Setting up Preorders is a great way to generate funds to help pay for new releasing products. Additionally preorders will give you an idea of how much of a new product you should invest in depending on the preorder request for it by your current customer demographic. After you set a product as preorder, any subsequent order containing that product will automatically appear in the Preorder status tab on your Orders page. Once the release date for that product arrives, those orders will update automatically and move out of preorder status for processing.
Steps to set all products within a category to preorder status:
Navigate to Inventory > Categories.
Find the category you would like to set to preorder status, and click on the blue name links to expand that category's basic information. Scroll to the bottom to find the preorder controls for that category.
Set the date that these products will be available and save. All products within this category will have been set to preorder status. Any subsequent order containing one of these products will automatically appear in the Preorder status tab on your Orders page.
Note: Any products imported into this category after the preorder date is set will not be marked as preorder unless you perform these steps again.
For an overview of setting up Preorders Click Here.