Why is it so hard to set vacation mode for my online store?

[doylesee]

Why on earth is it so difficult to take a day off for vacation?  Why is there no off/on switch for my store?  Why is this not the easiest thing in the world to do like Amazon and Ebay?

This issue is seriously minor and should have been added when shopify went into business.   Please fix this!

dc

[JoesIdeas]

What would you like to happen for vacation mode?

Are you saying you want to disable the store? That's bad for your business - it will damage your SEO and your brand reputation. (if someone comes to a broken site they probably won't come back... and search crawlers will take notice).

Are you saying you want to stop taking orders? Why not just fulfill the orders when you get back from vacation?

Are you a small team that fulfills in-house? All good, people love small teams, just add some text in your order confirmation email that "we're a small team and give each order personal attention, we usually ship orders within 3 business days (or whatever you want to say).

Instead of getting angry, identify the exact problem you want to solve, then brainstorm solutions (or ask us here in the forums 🙂).

[doylesee]

I would like my store to be visible. I built it, spent a lot of money and
time on it. Why would I ever damage it in any way? Why would shopify
allow that?

I simply want order taking to be halted till I turn it back on. A few
days. Leaving orders to be fulfilled when I get back is not industry
standard. Would really cause a lot of worried, angry buyers.

You guys should have all this figured out in advance. Shopify owners
should have a spot to leave text, thats labeled and easy to find. We ship
as fast on shopify as we do on Amazon and Walmart. We dont view the
customers any differently.

Im not even angry, just puzzled as to why this is left out of the store
package when if should be a basic and integral part. I try to make my
customers buying process as smooth and bump free as possible. Shopfiy
should do the same for its customers.
dc

[Clawbak]

I'll have to agree with the seller here.  Just make it simple by providing a vacation mode button instead of these non-obvious labeling (ie pause, and etc).

This vacation mode should automatically prompt customers that the team is on vacation.  Saves everyone a lot of time.

Thank you. 

[mark842]

Possibly because some of us want to take a real vacation occasionally for 2-3 weeks and we normally ship the day payment is made and advertise that we do. It would be nice to have a vacation mode that would at least allow for an easy landing page that states this and that if they place an order at this time it will ship on x/xx date. You know, without having to spend 4 hours trying to figure out how to make a new landing page just to find out that the landing page will not be a real landing page like on other websites. It will be behind the home page and unless anyone clicks on the landing page they won't see the vacation notice. As it is now, I'm taking a week off next week but I will have to babysit my email and message everyone that buys something and explain and offer to refund if they don't want to wait. Which do you think would piss off customers more? Finding this out after they pay or before? I would rather find out before personally.

[Ash]

Hey, @doylesee!

Ash here from the Shopify team. Welcome to the Shopify Community! 

I absolutely see where you're coming from with the desire for a 'vacation mode'. While we don't have an option branded as 'vacation mode', there are a few options you can choose from to achieve similar results. One option is to apply the storefront password to your shop when on vacation. This can be done from your Online Store> Preferences, and you're also able to leave a note to appear on the password page for your customers to see. When the storefront password is enabled, you still have full access to the back-end, but customers will not be able to access your shop or make purchases without the storefront password. 

I read your followup post in this thread, and I see that you prefer to leave the shop open to customers while on vacation, but don't want them to be able to place orders. A solution you may consider for this is pausing your account while on Vacation, and then un-pausing it when you return. When you pause your store with the option to pause your store and continue to work on it, customers can still visit your store, but the checkout is disabled until you re-select a regular plan tier. 

I hope these options are helpful, and please feel free to reply here and let me know if you have any trouble implementing either one. We're always happy to help out! 

[witandwhistle]

I totally agree there needs to be a simple vacation mode with the click of a button. Every other selling platform I use offers this (Amazon, Etsy, Faire, Woocommerce, etc.) I'm not accepting orders for two weeks while I'm closed—customers will be angry with the shipping delay. I don't want to close my whole site and require a password to get in, then customers can't browse my products while I'm away. Pause mode is not a good solution either. I just tried it and it doesn't provide any notification that orders can't be placed until a weird error message pops up when you try to checkout. Feels like the site is just broken, not that the shop is temporarily closed. There should be a vacation mode that clearly notifies the shopper as they are browsing that the shop is currently closed and orders aren't being accepted—perhaps a popup when they click the "add to cart" button. Or remove the add to cart button all together.

