How to stop local delivery and pickup orders on public holidays in Shopify
Short answer: Block local delivery and store pickup orders on the days you're closed, such as Christmas and New Year's Day, every year. In Checkpost, choose “Pause local delivery and pickup on holidays” from Templates, adjust the values, test it, then save and enable the rule.
The problem
When the shop is closed for a holiday, local delivery and pickup orders can't be fulfilled, but shipping orders can wait in the queue. Turning delivery methods off by hand every holiday is easy to forget.
How to set it up
- Install Checkpost from the Shopify App Store.
- Open Templates and choose Pause local delivery and pickup on holidays.
- List your closing days as MM-DD (every year) or YYYY-MM-DD (once).
- Use Try this rule to test a sample cart, then click Save rule.
The rule
Checkout is blocked when all of these conditions are true:
- Date is one of 25 Dec every year, 26 Dec every year, 1 Jan every year
- Delivery method type is any of LOCAL, PICK_UP
Shoppers see: “We're closed today, so local delivery and pickup aren't available. Please choose shipping or order tomorrow.” at the top of checkout, once they reach checkout.
Rule definition (JSON)
{
"name": "Closed on holidays",
"match": "all",
"conditions": [
{
"kind": "date",
"op": "on_any",
"dates": [
"12-25",
"12-26",
"01-01"
]
},
{
"kind": "text",
"field": "delivery_method_type",
"op": "equals_any",
"values": [
"LOCAL",
"PICK_UP"
]
}
],
"message": "We're closed today, so local delivery and pickup aren't available. Please choose shipping or order tomorrow.",
"target": "cart",
"runOn": "checkout"
}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
- Write yearly holidays as MM-DD (12-25) and one-off closures with the year (2026-04-03).
- The rule checks the date in your store's timezone, so it starts and ends at your local midnight.
- Prefer hiding the methods instead of blocking? Create a delivery method rule that hides "Local delivery" and "Pickup" on the same dates.
FAQ
Does it affect shipping orders?
No. It only blocks when the shopper chose local delivery or pickup.
What about holidays that move every year, like Easter?
Add those with the year (YYYY-MM-DD) each year, alongside your fixed MM-DD dates.
Related rules
Business hours only
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.
No local delivery on Sundays
Hide the local delivery option on the days your drivers don't work.
Same-day delivery cutoff
Hide same-day and express options after your daily cutoff (14:00 in your store's timezone) so shoppers only see rates you can still meet.
Holiday shipping cutoff
From 18 to 24 December every year, hide standard shipping that won't arrive in time, so holiday shoppers pick express.
Add pause local delivery and pickup on holidays to your store