Informing customers about an estimated delivery or pickup date

You have the option to display an estimated delivery date both at checkout and on the product page. An estimated delivery date indicates the timeframe within which an order is anticipated to reach the customer. In the case of self-pickup, you can instead provide an estimated available time for pickup.

The delivery date is calculated based on multiple factors: order preparation time, transit time, and the preferred shipping method. Once you set up your shipping settings, an approximate delivery time automatically appears at checkout. Customers will see estimated delivery dates for different shipping options, including local delivery and pickup, and be able to choose the one that works best for them.

Note:
For stores located in Germany, an estimated delivery time will automatically appear on a product page once you specify it in your shipping settings. However, for stores in other locations, enabling an estimated delivery time on a product page is optional.

Table of content

• Adding an estimated delivery time to checkout
• Adding an estimated delivery time to product pages
• Setting an estimated delivery time for a specific product
• Showing an estimated delivery time for pre-orders

Adding an estimated delivery time to checkout

To show delivery time at checkout, you need to set up order preparation and transit time for your shipping methods. If you ship with real-time rates, your store automatically calculates transit time. If you use flat rates or custom rates, you will need to specify transit time for orders manually. For self-pickup, you need to specify the order fulfillment time.

To add an approximate delivery date to checkout:

Self-pickup

1. From your store admin, go to Shipping & Pickup.
2. Choose an existing self-pickup method or create a new one.
3. Enable the Ask for pickup date and time at checkout toggle.
4. Specify your business hours and order fulfillment time.
5. (optional) In the Allow choosing pickup date within, specify how far into the future customers will be able to schedule a pickup.
6. (optional) In the Blackout dates, set specific dates when the pickup option is unavailable. These dates will override your business hours settings.
7. Click Save.

Now, your customers will encounter an estimated delivery time during checkout, or they will have the option to select a pickup date for self-pickup.

Adding an estimated delivery time to product pages

You have the option to display an estimated delivery time for a product directly on its product page. This feature is particularly useful if you provide express shipping methods and wish to highlight the benefit of fast delivery immediately.

To enable an estimated delivery time for products:

Now, your customers will find an estimated delivery time displayed on product pages.

You can change where to display the estimated delivery time on a product page.

To adjust the placement of the estimated delivery time section on a product page:

1. From your store admin, go to Design.
2. Scroll down to the Sidebar section.
3. Drag and drop the Estimated delivery time field to change its position on a product page.
   
   Note:
   An estimated delivery date on a product page is visible to all store visitors, regardless of their location, even if they reside in a state or country where you do not ship. However, if you have shipping area limitations, buyers will be informed about these restrictions during the checkout process.

Setting an estimated delivery time for a specific product

If one of your products necessitates additional preparation time, you have the option to modify the order preparation time exclusively for that product. This adjustment will impact the delivery or pickup dates displayed at checkout and on the product page.

Let’s say you sell cakes, and it normally takes you 2 days to bake one. But for wedding cakes, it takes 3 days. You can specify 2 days as order preparation time that will apply for all products in your shipping settings. As for wedding cakes, you can change the product preparation time to 3 days. That way, you will have different delivery dates for wedding cakes and other products in your store.

To set up an individual estimated delivery time for a product:

1. From your store admin, go to Catalog → Products.
2. Click Edit product next to an item for which you want to specify a delivery time.
3. Select Shipping & Pickup tab.
4. Scroll down to the Product preparation time section and click Edit:
   

   

5. Specify the time it takes to prepare this product for shipping or pickup.
6. Click Save.

Now customers will see a specific estimated delivery date for a product both at checkout and on a product page.

If an order comprises products with varying estimated delivery dates, your customers will be presented with the latest delivery date. For instance, if someone orders a regular cake and a wedding cake, where the regular cake takes one day to prepare and the wedding cake takes three, your store will consider three days as the order preparation time to compute an estimated delivery date for the entire order.

Showing an estimated delivery time for pre-orders

If you track your inventory and accept pre-orders, you can show your customers how long it will take to deliver a pre-order. When a site visitor opens a product page of a stockout, they will see the “Pre-order” label and an estimated delivery date for the pre-order:

To show an estimated delivery date for pre-orders:

1. Set up shipping/delivery/pickup methods for your store and add order preparation time for them.
2. From your store admin, go to Catalog → Products.
3. Open the product or create a new one.
4. Find the Stock Control block and click Manage stock control.
5. Set the actual quantity in stock and select Show and allow pre-order from the When out of stock dropdown.
6. Go to the Shipping & Pickup tab.
7. In the Product preparation time section, click Edit next to the When out of stock and available for pre-order.

Note:
If you are unable to locate the "When out of stock and available for pre-order" block, attempt adjusting the product quantity to "0".

1. Specify how many days it might take to prepare a product when it’s out of stock.
2. Click Save.
3. Turn on the Show estimated delivery date on the product page toggle and save the changes once again.

That's all set. Customers will now be able to view the estimated delivery date for items that are out of stock.