Pre-orders allow consumers to guarantee immediate shipment on release, manufacturers can gauge how much demand there will be and thus the size of initial production runs, and sellers can be assured of minimum sales.
Reasons vary, but typically, publishers wish to ensure strong initial sales for a product, and the offered incentive is used to induce shoppers who might otherwise wait for positive reviews or a specific shopping period, like the holiday season, to commit to a purchase.
Having paid for part or all of the purchase when placing the order, the consumers will usually complete the transaction shortly after the product's release, often on its first day in stores.
Individual stores or retail chains may also offer bonuses for a popularly anticipated product to ensure that the customer chooses to buy at that location, rather than from a competitor.
Preparing enough copies for vendors to purchase and sell to consumers on the release day required a significant amount of market forecasting.
[3] As the video game market grew with some widely popular series like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, publishers would prepare by printing large runs of the games and having them ready to ship to retailers so that even consumers who failed to pre-order would likely be able to get a copy within a day or two of release, negating the primary drivers to pre-order.