Overview
A Preorder allocation is one of the sourcing options available in the Allocation Planner (part of the Purchase-to-Order feature). Unlike sourcing from existing stock or pegging to an incoming purchase order, a Preorder allocation reserves no supply at the time you confirm the plan. Instead, it pins the sales order line to a specific warehouse, and a fulfillment order is created automatically the moment stock becomes available there.
Preorder is the right choice when you know you want to fulfill a line from a particular warehouse, but you don't yet have stock on hand or an inbound PO to peg against.
Where to Find It
The Preorder option appears in two places inside the Allocation Planner (accessed from a sales order by clicking Allocate order):
- Simple view — click more options beneath a line's sourcing choices. The option is listed as Preorder alongside Add to existing PO.
- Split view — after clicking split across sources, each warehouse group panel shows a Preorder row (marked with an amber dot) where you can enter a quantity.
The summary panel on the right confirms what will happen: Preorder → [Warehouse] · ships when stock arrives · no ETA.
Once saved, each allocated line on the sales order displays a hourglass icon and the text [qty] preorder · [warehouse].
What Happens After You Confirm a Preorder Plan
| Moment | What Luminous does |
|---|---|
| Plan confirmed | Records the reservation pinned to your chosen warehouse and channel. No fulfillment order is created yet. Nothing is deducted from your stock. |
| Stock becomes available | The background sweep (runs every 4 hours when enabled) detects available stock at the pinned warehouse and automatically generates a fulfillment order routed to the chosen channel. |
| Partial stock | If only some of the preordered quantity is available, a fulfillment order is created for that portion. The remaining open quantity waits for the next sweep. |
Important: The automatic sweep must be turned on. Go to Settings → Inventory and enable "Auto-fulfill orders from stock as it becomes available". Without it, the fulfillment order will not be generated automatically.
Key Behaviors to Know
- No stock check at allocation time. A Preorder can be set for a quantity that exceeds what is currently on hand. The total allocated (across all pegs) still cannot exceed the line's ordered quantity.
- No ETA. Because no specific purchase order is linked, Luminous does not provide an expected ship date for a Preorder line.
- The line is reserved exclusively for this warehouse. The normal automatic routing logic will not touch a line that has an open Preorder peg — it waits for the sweep to fulfill it from the pinned location.
- Ship Complete interaction. If the Ship complete toggle is on when you confirm the plan, the Preorder line is held alongside every other line on the order. Nothing ships until all lines — stock, PO-backed, and Preorder — are simultaneously coverable.
Cancelling a Preorder Allocation
You can cancel a Preorder peg from the sales order's line items view:
| State | Result |
|---|---|
| Nothing fulfilled yet | The peg is deleted entirely. No stock was ever consumed, so availability is unaffected. |
| Partially fulfilled | The open (unfulfilled) remainder is removed. The fulfillment order covering the fulfilled portion stays intact. |
| Fully fulfilled | Cannot be cancelled this way. Use the Returns workflow to reverse a shipped allocation. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Will a Preorder line reduce my available inventory right away?
No. Available inventory is not affected until the background sweep generates a fulfillment order and stock is actually committed.
Q: Can I set a Preorder for more units than I currently have in stock?
Yes. The allocation is not capped against current on-hand. It is capped only against the line's ordered quantity minus any other pegs already confirmed.
Q: How often does the sweep run?
Every 4 hours by default once the "Auto-fulfill orders from stock as it becomes available" setting is enabled in Inventory Settings.
Q: What if I want the whole order to ship together?
Enable the Ship complete toggle in the Allocation Planner header before confirming. Luminous will hold all lines — including any Preorder lines — and release them together in one fulfillment order only when everything is simultaneously coverable.