How to add 2-5 day processing time before item is shipped?

Liza728w
Tourist
4 0 4

Hi there,

 

I'm having a hard time figuring out how to add a 2-5 day processing time before my items are shipped. I make handmade items - so I'm unable to ship within 24 hours after receiving an order, like what shopify wants me to automatically do. I'd like to add a 2-5 day processing time that will show up on the cart page/invoice - and correspond with the estimated shipping delivery. (So the estimated delivery time will add in the 2-5 day processing time - - - so the over all shipping delivery estimate will be pushed back 2-5 days)

 

Can someone please help me? Again - I've searched and searched and have not found an answer.

 

Replies 35 (35)

Qualitycheck
Shopify Expert
1449 114 233

Hi @Liza728w 

 

What we can do is showing a static message on cart page about the time Or We can send a order confirmation mail to your customers saying your message ?

 

 

 

 

Ren
Shopify Staff (Retired)
1032 66 153

Hello!

This is Ren from the Shopify support team and I may be able to help out here.

 

I just wanted to start by saying I love that you are selling your handmade products on Shopify - I'd love to know what your craft is!

 

There are several things you can do here to set appropriate processing and shipping time expectations for your customers.

 

1. Detail your processing and time expectations on your shipping page. Often customers will check here once they start wondering where their order is. This is a great place to describe your processing timeframe and avoid customer support debt.

 

2. Add processing time information into your order confirmation notification.

 

3. Change you theme language to reflect the additional processing days. You can learn how to change the theme language here. Use the search field to find all the places in your checkout that using "shipping" language and rewords it to reflect your processing time.

 

4. Use an app like Custom Order Status to update your customers with email notifications through each step. You can update to let them know when their order is in production, when it's being prepped to ship and when it's on it's way out. These options are highly customizable as well and particularly useful if you want to offer (upsell) rush orders.

 

Let me know what you think and if those suggestions are what you had in mind!

 

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

sjg22500
New Member
4 0 0

Can you please help me to understand, I am also wanting to add in the processing time. I read your directions...

1. Detail your processing and time expectations on your shipping page. Often customers will check here once they start wondering where their order is. This is a great place to describe your processing timeframe and avoid customer support debt. I do not see where I can do this? Can you please give specific details on where to go?

2. Add processing time information into your order confirmation notification. I do not see where I can do this? Can you please give specific details on where to go?

3. Change you theme language to reflect the additional processing days. You can learn how to change the theme language here. Use the search field to find all the places in your checkout that using "shipping" language and rewords it to reflect your processing time. I went into the theme language however I guess I do not understand where I would put this language?

Thank you in advance. I want to make sure that I am very clear with customers. 

 

Ren
Shopify Staff (Retired)
1032 66 153

Hello @sjg22500

No problem! Happy to help clarify here. 

The shipping page can be found in your Notification settings. Here are the steps for making these changes. 

  1. Click the name of the notification that you want to change.

  2. You can edit the Email subject field and the body of the email or anything else you wish to.

  3. Click Save.

The order notification page can be found by following the same steps as above and you would simply edit the subject field and body to add your message. Here is an example of what that looks like: 

 

Finally, the language editor can be found by going to Online Store > Themes > Actions > Edit Languages: 

From there you'll want to type "shipping" into the search field and any relevant fields will populate to the top of the list to allow you to make changes. Looks like this: 

 

Hope that helps! Please let me know if I can clarify anything further for you.

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

CommunityPatron
Visitor
1 0 0

Hi @Ren  

 

I'm also experiencing the same issue. I followed your steps with the images provided however when I go to create a mock order during checkout and arrive at the shipping page, the same text I just inputted does not show up. How or where do I go to confirm that the text does in fact show up for customers?

 

Thank you.

Ren
Shopify Staff (Retired)
1032 66 153

Hello @CommunityPatron

Are you making sure to save the changes in the admin? When you test it, are you making sure you're not inside your theme editor but in a new window/browser? Finally, are you going all the way to the end of checkout where the shipping details are located? That is where you'll find the changes. 

Let me know!

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

HeretoSell
Visitor
2 0 7

Hey,

 

Thanks for your messages here, and I think something that would be a value add to all shopify stores is adding a dropdown box in the shipping profiles to allow shops to add a day or two to projected delivery dates.  Unfortunately, USPS projected dates come through as definitive, and anyone that uses them know this is anything but the case. 

