Preparation time stops customers from choosing a delivery slot that ends before their order can be ready. For example, with a 2-hour preparation time, a customer who orders at 10:00 AM can only choose slots that end after 12:00 PM.
Each location has its own preparation time, so a busy location can ask for more notice than a quiet one.
Before you start
Turn on Enable delivery date picker in Settings → Local delivery → Checkout experience. Without it, preparation time has no effect. This setting applies to all your locations.
Enable local delivery for the location. The Local delivery card must show Enabled.
Set a preparation time
In the app, go to Locations and open the location.
In the Local delivery card, click Show settings.
In the Delivery preparation time card, choose Enabled.
Click a day, from Sun to Sat. The day you choose is the day the customer places the order.
Under Preparation time required for orders placed, enter a number and choose Days, Hours or Minutes under Unit Type.
Repeat for each day of the week.
Click Save.
Each day starts at 0 days, which allows same-day delivery. Days count differently from hours and minutes:
Unit | How it counts | Order at 10:00 AM Monday |
Days | Whole days from midnight. The order time doesn't matter. | 0 days: later today. 1 day: from Tuesday. 2 days: from Wednesday. |
Hours or Minutes | From the moment the customer orders. | 2 hours: from 12:00 PM Monday. 24 hours: from 10:00 AM Tuesday. |
This is why 1 day and 24 hours are different. With 1 day, a customer who orders on Monday can pick any Tuesday slot you offer. With 24 hours, they can only pick Tuesday slots that end after the time they ordered.
Add a cutoff time
Use a cutoff time when orders placed late in the day need more time.
On the day's tab, check Add a cutoff time.
Under Orders placed after, choose the cutoff time. It starts at 2:00 PM, and times go in 30-minute steps.
Under Preparation time and Type, enter the extra time and choose Days, Hours or Minutes. It starts at 0 days.
Repeat for each day that needs a cutoff.
Click Save.
Orders placed at or after the cutoff time get this extra time on top of the day's preparation time. It doesn't replace it.
For example, on Monday you set 2 hours, a cutoff of 2:00 PM and 1 extra day. A customer who orders at 10:00 AM can choose Monday slots that end after 12:00 PM. A customer who orders at 4:00 PM gets 2 hours, which takes them to 6:00 PM, plus 1 day, so they can pick any Tuesday slot you offer.
Ask for more time for specific products
Some products take longer to prepare, such as coffee that is roasted to order. Once Delivery preparation time is enabled, a Product-specific preparation time card appears under it. Add products one by one, or use a product tag, which is quicker for more than 200 products.
Set a time for specific products
In the Product-specific preparation time card, stay on Specific products and click Add preparation time.
In Select products, check each product and click Select.
In Set pickup preparation times, enter the Preparation time required and choose the Unit Type for each product. If you picked more than one product, you can check Set same preparation time for all products and enter one time for all of them.
Click Done, then click Save.
The window says pickup in its title, but it sets the time for delivery orders when you open it from the Local delivery card.
Set a time for a product tag
In the Product-specific preparation time card, click Product tag(s).
Click Add tag.
Enter the tag exactly as it appears on your products, including capital letters.
Enter the time and choose Days, Hours or Minutes.
Click Save.
If the cart has more than one of these products, the longest time applies. Customers get the later of the product time and the day's preparation time. The two don't add up.
Product times count the same way as the day's preparation time: days are whole days from midnight, and hours and minutes start when the customer orders. They have no day tabs or cutoff times.
What customers see
In the cart widget, dates before the earliest delivery date are greyed out. On the first available day, the time picker hides delivery slots that end by the time the order is ready. A slot that is still running at that time stays available. If preparation time leaves no slot on a day, that day is greyed out too.
Things to know
The tabs are the day of the order, not the delivery day. The Mon tab applies to orders placed on a Monday, whatever day they choose for delivery.
Check all seven tabs. Customers can order on any day, even when you don't deliver, and each tab has its own rule.
Other rules still apply. Customers can only choose days you deliver, your delivery slots, and dates that aren't blacked out.
Without the time picker, customers only choose a date. When Enable delivery time picker is off, hours and minutes only matter when they run past midnight. For example, with 2 hours, a customer who orders at 10:00 AM can still choose today.
Disabled doesn't remove product times. Product-specific times keep applying when Delivery preparation time is set to Disabled, and their card is hidden. To stop them, choose Enabled, remove the products and tags from the Product-specific preparation time card, then choose Disabled and click Save.
Settings are per location. Repeat these steps for each location that offers local delivery. Store pickup has its own preparation time. See Set a preparation time for store pickup orders.
FAQs
How do I block same-day delivery?
Set the preparation time to 1 day for each day of the week. Customers can then choose delivery from the next day.
Why can't customers choose today?
Open the tab for today. A preparation time of 1 day or more blocks same-day delivery. To allow it, use 0 days, or a number of hours or minutes that still leaves a delivery slot today. Also check that day's cutoff time and any product-specific times for products in the cart.