---
title: "How to Offer Delivery Time Slots on Shopify"
description: "Let customers pick a delivery time window (e.g. 14:00–16:00) on Shopify, cap each slot, and enforce it at checkout — no code."
contentType: "blog"
locale: "en"
localized: true
source: "https://orderrules.com/blog/offer-delivery-time-slots-shopify"
slug: "offer-delivery-time-slots-shopify"
date: "2026-07-24"
tags:
  - "shopify"
  - "delivery time slots"
  - "delivery windows"
  - "time slot picker"
  - "no code"
---
A delivery date answers "which day." A **time slot** answers "when that day" — and for a lot of merchants, that's the difference between an efficient delivery route and a wasted one. This guide shows how to offer delivery time windows on Shopify, cap each one, and enforce the choice at checkout — with **no code**.

## Why time slots, not just dates

Same-day and local-delivery merchants live and die by routing. If everyone picks "Saturday," you still don't know when to send the van. Time windows — 10:00–12:00, 14:00–16:00, 18:00–20:00 — let customers self-select into the capacity you actually have, and they match the fixed windows Japanese carriers already use.

## Delivery slot, delivery window, date picker — which is which?

These get used interchangeably and they aren't the same thing.

| Term | What it is |
|---|---|
| **Delivery date picker** | The calendar the customer chooses a date from |
| **Delivery slot** | A bookable time band on a date — 14:00-16:00 — with its own capacity |
| **Delivery window** | The range you *show* as an estimate — "arrives 10-11 July" |
| **Shipping date picker** | Loose wording for the same calendar, though shipping date properly means the day it leaves you |

The distinction that matters operationally: a **window** is a prediction you make, a **slot** is a commitment the customer books. Slots carry capacity, so ten bookings in a 14:00-16:00 slot is ten deliveries you have promised for that band. Windows carry no capacity at all.

## How it works in OrderRules

On the **Advanced** plan, you build time slots as a template and attach it to any [availability rule](/docs/delivery/availability-rules):

- **Define your windows.** Add the slots you offer; they appear under the chosen date on the storefront picker.
- **Cap each window.** Give a slot its own **Cap/day** so it can sell out independently of the date. See [delivery capacity limits](/docs/delivery/capacity-limits).
- **Live sell-out.** Full slots grey out automatically — customers only see what you can fulfill.
- **Checkout enforcement.** The OrderRules Shopify Function blocks a sold-out or invalid slot, even on Shop Pay and express checkouts.

## Slots that map to your carrier

Load a carrier preset — Yamato, Sagawa, or Japan Post — and your windows match that carrier's time bands. At export, OrderRules maps each slot to the carrier's **native slot code** automatically. A custom window that doesn't match one of the carrier's bands exports without a slot code, so stick to the carrier's bands if you ship with them. See [Carrier CSV export](/docs/delivery/carrier-csv-export).

## Set it up

1. In **Delivery**, open **Time slot templates**. Load a carrier preset or add your own windows.
2. Give each window a **Cap/day** if you want it to sell out. Leave it blank for unlimited.
3. Edit an **availability rule** and pick the template under **Time slot template**.
4. Save. Slots render under each date; checkout enforces them.

Full detail: [Time slots](/docs/delivery/time-slots). For the complete flow, start with [How to add a delivery date picker to Shopify](/blog/add-delivery-date-picker-shopify). Offering collection instead of delivery? Time-window capacity works the same for [in-store & local pickup](/blog/shopify-in-store-local-pickup-guide). Not sure where the picker itself belongs? See [product page, cart, or checkout](/blog/where-to-put-delivery-date-picker-shopify).

See the [Delivery Dates feature](/features/delivery-dates) or [start a free 14-day trial](/pricing).