Also, when customers are ordering after a certain time in a day, there should be an automatic rollover to account for that, like anything after 2pm should by default add a day.  Though, allowing the add on to all projected delivery dates would be the ultimate solution, and should be low-hanging fruit to add something great for your customers, and our customers. 

A business can add info on pages all day long, and even send messages after the fact, but the fact is that the only thing that matters is the date they are staring at during checkout, and we need to make sure that they are given the best information possible to be able to make an informed decision about the shipping method that works best for them.

Thanks again, and I do hope this feedback is delivered to the team.  It causes alot of heartburn for us, and it seems like it should be easily remedied.  We are happy to pilot a beta!

Zack 

pweisberg12
Tourist
5 0 4

Is anything being done by Shopify for adding processing time. I agree that you can message the customer all day long but before they hit the submit button they should in advance what the processing time will be before the order goes out the door. 

Ren
Shopify Staff (Retired)
1032 66 153

At this time, you have 2 options to consider. 

You can add your processing times directly into your checkout language in your theme's settings to add a message to your customers. It's beneficial to tell them know how long it takes for you to process their order and the shipping times to start, so that they can understand when to expect their order to arrive.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes.
  2. Next to your theme, click Actions > Edit languages.
  3. Click the Checkout and system tab.
  4. In the Checkout shipping section, edit the Shipping method title field to highlight your processing times, such as Shipping method (Orders shipped within X - X days) or Shipping method (Orders are processed in X - X business days).

Alternately, you can utilize an app like Order Delivery Date Manager to help you set appropriate processing and shipping time expectations. 

Hope that helps! 

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

JustJC
Tourist
4 0 7

The other problem here is that carrier delivery days are incorrect, so even if you add 2-5 days processing, the customer thinks they selected "1 business day" service which is how USPS Priority Mail (1-3 Day) automatically pops up with no way to hide.

I (and I know others) would REALLY love to see some actual support from Shopify on resolving these issues.   

Thank you and hope someone has the cure. 

Ren
Shopify Staff (Retired)
1032 66 153

Hi @JustJC and contributors to this thread, 

I'm just popping in with an update that Shopify has launched a couple of new admin/shipping feature for showing delivery dates (instead of shipping time estimates) as well as processing times, both of which can be managed in your Shipping and Delivery settings. 

Ren_0-1661484393679.png


The new processing time feature enables you to add up to 2 business days of processing time, which will then reflect an adjusted delivery date estimate on both the checkout and order confirmation email. 

You can learn all about the features and how to apply them here. 

I understand the 2 day limit might not be enough for custom products and I encourage you to try these features and provide your feedback here so our teams can continue to build on these tools and optimize your merchant experiences. Thank you!

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

thatchickinpa
Visitor
2 0 4

Hello,

 

This solution appears to apply to all products across the board. I have several products with varying handling times.

 

I am surprised that Shopify doesn't support - at minimum - adding a custom handling time in each product editing page that is then displayed to the customer when viewing the product (Amazon does this). Better yet, it doesn't support shipping profiles that can be customized with not only shipping times & rates but also handling times. The appropriate profile is selected in the product editing page and the handling time and shipping time & rate is then displayed to the customer when viewing the product (Amazon and Etsy do this).

 

Ideally handling times & shipping times should be configurable on a per product basis.

 

Is there anything like the two aforementioned features that I mentioned that Shopify has but I'm overlooking?

Ren
Shopify Staff (Retired)
1032 66 153

Hi @thatchickinpa

 

Thanks for chiming in and bringing your feedback to the thread. I think custom handling times per product or collection would be a fantastic feature to have.

At this time, the most recent feature update includes enabling estimated delivery dates and processing times as mentioned in my reply above. 

For now, I recommend creating a page where you can detail your handling times, adding your handling times to your Shipping policy page and utilizing a store banner to indicate to your customers that there may be various handling times per product.

Additionally, you can add these notes into each product description. Having this information in multiple places can help make sure that the memo isn't missed. 

If you'll consider some third-party options, Order Tracking Page has a free version (up to 50 orders/month) which enables you to set up processing times and indicate dispatch and delivery dates. I also came across this Delivery Estimation Widget that lets you set-up a delivery estimate directly on your product page.

Let me know if either of those apps work out for you!