[witandwhistle]

I was able to create this functionality (a popup message about the shop being closed) by putting the shop in pause mode and adding the "Product Warnings on Checkout" app, for $10 a month. Facepalm. 

[SmallBizMan]

I agree we need a vacation setting.

I do have a "catalog mode" on my paid for theme though that does things like hide the add to cart, buy now, price, and ratings.... i guess i use that for now. 

[Bolanite]

I 100% agree that we need a vacation mode. It's a baffling faliure by Shopify. Example: I am going on vacation for 8 days. Out of the country. It's the Christmas holidays. People will place orders expecting to get them in time. I have spend a long time online trying to find/search for the vacation mode, only to see they don't have one. I can't even simply extend my processing time beyond 2 days. (that would have been too simple for Shopify apparantly). No. I have to jump through all these hoops creating a password, landing pages etc. etc.. What an absolute fail on Shopify's part. It took me 30 seconds to do a vacation mode on Etsy. I'm a business owner. Not a programer. Someone at Shopify needs to be accountable for this error and fix it please.

[Davidearle]

However, I can offer some insights into why certain platforms, like Shopify, might not have a straightforward "off/on switch" for a store and why taking a day off for vacation might be challenging for some businesses:

1. E-commerce complexity: Running an online store involves a lot of moving parts, including inventory management, customer support, order processing, and marketing. Unlike Amazon and eBay, which are large marketplaces with extensive infrastructure and resources, individual online stores may not have the same level of automation and scalability built in.

2. Unique store configurations: Each online store on platforms like Shopify can have different settings, customizations, and third-party apps integrated, making it challenging to implement a one-size-fits-all "off/on switch" for vacations.

3. Small business operations: Many online stores are run by small business owners or individuals who may not have the capacity to handle a complete shutdown without affecting their operations or customer satisfaction.

4. Customer expectations: Customers have come to expect quick responses and seamless service from online stores. A sudden, extended closure without any prior notice could lead to disappointment and loss of trust.

5. Potential workarounds: While there may not be an official "off switch" for a store, some business owners use workarounds such as temporarily adjusting store settings, hiring temporary help, or scheduling vacations during slower periods.

6. Continuous sales opportunities: Unlike physical stores with set hours of operation, e-commerce operates 24/7, allowing customers from different time zones to shop at any time. Businesses may be hesitant to close completely to avoid missing out on potential sales.

It's important to remember that different platforms prioritize features based on their user base and the overall goals of their service. While some functionalities might seem obvious or necessary to certain users, it might not be feasible or a priority for the platform's developers at a given time.

If you have specific concerns or suggestions for Shopify, I recommend reaching out to their support team or exploring community forums to share your feedback. Platform improvements often come from user feedback, so your input could help shape future updates.

[D-Design]

2023, and I still can't take a vacation. Thanks Shopify.  I guess I'll password lock my website????  that a much better look.

[AlmondHero93]

Hey all,

Why not just create a new either "rich text" or "image with text" section and put it at the top of your homepage with an away message? I just enable it when I need it, and disable it when I don't. It's not perfect but it's a lot easier than any of the other options and it keeps your store completely open!

[zyla999]

Because not everybody lends on your home page.

[D-Design]

What I do now is go to my website editor, and in the header section there's a notification settings. I changed the theme color for the notification to a bright red, I type in how long before their order will ship. So I give an exact date when will be back in town and able to ship again.

[zyla999]

That is what I do too, but it's not a perfect solution. 

1) People may not read it

2) The shipments will show as overdue

I think it's fair to ask Shopify for this simple solution. With 1 click you can have the banner and a message during checkout re-confirming that the shipment will be shipped late. Have the buyer check mark that he understands. Have the orders wait till the agreed date without showing they're overdue. 

Should be the by now instead we have to hack our own solutions. 

PS I'm going away tomorrow morning and already wasted an hour trying to find a good app. Can't even find that.

[D-Design]

I definitely agree with you wholeheartedly, this is just what I do. Also, I forgot to mention, that I add like 5 days to my shipping and handling time. You can make this a custom shipping and handling number of days.  This works for me, because my vacations are usually short, like 2 to 4 days.

[JSworldtour]

It is possible to activate a true vacation mode (like you might find on Etsy or Ebay) on your Shopify store with a 3rd party app called Magical Vacation Mode.

https://apps.shopify.com/magical-vacation-mode

Shopify does not have an official vacation mode setting, and encourage merchants to either use the password protected option, or change your plan to pause and build. Neither of these solutions are ideal if you simply want to pause your sales (hide purchase options) while keeping your store live.