Setting up delivery dates

You can display delivery dates instead of an estimated transit time at checkout. Delivery dates are specific dates, such as Wednesday, October 27 – Thursday, October 28. Delivery dates can encourage your customers to complete the purchase and result in more sales. Customers also don't need to look for estimated delivery dates in other pages of your online store.

Delivery dates are displayed to your customers in the following places:

  • checkout and accelerated checkout such as Shop Pay
  • order status page
  • order confirmation email
  • thank you page

Considerations and requirements for setting up delivery dates

Before you start setting up delivery dates, review the following considerations:

  • Delivery dates are only available in certain countries depending on which shipping rate type you set up. To learn more, refer to Delivery dates availability.
  • Delivery dates don't work with shipping rates provided by third-party apps.
  • If you're using negotiated carrier-calculated shipping rates with Canada Post or UPS, then some mail services might not support delivery dates. To learn more, refer to Supported mail services.
  • Delivery dates don't work with negotiated FedEx-calculated rates.
  • If your checkout shows a mix of eligible and ineligible shipping rates, then delivery dates aren't displayed for your eligible rates.

To display delivery dates in your online store, you need to do the following:

Delivery dates availability

Delivery dates availability depends on the shipping rates type that you set up in your store. Review the following table to learn more:

Delivery dates availability per shipping type and shipping carrier
Shipping rates typeOrigin countryCarrier
Flat shipping rates with transit time
  • Canada
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • France
  • Italy
  • Spain
  • Germany
  • Australia
  • Not applicable.
    Shopify Shipping calculated rates
  • Canada
  • United States
  • Australia
  • USPS
  • UPS
  • Canada Post
  • DHL Express
  • Sendle
  • Negotiated carrier-calculated rates
  • Canada
  • United States
  • USPS
  • UPS (certain mail services)
  • Canada Post (certain mail services)
  • Calculating delivery dates

    Your processing time is added to the transit time of the carrier, and then the estimated delivery date range is displayed instead of an estimated transit time range in your online store.

    For example, if you usually process your orders within 1 business day and shipping takes 2 to 3 days, then a specific delivery date range is displayed at checkout.

    Review the following considerations on how the delivery dates are calculated:

    • Weekends and statutory holidays are included in the estimated delivery dates calculation.
    • Business days are considered Monday to Friday.
    • The business day cutoff time is 12 pm in the local timezone of the shipping origin.

    Delivery dates calculation example

    Review the following example how processing time and delivery dates are calculated:

    • Order comes in Wednesday, January 22 after 12 pm.
    • Store's processing time is set to 2 business days.
    • Estimated delivery is Thursday, January 30 - Friday, January 31.
    Examples of how processing times and delivery dates are calculated
    DateFulfillment workflowDescription
    Wednesday, January 22Order cutoff timeAn order is placed after 12 pm, so January 22 isn't included in the processing time.
    Thursday, January 23Processing timeYou start fulfilling the order.
    Friday, January 24HolidayHolidays don't count as processing time.
    Saturday, January 25WeekendWeekends don't count as processing time.
    Sunday, January 26Weekend
    Monday, January 27Processing timeYou continue fulfilling the order.
    Tuesday, January 28Processing time ends and transit time startsYou hand the package to the carrier.
    Wednesday, January 29Transit timeThe carrier ships the package to your customer.
    Thursday, January 30Transit time
    Friday, January 31Transit time

    Add delivery dates to custom order confirmation notification

    If you customized your order confirmation notification, then delivery dates might not be included in your order confirmation notification by default.

    To add delivery dates to your custom order confirmation notification, you need to edit your template and make sure that it has a specific Liquid variable.

    Steps:

    1. From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Notifications.

    2. In the Orders section, click Order confirmation.

    3. Make sure that your template has the following liquid variables after the {% if requires_shipping %} variable:

    {% if consolidated_estimated_delivery_time %}
       {% if has_multiple_delivery_methods %}
          <h3 class="estimated_delivery__title">Estimated delivery</h3>
          <p>{{ consolidated_estimated_delivery_time }}</p>
       {% else %}
          <p>
             Estimated delivery <b>{{ consolidated_estimated_delivery_time }}</b>
          </p>
       {% endif %}
    {% endif %}
    1. Click Save.

    Supported mail services

    If you're using negotiated carrier-calculated shipping rates with Canada Post or UPS, then some mail services might not support delivery dates.

    Review the following list of mail services that support delivery dates:

    List of mail services that support delivery dates
    Shipping carrierMail service
    Canada Post
    • Domestic shipping
      • Expedited Parcel
      • Priority
      • Regular Parcel
      • Xpresspost
      • Xpresspost Certified
    • Shipping to the United States
      • Expedited Parcel USA
      • Tracked Packet - USA
      • Tracked Packet - USA (LVM)
      • Xpresspost USA
    • International
      • Tracked Packet - International
      • Xpresspost International
    UPS
    • Domestic shipping in the United States
      • UPS 2nd Day Air A.M.® (commercial addresses only)
      • UPS 2nd Day Air®
      • UPS 3 Day Select®
      • UPS Next Day Air Saver®
      • UPS Next Day Air®
      • UPS Next Day Air® Early
    • Domestic shipping in Canada
      • UPS Express® Early
      • UPS Express® Saver
      • UPS Express®
    • Shipping from the United States to Canada
      • UPS Worldwide Express®
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