To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

Theswakshop
Visitor
1 0 7

A lot of us use drop shipping which you know because printify is integrated in to your website. So surely you guys are aware of the 1-10 business day processing time for drop shipping? 2 business days is nothing. Customers could care less about our comments or emails stating our processing times. As someone stated above all they care about is what they see at checkout. If you can add 2 business days there’s no reason you can’t add more days. Additionally, you guys posting a message saying “if you’re not processing orders in 2 business days figure out how to process faster” isn’t a solution because you can’t tell that to a drop shipping company. Please update this to be able to add a real number of days. 2 business days is unachievable as a drop shopping based website. 

Ren
Shopify Staff (Retired)
1032 66 153

Hi @Theswakshop

This is great feedback, thanks for taking the time to submit this. I have taken note and will be logging this with the appropriate teams.

It totally makes sense to need the added processing and/or production time that accounts for dropship business models as well as merchants that sell made-to-order products. 

In the meantime, this third-party Processing Time app can help create the time expectations that you need your customers to see, and it's only $5/month. 

Additionally, check out these resources including our updated blog, and videos that can help you optimally manage your shipping and delivery expectations. 

I'll be sure to update here on any progress with our "processing time" feature. Cheers for now!

To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Community Blog.

Thomas_
Visitor
1 0 1

Thank you for this thread. Just to be extra clear - is there any penalty Shopify will impose if sellers are not able to ship the order in the 1-2 or 2-5 timeframe that it offers? I may have products on backorder that may not ship until a few weeks, but I would still like to collect orders for them if I can. 

Logariffm
Visitor
1 0 3

Hello!
Did you write your message quite seriously? Is this not a joke? According to you, I have to pay an additional $5 just because I have an order processing time for more than 2 days. I sell handmade goods that I make to order. My order processing time can reach up to 2 weeks. It becomes almost impossible to sell handmade goods on shopify. I signed up for shopify a month ago in order to create my own store, but now I intend to stop using shopify only because of the lack of the above-mentioned function.

Nunyo
Tourist
9 0 3

Yes, Shopify please address this as it is a basic function that we've been asking about for years. 

Artist___Airbru
Visitor
2 0 3

Why an arbitrary 2 day maximum? You do realize your platform supports many different types of shops. Hand made items take more than two days. It's literally one line of code to change the processing time max to, well, whatever your sellers want to enter. Why are you limiting that?

Customers do not read what's hidden on shipping details pages - they ready the actual "Estimated delivery date :xxxxx" right there when they're checking out. I have to fight customers about once a week, who are genuinely disappointed (and rightfully so because of your unclear systems) and choose to either lose money, or lose customers and hurt feelings.  

 

Get it right.

 

Jcengland
Visitor
2 0 0

Totally agree with this, I came here to find a solution to the maximum 2 days processing time, we really need this to be a custom field. Even better, this should be a field that is held within the individual products. @Shopify  when will this feature be added, its a completely fundamental function for online shopping

Jcengland
Visitor
2 0 0

@Ren  do you have any feedback on when we can expend to select our own processing time beyond 2 days?  and if there is a plan to enable us (without the use of third party apps) to enable unique processing times to be added to individual products, thus enabling our customers to understand the expected delivery date 

mpcllc
Tourist
4 0 2

You want us to add yet another monthly subscription fee just to adjust processing time?

 

Additionally, the workaround you mention still creates a discrepancy between the delivery date the customer receives at checkout and any other notifications we post, or, provide in post-order confirmations.  This makes it look like we don't know what we are doing and erodes customer confidence.

 

Lastly, even if we normally meet the two day minimum in our standard processing model, (of which I have no clue why a hosting platform should dictate such a thing), we have no option to temporally add in time to be able to go on vacation, or, to account for maintenance downtime, ECT without creating more confusion for our customers a checkout.

 

Ultimately, this is a very easy feature to implement - one that both Amazon and Etsy seem to be very successful with offering.

 

With all that said, when will this very simple thing be fixed? I get the feeling from your last message dated on 10-25-2022 that you're not going to do anything.

 

We appreciate a useful response as soon as possible. 

StitchedByLora
Visitor
1 0 2

It's been several months since you've replied to this problem, and as a new seller on Shopify, I'm surprised that this is still a problem for sellers. There seems to be no reason why Shopify cannot offer a solution for better and more accurate communication regarding processing time. A 2 day processing time for the majority of the products I offer is not realistic.  Having said that, can you please let me know what the best and most current solution is to this problem? How can I best communicate to the customers that the dates they may see in the delivery time are not going to accurate and if they pay for express shipping that is for shipping not processing and shipping? I don't want to have dissatisfied customers resulting in refunds and/or loss of future business. And, what is the most effective, current app to solve this problem?

