Add a date picker to the Shipping option in your cart, so customers choose the day they want their order shipped. You decide which weekdays you ship, which dates are blocked, how far ahead customers can choose, and how much preparation time you need before the first date opens. The date is saved on the order, so you know when to ship it. You'll find all of these settings in Settings → Shipping.
Before you start
The cart widget shows in your theme. See Let customers choose pickup, delivery or shipping in the cart.
Shipping is turned on. If Settings → Shipping shows Enable Store Shipping to configure these settings, click Enable to unlock.
Turn on the date picker
In the app, go to Settings → Shipping.
Next to Date picker, click Enable. The badge changes to Enabled, and the date settings appear below it. They stay hidden while the date picker is off.
Leave Shipping date is required ticked if customers must choose a date before they check out, or untick it to make the date optional. It's ticked to start with.
Click Save in the bar that appears at the top of the page.
When the date is required, customers who click the checkout button without one see "Please select your preferred shipping date."
Choose your shipping days
In the Shipping days card, tick the days you ship and untick the rest. Every day is ticked to start with, and at least one must stay ticked.
Click Save.
Customers can only choose the days you tick. The other days are greyed out in the calendar.
Block specific dates
Use blackout dates for holidays, stocktakes or any day you can't ship. A blackout date blocks that exact date only, for example 11 November 2026, not every 11 November.
In the Blackout dates card, click Select a date or a date range.
Click a date. To block several days in a row, click the first day, then the last.
Click Add date (Add dates for a range). The dates appear in the list under the button.
Click Save.
To remove a date, tick it in the list, click Delete selected, then click Save. When the list is long, filter it with the All months and All years menus.
Limit how far ahead customers can choose
In the Future orders card, tick Restrict future orders.
In Customers can select a shipping date within the next, enter a number and choose Day, Weeks or Month as the Type. For example, 14 and Day lets customers pick any date in the next 14 days.
Click Save.
With Restrict future orders unticked, customers can pick any date, however far ahead. The limit counts from today, not from the end of your preparation time. If you enter 0, customers can only pick today and the card shows a "Same-day shipping only" note, so today must be a shipping day with no preparation time.
Set a preparation time
A preparation time keeps the first dates in the calendar closed, so you have time to pack and dispatch. It counts from the moment the customer chooses a date in the cart, and it can be different for each weekday.
In the Preparation time card, choose Enabled.
Click the tab for a weekday, for example Sat. The settings on a tab apply to orders placed on that day.
Enter the preparation time, and choose Days, Hours or Minutes in Unit Type.
To give late orders more time, leave Add a cutoff time ticked and choose a time in Orders placed after. Untick it if every order that day needs the same time.
Enter the extra time in Preparation time and choose its Type. It's added on top of the time from step 3.
Repeat steps 2 to 5 for each weekday you want to change.
Click Save.
Every weekday starts at 0 days, with a 12:00 PM cutoff that adds 0 days, so you only need to change the days that need a preparation time. The table shows how a Monday setting of 1 day, with 1 extra day after 12:00 PM, works when you ship every day.
Order placed on Monday | Preparation time | First date customers can choose |
10:00 AM, before the cutoff | 1 day | Tuesday |
2:00 PM, after the cutoff | 1 day + 1 extra day | Wednesday |
What customers see
In the cart, customers click Shipping, then Choose a date, and pick a day in the calendar. Closed days are greyed out: days you don't ship, blackout dates, dates inside the preparation time and dates past the future orders limit. Under the field, customers see their time zone.
In this example, shipping runs Monday to Friday, 11 November is a blackout date, customers can choose within the next 14 days, and orders placed on a Saturday need 3 days of preparation. A customer ordering on Saturday 7 November can choose from Tuesday 10 November to Friday 20 November. The 14 days end on Saturday 21 November, a day this store doesn't ship.
Find the date on the order
The date the customer chooses is saved on the order. In the app, it shows in the Schedule column of the Orders page. In Shopify, it shows under the order's Additional details as Shipping Date. See Manage pickup, delivery and shipping orders.
Things to know
These settings apply to every shipping order in your store. Unlike pickup and local delivery, shipping dates aren't set for each location.
Preparation time counts every day, including days you don't ship. If it ends on a day you don't ship, the first date customers can choose is the next day you do.
Customers choose a day, not a time. So a preparation time in Hours or Minutes only moves the first date when it runs past midnight. For example, 4 hours on an order at 10:00 AM still allows today, but on an order at 10:00 PM the first date is tomorrow.
The cutoff time and the weekday tab follow the customer's clock, in their own time zone, not your store's. A customer two hours ahead of you passes a 12:00 PM cutoff at your 10:00 AM.
The Product date restrictions card, below Preparation time, sets dates on which specific products can or can't ship. When one of those products is in the cart, customers can only choose dates the card allows.
Related settings on the same page have their own articles: Ask customers for a note with their order, Add tags to pickup, delivery and shipping orders and Offer a discount for pickup, local delivery or shipping. To offer shipping only for some carts, use Conditional activation at the top of the page. See Let customers choose pickup, delivery or shipping in the cart.
FAQs
Why can't customers choose tomorrow?
Check these in order:
Tomorrow isn't one of your ticked Shipping days.
Tomorrow is a blackout date.
The preparation time on the tab for today's weekday is longer than a day. The tab for the day the customer orders applies, not the tab for the shipping date.
The order was placed after the cutoff, which added extra preparation time.
The customer is in a time zone ahead of yours, so their order already counts as after the cutoff.
A product in the cart has a date restriction in Product date restrictions.
Why are all dates greyed out?
Every date between the end of the preparation time and the end of the future orders limit is closed. Check these:
The Future orders limit is shorter than the preparation time. The limit counts from today, so make it longer than the preparation time.
The limit is 0, and today has a preparation time, isn't a shipping day or is a blackout date.
Every day in between is a day you don't ship or a blackout date.
A product in the cart has a date restriction that closes those dates.
While Shipping date is required is ticked, customers can't check out with shipping until a date opens.
Why don't I see the shipping days, blackout dates or preparation time cards?
They only show while the Date picker is enabled. Click Enable next to Date picker.
Do I have to set a preparation time for every weekday?
No. Each weekday starts at 0 days, which means no preparation time. Set only the weekdays that need one, including days you don't ship if customers can order on them.
Can customers skip the date?
Yes. Untick Shipping date is required and click Save. Customers can then check out without choosing a date.
Why don't customers see the date field or my latest change?
Check these:
You clicked Save. Give it a few seconds, then reload the cart page.
The Date picker still says Enabled. While it's off, there's no date field.
Customers see a message such as "Sorry, shipping is not available for your selected items." instead of the field. The cart doesn't meet Conditional activation at the top of Settings → Shipping.