How do I set up my pre-order store?

The BackerKit Pre-order Store allows you to continue collecting orders (or late pledges) after your campaign ends. You will be able to manage these pre-order backers along with your campaign backers seamlessly within BackerKit. Most creators will open up their Pre-order store immediately after the campaign ends to keep momentum going.

Pro Tip: Set up your pre-order store while your campaign is live so you can launch your store as soon as your campaign ends!

You can view some examples of Pre-order stores here: https://www.backerkit.com/preorder_projects

The Pre-order store is within the Pledge Manager. Before you open your Pre-order store, you will need to the create items (also known as add-ons) you wish to offer. We highly recommend setting these items up using the Item Generator. For more information about setting up your items, see How do I set up items in BackerKit? be sure to look through these best practices as well. 

Important: Only set up your items once. If you would like to charge different prices for items in your pre-order store, you can duplicate add-ons. Duplicating the add-on instead of creating a new item ensures there is only one SKU used for both. A unique item should always have the same SKU, even if sold at different price points. For more information about SKUs / Items, see Overview: SKUs.

Setting up your Pre-Order Store:

1. Start by clicking the Set Up Items tab on the left had sidebar. This will take you to the items generator where you can begin setting up your items. Be sure to check out best practices here: https://help.backerkit.com/article/556-373


You can decide here whether you want to assign these to your pledge levels as well. The important part here is to check yes under "Can backers select this as an add-on?" as this is that will create the add-on for your pre-order store:



2. Once your items are set up, you can click Customize Add-ons on the left hand sidebar to continue customizing these add-ons. From there, you can click into each add-on to add in images, descriptions, update the pricing and visibility. You will also notice that you can add in per-backer limits, quantity in stock numbers and even set up an add-on stretch goal. 
   
   If you wish to offer two different price points or need to charge different shipping rates for your pre-order items vs. the items you are offering to the campaign backers, you can duplicate these add-ons. For instructions, see Sell add-on items at different prices.
3. Once your items are set up, you will want to decide how to charge shipping fees for your pre-order backers/items. You will need to create shipping profiles and assign them to your add-ons (if you wish to charge shipping fees). To do this, you will need to navigate to the Add Shipping Fees tab on the left had sidebar. You can learn about the different options here: https://help.backerkit.com/article/558-558
   
   Once you have created your shipping profile(s), you can assign them to the appropriate add-ons. 
   
4. If you want to change the link to your pre-oder store, click into your Settings tab and you will find the subdomain setting under the General tab. 
   
   

   Important: The link to your pre-order store follows the format: https://[project name].backerkit.com/hosted_preorders. You can change the [project name] portion of the link before your setup is approved by BackerKit. Changing the [project name] changes the link to your entire project, not just your pre-order store.

5. If you want to offer a discount, set up a coupon code. For instructions, see Can I offer discounts to boost sales?
6. When you’re ready to open your store, click into the Pre-orders tab on the left hand sidebar. From here you will be able to customize your store and add in images, store titles, descriptions, estimated ship dates, etc..
   
   When all looks good, you can change the store status to "open" from the drop down then click Save Pre-Order Settings at the bottom which will set the store live! 
   
7. Once your store is live, you will be able to link your Pre-order store to your Kickstarter Spotlight Feature to drive traffic and keep momentum going after the campaign ends:You can also share your Pre-order store link on social media, add widgets to your website and utilize our analytics tools to track conversions. More help on tracking referrals here. 
   

BETA alert-  BackerKit just released a new beta feature that allows pre-order backers to choose a pledge level that they would like to pledge. Once selected their pledge level and email address, backers will receive a survey, just like original campaign backers. To try out this feature, please reach out to your Success rep or hello@backerkit.com