Using RuffRuff Pre Order, you can easily set up pre-orders with purchase quantity limits for specific products on Shopify. In this article, we'll explain in detail how to set a quantity limit so that customers can purchase only 1 item per order.
The page below is a demo product that actually implements a quantity-limited pre-order using RuffRuff Pre Order. Please try it out for yourself.
How to Limit Purchase Quantity for Pre-orders
By completing the setup in this section, you can implement a "pre-order that allows a customer to purchase only 1 item per order, per variant."
For example, customers can purchase up to 1 pre-order item at a time, but if they try to purchase 2 or more, an alert message will be displayed and the purchase will be blocked.
ℹ️ This limit is applied per variant (such as color or size). For products with multiple variants, customers can purchase up to the configured quantity for each variant — please note that this does not limit the total purchase quantity across the entire product to 1.
Preparation: Enable the App Embed
* If you have already completed the preparation for RuffRuff Pre Order, please skip this preparation and proceed to Step 1.
(1) Install RuffRuff Pre Order from the Shopify App Store
Search for "ruffruff" in the Shopify App Store to find "RuffRuff Pre Order."
(2) Open the app and select "Plans" from the left menu
(3) Review the Terms of Service and check "I agree to the Terms of Service"
(4) Click "Change Plan" for the plan you want to subscribe to
(5) Review the plan details and click "Approve"
(6) From the Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes
(7) Click "Customize" on the Shopify theme you want to install the app on
(8) Select "App embeds" on the left side of the screen
(9) Enable the app embed named "RuffRuff Pre Order"
(10) Click "Save"
Step 1: Create a Pre-order Rule
(1) Click "Pre-order rules" in the left menu
(2) Click "Create rule" from the Pre-order rules page
(3) Select "Simple pre order" from the pop-up that appears
(4) Enter any name you like for the rule name
(5) In Conditions, configure the following settings
- Inventory conditions: Leave blank
- Starts at: A date/time in the past
- Frequency: Daily
ℹ️ With the conditions above, the product will always be treated as a pre-order.
(6) In the "Pre-order" actions tab, configure the following settings
- Cart button text: Pre-order
- Product message: This item is limited to 1 per customer. (optional)
- Purchase quantity: 1
ℹ️ In the "Pre-order" actions tab, you configure how the product behaves during the pre-order. Entering 1 for Purchase quantity limits purchases to 1 item per order.
(7) Configure checkout validation
- Enable: Check the box
- Purchase quantity limit alert message: Any message you like
ℹ️ With this setting, even if a customer unintentionally reaches the checkout page with 2 or more items in the cart, an alert message will be displayed on the checkout page and the purchase will be blocked.
(8) Click "Save"
Step 2: Apply the Pre-order Rule to the Product
(1) Click "Products" in the left menu
(2) Check the products you want to apply the pre-order rule to
(3) Click "Apply rule"
(4) Select the rule you created in Step 1
(5) Click "Apply rule"
Step 3: Set the Alert Message
(1) Click "Settings" in the left menu
(2) Enter the alert message in the "Purchase quantity limit" section
(3) Click "Save" in the top right of the screen
That completes the setup.
Conclusion
With this setup, you've completed a pre-order mechanism for your Shopify store that limits purchases to 1 item per order, per variant. This feature is especially useful in the following cases.
- Providing fair purchasing opportunities for limited items
- Optimizing inventory management for popular products
- Preventing bulk purchases for resale purposes
- Limiting sales of special pre-order items
After setup, we recommend checking the following points on your actual online store.
- The "Pre-order" button is displayed correctly on the product page
- The product message you configured is displayed on the product page
- An alert is displayed when attempting to add 2 or more items to the cart
If you encounter any issues, please review your RuffRuff Pre Order app settings or contact support. Use this setup to help achieve effective product management and improve customer satisfaction.
