How to only accept Shopify orders during business hours

Short answer: Block checkout outside your opening hours (before 9:00, from 17:00 and at weekends, in your store's timezone), for shops that prepare or deliver orders the same day. In Checkpost, choose “Business hours only” from Templates, adjust the values, test it, then save and enable the rule.

The problem

Bakeries, florists, restaurants and other same-day shops can only fulfil orders while someone is there to prepare them. Orders placed at 23:00 or on a Sunday turn into refunds, apologetic emails or late deliveries.

How to set it up

1. Install Checkpost from the Shopify App Store.
2. Open Templates and choose Business hours only.
3. Set your opening hours and closed days. Times use the timezone in Settings → General.
4. Use Try this rule to test a sample cart, then click Save rule.

The rule

Checkout is blocked when any of these conditions are true:

• Store time is outside 09:00 and 17:00
• Day is Saturday or Sunday

Shoppers see: “We take orders Monday to Friday, 9:00–17:00. Please come back then.” at the top of checkout, in the cart and at checkout.

{
  "name": "Business hours only",
  "match": "any",
  "conditions": [
    {
      "kind": "time_of_day",
      "op": "not_between",
      "times": [
        "09:00",
        "17:00"
      ]
    },
    {
      "kind": "day_of_week",
      "op": "is_any",
      "days": [
        "saturday",
        "sunday"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "message": "We take orders Monday to Friday, 9:00–17:00. Please come back then.",
  "target": "cart",
  "runOn": "always"
}

Where this rule works

These are cart and checkout validations, including supported accelerated checkouts. They are current-cart policies; they do not track previous purchases of a SKU. Shopify excludes POS, recurring subscription orders and native pre-order/Try Before You Buy flows from this API. See Shopify's validation compatibility.

Tips

• Times use the timezone in Settings → General, not the shopper's, so a shopper abroad sees the same opening hours as a local one.
• The window includes the start and excludes the end: with 09:00–17:00, 16:59 is open and 17:00 is closed.
• For a late shift that runs past midnight, enter an overnight window such as 22:00–06:00.
• Use the Test a cart page's "Shopper's local time" to check a Saturday or an evening before you turn the rule on.

Can you do this without an app?

Shopify can't close checkout outside opening hours. Password-protecting the store hides everything, including your product pages.

FAQ

Can shoppers still browse and add to cart after hours?

Yes. Only checkout is blocked, and the message tells them when you're open again.

Can I allow pre-orders for the next day instead?

Add a condition so the rule only applies to same-day items, for example Cart contains products tagged same-day.

Related rules

Add business hours only to your store