Nunyo
Tourist
9 0 3

Definitely need a solution to this that isn't convoluted.  I can list order turnaround times everywhere and still people will manage to miss it. So far this year it's led to 10 or so issues with customers so it's definitely costing us $$

MMil
Tourist
5 0 2

Hi @Ren  .

 

Hoping you have an update for us here. Its been over a year and half since this thread started, but this issue still exists. Your Shopify customers would like easier accessibility to changing their processing times, please.

 

Furthermore, I read through all your directions as posted above, and lots of the steps and buttons and such do not appear the same as your screen grabs. I use the DAWN theme. I think I've found where some of these functions  live, but am BEYOND confused as to what to change and how so my customers can see that my processing times are 7-10 days for my handmade goods.

 

Please address this. Thank you.

bwardirl
Excursionist
15 0 2

Did anyone find an app that properly deals with this request? The ability to adjust lead times of diffrerent products and then reflect this in order confirmations would be invaluable and (I think) widely used by shop owners. Thanks!

mpcllc
Tourist
4 0 2

I think Shopify actually fixed this not too long ago without the need for an app.  If you go into the 'Shipping and Delivery Settings' and choose 'Expected Delivery Dates', there is a selection now for Custom Processing Time that you can set to any lead-time that fits your needs.

Artist___Airbru
Visitor
2 0 3
Thank you! Man, it would have been nice to be notified of this update!
OluT
Tourist
4 0 0

Hi @mpcllc I  noticed that Changing the 'Expected delivery Dates' applies it to all products in my store.

Is it possible to set different 'Expected delivery dates' for delivery shipping profiles? Eg I sell items that be personalised or non-personalised. For non personalised product I would normally ship next business day, and for personalised items would need to set a custom processing time of 2-5 days. Is it possible to have more that one custom processing time? 

mpcllc
Tourist
4 0 2

Unfortunately, it looks like the General and Custom shipping profiles that allow you to apply different rules for various shipping classes is independent of the section for processing time, (which seems to be a global setting that applies to all products on a site).

 

Unless there is something I'm missing, a better solution for Shopify might be to move the processing time settings inside the general and custom shipping rate profiles so items assigned to these profiles can not only have different shipping rate classes, but, also different processing times.

 

If any items are purchased across profiles with different processing times, the rule would then be to calculate a single shipping estimate based on the profile with the longer lead-time, or, allow the customer the option to opt for two different shipping methods and delivery times, (as well as the applicable shipping costs for doing so), prior to payment.  This is similar to what Amazon does when you buy different items from different sellers with varying shipping rates and delivery timeframes within the same checkout instance.  

 

Until they add a feature like this, the only thing I can think of is to turn off the option that shows the expected delivery dates at checkout and put up a banner or some kind of announcement in the cart that says all non personalized items ship the next business day while orders with personalized items ship in 2-5 business days.

 

Per the example below, I personally also add the expected shipping time for each product right below the price to set delivery expectations prior to checkout and incentivize engagement:

 

https://www.mckinneyprintingco.com/products/highland-cow-ornament-custom-custom-gift

 

In this case you can have a product template for personalized and non-personalized items along with the banner in the cart that clearly sets the expectations for shipping.

lydiajeanart
Visitor
1 0 5

This seems like so much work to just extend shipping times from 2 days to 2-5 days. I think me and a lot of creators who use this site now that we are migrating away from Etsy would appreciate if you could pass this feedback to Shopify developers to just add another processing time set of days on the main site vs needing an app or having to navigate to several different pages to change language. Thanks so much 

MoiraH
Visitor
1 0 0

Adding my support for this topic. This has been a problem for our company for a long time, but now it's worse with 1-page checkout as the shipping method tab is minimized by default, so customers aren't even shown the description we added in the Language settings.

MMil
Tourist
5 0 2

UPDATE: ORDER PROCESSING TIME FIXED!!! 

Link to directions on how to adjust it: https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/longer-options-for-order-processing-time

The chat rep also informed me of this handy link- its all the stuff Shopify has in the works to fix based on concerns from customers like us- I bookmarked it, and you should too! :

https://changelog.shopify.com/

 

bwardirl
Excursionist
15 0 2

This isn’t a proper fix at all though. Did you find it helped?

mpcllc
Tourist
4 0 2

If you go to 'Settings' then 'Shipping and Delivery' and choose 'Expected Delivery Dates', there is a selection for Custom Processing Time that you can adjust as needed.  I tested it out and it changed the estimated delivery date customers see when they are checking out.