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Set a preparation time for store pickup orders

Choose how much notice you need before customers can pick up. Set a time for each day, add a cutoff time for late orders, and give specific products more time.

Preparation time stops customers from choosing a pickup time before their order can be ready. For example, with a 2-hour preparation time, a customer who orders at 10:00 AM can pick up from 12:00 PM.

Each location has its own preparation time, so a busy store can ask for more notice than a quiet one.

Before you start

Set a preparation time

  1. In the app, go to Locations and open the location.

  2. In the Store pickup card, click Show settings.

  3. In the Pickup preparation time card, choose Enabled.

  4. Click a day, from Sun to Sat. The day you choose is the day the customer places the order.

  5. Under Preparation time required for orders placed, enter a number and choose Days, Hours or Minutes under Unit Type.

  6. Repeat for each day of the week.

  7. Click Save.

Each day starts at 1 day, which blocks same-day pickup. 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 time you offer. With 24 hours, they can only pick Tuesday times from the time they ordered.

Add a cutoff time

Use a cutoff time when orders placed late in the day need more time.

  1. On the day's tab, check Add a cutoff time.

  2. Under Orders placed after, choose the cutoff time. Times go in 30-minute steps.

  3. Under Preparation time and Type, enter the extra time and choose Days, Hours or Minutes.

  4. Repeat for each day that needs a cutoff.

  5. 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 3:00 PM and 1 extra day. A customer who orders at 10:00 AM can pick up from 12:00 PM on Monday. 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 time you offer.

Ask for more time for specific products

Some products take longer to prepare, such as coffee that is roasted to order. Once Pickup 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

  1. In the Product-specific preparation time card, stay on Specific products and click Add preparation time.

  2. In Select products, check each product and click Select.

  3. 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.

  4. Click Done, then click Save.

Set a time for a product tag

  1. In the Product-specific preparation time card, click Product tag(s).

  2. Click Add tag.

  3. Enter the tag exactly as it appears on your products, including capital letters.

  4. Enter the time and choose Days, Hours or Minutes.

  5. 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 pickup date are greyed out. On the first available day, the time picker only offers times when the order will be ready. If preparation time leaves no pickup time on a day, that day is greyed out too.

Things to know

  • The tabs are the day of the order, not the pickup day. The Mon tab applies to orders placed on a Monday, whatever day they pick up.

  • Check all seven tabs. Customers can order on any day, even when you're closed for pickup, and each tab has its own rule.

  • Other rules still apply. Customers can only choose days you offer pickup, times in your slots, and dates that aren't blacked out.

  • Without the time picker, customers only choose a date. Hours and minutes then 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 Pickup 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 pickup. Local delivery has its own preparation time. See Set a preparation time for local delivery orders.

FAQs

How do I block same-day pickup?

Set the preparation time to 1 day for each day of the week. Customers can then pick up from the next day.

Why can't customers choose today?

Open the tab for today. A preparation time of 1 day or more, including the default, blocks same-day pickup. To allow it, use 0 days, or a number of hours or minutes that still leaves a pickup time today. Also check that day's cutoff time and any product-specific times for products in the cart.

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