When you've finished
Customers pick a date
Before checkout, customers pick from a calendar that only offers the dates you can fulfil, so nobody orders for a day you're closed.
No dates you can't meet
Set how much notice you need, and on Pro a daily limit. Dates that are too soon or fully booked are greyed out.
Customers know their date
Add one snippet and the date shows in the order confirmation email. On Pro you can also show closures and order-by deadlines on your storefront.
Set up in 6 steps
Do these in order. After step 6, your shop is taking dated orders.
Add Blackout Dates to your store
Install the app from the Shopify App Store. It starts on the Free plan, so there's nothing to pay.
- Open the Blackout Dates listing on the Shopify App Store.
- Click Add app, then Install.
- You'll land on the app's Getting Started page inside your Shopify admin.
Turn on the date picker in your theme
This turns on the calendar customers use to pick a pickup or delivery date. Without it, customers aren't asked for a date before checkout. There's nothing to copy or paste.
- In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store → Themes.
- Click Customize on your live theme.
- At the top of the left panel, open App embeds.
- Find Date Picker Embed (under Blackout Dates) and switch it on.
- Click Save in the top-right corner.
Theme editor: App embeds Shortcut: the app's Getting Started page has a Turn on the date picker button that opens the theme editor with it already switched on, ready to save. Once it's on, the Shop Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and “Buy it now” buttons on product and cart pages are hidden, because they skip the date step. Every payment method still shows at checkout. Switched themes later? Turn it on again on the new one.
Choose how customers get their order
Pickup is switched on to start with. If you deliver, or only deliver, choose that now so customers are asked for the right kind of date.
- In the app, open Delivery.
- On the Free plan, choose one: In-store pickup or Local delivery.
- On Plus or Pro, tick each way you offer: In-store pickup, Local delivery and Postal / courier.
- Click Save delivery settings, even if pickup is right for you.
Shortcut: the app's Getting Started page has an Open Quick Setup button that asks how customers get their order, when you're closed and how much notice you need, on one page with one save. It covers this step and most of the next two: add one-off closures, such as your annual break, on Store Closed Dates, and check your time zone in Settings. Offering postal, or more than one method, starts on Plus.
Tell us when you're closed
Add the days your whole shop can't take orders: bank holidays, your annual break, every Sunday. Customers won't be able to pick them.
- In the app, open Store Closed Dates.
- Click days on the calendar to block them, or tap a day under Always-closed weekdays to block it every week.
- If you like, name a closure (say “Christmas”) so customer messages can use the name.
- Save, and customers can't pick those dates any more.
Admin: store closed dates The Free plan covers 10 closed dates and two weekly closed days; Plus and Pro are unlimited.
Set how much notice you need
Tell us your prep time so customers can't pick a date that's too soon for you to make and pack the order.
- Open Settings in the app, on the Timing & hours tab.
- Set your prep days. “3 days” means the soonest a customer can pick is 3 days out.
- On Plus or Pro, you can also set a last order time, so orders after, say, 2pm count from the next day.
- Pick your time zone, then Save.
Try it like a customer
Go through your own checkout to see what customers see.
- Visit your storefront, add any product to the cart and click Check out.
- You're taken to your date page. Check that closed and too-soon dates are greyed out.
- Pick a date and carry on. The date travels with the order to checkout.
- Place a test order and confirm the date shows on it.
- When you're done, cancel the test order in Shopify (if you fulfilled it, cancel the fulfilment first). Cancelling frees its date and time slot; archiving or deleting it doesn't.
Storefront: date page Calendar not showing? It's nearly always the theme step. Check Date Picker Embed is on and saved.
Want the date to appear in your order confirmation email, or need help with checkout delivery options? Those have their own short guide. Open the email & checkout setup →
More you can turn on
Switch these on when you need them.
Different rules per product
Sell a bouquet only for Valentine's Day, or give a tiered cake more notice than a cupcake. Every product, and each of its sizes, can have its own dates.
Pickup, local delivery and postal
Offer pickup, local delivery and postal side by side; customers choose one when they pick their date. Checkout shows only the matching option, and you can add a surcharge for rush or peak postal dates.
Limit bookings per day
Cap how many of a product you take per day, so you never over-promise. A full day can't be picked.
Limit orders per time slot
Cap how many orders each pickup slot takes, so the Saturday rush spreads out. A full slot can't be picked.
Tell customers before they shop
Show a notice of upcoming closures that updates itself from your closed dates. On Pro, add an order-by deadline banner too.
Sync orders to your calendar
Connect Google or Outlook and every dated order lands in the calendar your team already uses, with prep-start reminders if you want them.
Print a daily prep sheet
A printable list of what to make each day, grouped by station, with allergen notes.
What's on each plan
Start free and upgrade when you need more. You can change plan any time.
Everything to get started
- Up to 10 closed dates and two weekly closed days
- Prep days
- Pickup or local delivery
- Pickup time slots
- Customers pick a date before checkout
- Date shown on the confirmation email
- Card or gift message box
- Shopify Flow alerts
Per-product control & delivery
- Everything in Free
- Unlimited closed dates & weekdays
- Per-product & per-size rules
- Postage, and methods side by side
- Last order times & min spend
- Date-based surcharges
- Time-slot caps
- Import / export product rules by spreadsheet
- Storefront closure notice
Capacity, calendar & automation
- Everything in Plus
- All your locations, each its own branch
- Daily product limits
- Google / Outlook calendar sync
- Printable daily prep sheet
- Order-by banners & product page badges
- Reports & Shopify Flow actions
Quick fixes
The problems people hit most often during setup.
The calendar doesn't appear when I check out
It's almost always the app embed. Go to Online Store → Themes → Customize → App embeds and make sure Date Picker Embed is switched on and saved. To show the calendar on the cart page itself, also add the Date Picker Redirect block to your cart section.
Do I need Shopify Plus?
No. Everything in the app works on every Shopify plan, including checkout delivery filtering and date surcharges. The one exception is the optional banner that points customers on the wrong checkout tab to the right one, which needs Shopify Plus.
A date I expected to block is still selectable
First check you clicked Save on Store Closed Dates. If it's one product, open Product Availability for it: a product with a single fixed date is offered on that date even when the shop is closed, so change or remove it there. Other product rules never reopen a closed date.
The date isn't on my order confirmation email
That needs a snippet pasted into the email once. Follow the Email & checkout guide to add the snippet to Settings → Notifications → Customer notifications → Order confirmation.
Stuck on a step?
We reply within one business day, Monday to Friday. The FAQ may already have the answer.