Desktop vs. Mobile Conversion (3.9% vs. 1.8%)
Average desktop conversion rates hit 3.9%, compared to 1.8% on mobile, underscoring the need for optimized pre‑order mobile experiences

Reference:

https://www.amraandelma.com/pre-order-conversion-statistics

Payment

You can have some options about taking payment for pre-order:

Take the full price at pre-order; if a customer cancels before you ship, refund their money
Take a fraction of the price at pre-order and that reserves the customer’s spot; you will reach out to them on the release date and they can finish the transaction by paying the rest; you can choose to allow customers to cancel and get a refund on this pre-order or not, since it’s not the full price they are using it to reserve their item and you are using it to pay for production; if you cancel the launch you must refund their money, but you can make it non-refundable for them where if they cancel you won’t reach out to them on release day but also they don’t get the money back, or if they do the refund would have to wait until after release day.
Don’t take any money at the time of pre-order, but add them to a mailing list and notify them some time before the product is available and at that time only people who signed up to pre-order can then buy it at the special pre-order price and get their bonus before everyone else can.

Bonus

It helps to offer a pre-order bonus to entice the customer to sign up.

Discount

A bonus might be to discount the price of the item so they know that when they pre-order they are getting a better deal than what anyone else would get on release day.

Price guarantee

Including a pre-order price guarantee can help customers decide to pre-order by eliminating price risk. The price guarantee says that if a lower price is offered at any time between their pre-order and the release date, that they will automatically receive the lower price. This assures customers that they are getting the best deal. If you take full payment in advance, you’d refund the difference between what they paid and the lowest price.

Release date delivery

A release date delivery is a nice bonus for customers excited to get your product, because it means they will receive their copy of the product on the release date. For physical products, it means they don’t have to visit any store to pick it up or wait in any lines.

Quantity limit

You should limit pre-orders to 1 per customer, or 1 per delivery address. This prevents people from buying up your entire inventory to resell or tricking you into thinking that you need to produce a lot and then cancelling their order and leaving you holding inventory for which the demand wasn’t real.

However, you can also provide a link for people who want to enter into a distribution agreement with you for them to resell it or to sell it on commission where you can create a business agreement and sell in larger quantities. Then you can check the geographical territories to avoid conflicts between resellers and also you can require pre-payment from them in cash to fund manufacturing, which is non-refundable, and then pay the rest before you ship to them, to reduce risk to you of them cancelling the order.

Bundled item

You might offer a second item for free or at a discount when they pre-order the product. Only customers who pre-order get this bundled item.

Compass

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