A cookie bakery we spoke to sells giant cookies in two designs, Classic and Print. Both come out of the same oven, and the oven does 100 per delivery date. Not 100 Classic and 100 Print. 100 between them.
Their question was simple: "Can the app count 100 per delivery date, in units, across both designs?" It's a question most delivery date apps answer with "yes" and a screenshot of an order cap. An order cap isn't what they asked for. This post covers what they actually need, how to set it up, what we saw when we tested it, and what doesn't work yet.
The short answer
Yes: make the two designs variants of one product, set a daily quantity limit of 100 on the product, and count it by delivery date. A product-level limit adds up every variant's units for each date, so 60 Classic and 40 Print fill Friday. If the designs are two separate products, they can't share one limit by delivery date today.
Why "orders per day" is the wrong number
There are two separate problems hiding in "100 a day":
- Which day? A limit that counts orders on the day they're placed makes Monday look busy when Friday is the day the ovens fill up. The bakery needs to count the day the cookies are delivered. We covered this in your daily limit is counting the wrong day.
- Count what? Ten customers who each buy ten cookies are ten orders but a hundred cookies. An order cap of 100 would let ten times the oven's capacity through.
Here's what each kind of cap in OrderRules actually counts:
| Cap | Counts | Counted by | Shared across products |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum orders per delivery date | Orders | Delivery date | Yes, the whole store |
| Time slot Cap/day | Orders | Delivery date and slot | Yes, the whole store |
| Product limit, Quantity Limits β Daily | Units | Order date or delivery date | No, one product (all its variants) |
| Collection limit | Units or orders | Order date only | Yes, the collection |
Only one row counts units against the delivery date: the product quantity limit. That's why the bakery's answer depends on how the products are set up.
The setup: one product, two variants, one limit
1. Put the designs that share an oven under one product
Classic and Print become two variants of a "Giant Cookie" product, for example with an option called Design. If they're already variants, skip this step.
If they're two products today, create the new product with both variants. Then add a URL redirect in Shopify from each old product URL to the new one (search "URL redirects" in your admin), so links and search results still land somewhere. Check how your reviews app handles this before you delete the old products.
2. Set the limit in Product Limits
- In OrderRules, open Product Limits and click Edit Limits on the Giant Cookie
- Under Count daily limits by, choose Delivery date
- Under Quantity Limits, set Daily to 100
- Leave Variant overrides empty, then click Update Limits
Step 4 matters. A variant override replaces the product limit for that variant; it doesn't sit inside it. If you give Classic its own limit of 60, Classic counts against its 60 and no longer draws on the shared 100.
Count daily limits by only appears once delivery dates are turned on, which is on the Advanced plan.
3. Repeat for each oven
The bakery also sells cookie boxes and mini cookie boxes, each with its own 100 per date. Give each product its own limit the same way. Friday's giant cookies filling up doesn't touch Friday's cookie boxes.
What we saw when we tested it
We set this up on a development store with a cake that has two sizes, 6" and 8", a daily limit of 8 counted by delivery date, and no variant overrides. Then we shopped it like a customer:
-
Picked 31 October on the 6". The product page showed:
Only 8 left for 2026-10-31.
-
Added 5 of the 6" to the cart, then switched to the 8" and picked the same date. The page now showed:
Only 3 left for 2026-10-31.
The two sizes share one count, before anything has been paid for.
-
Tried to add 5 of the 8". Add to cart was refused:
You can only add 8 units of Celebration Cake (daily limit). Please reduce the quantity to 8 or fewer.
Adding 2 more worked. Adding the extra units straight through Shopify's cart API, the way some themes and bundle apps do, was refused with the same message, so it isn't only the product page doing the checking.
If a date fills up while a customer is checking out, because someone else booked first, checkout is blocked with one of these, including Shop Pay, Apple Pay and Google Pay:
Delivery on {date} is fully booked. Please choose another date.
Only {n} left for delivery on {date}. Please reduce the quantity or choose another date.
What counts toward the 100
- Every variant of the product, for the delivery date on that line
- Delivery and pickup orders for the same date. They share one count.
- A cancelled order is taken back off. Its units become available again for that date.
What doesn't:
- A line with no delivery date. It isn't counted toward the daily limit at all, on either date. Turn on Require a delivery date at checkout so an undated order can't get through, and read why Buy It Now skips the date if you sell with express buttons.
- Order edits and refunds. If you change an order's quantity or date in Shopify admin, the original date and quantity stay counted.
What doesn't work yet
We'd rather you know these before a busy Friday than after.
- Two separate products can't share one delivery-date limit. Collection limits count by order date. Use variants.
- One date can't have a lower limit. The daily limit is one number for every date, and changing it changes every date at once, including dates customers are already booking. You can close a date completely with a delivery blackout date.
- One cart can't go over the daily limit in total, even across dates. With a limit of 100, a customer who wants 60 for Friday and 60 for Saturday in one order is stopped at 100 and has to place two orders. With a limit of 100 that's rare. With a small limit, like 8 cakes, it's worth knowing.
- Weekly and monthly limits still count by order date. Only the daily limit switches to the delivery date.
- The last unit isn't reserved. The count updates when each order arrives, so two customers paying for the very last cookies at the same moment can both get through. If 100 is a hard ceiling, set the limit to 98 and keep a little headroom.
Units and orders together
Most bakeries need both. The ovens set the unit limit; the courier or the packing table sets an order limit. They stack: an order has to fit both.
| Bakery limit | Where to set it |
|---|---|
| 100 giant cookies per delivery date | Product Limits β Giant Cookie β Daily quantity 100, counted by delivery date |
| 100 cookie boxes per delivery date | Product Limits β Cookie Box β Daily quantity 100, counted by delivery date |
| 60 orders the courier can take per delivery date | Delivery Dates β Maximum orders per delivery date 60 |
| 20 orders in the morning slot | Time slot Cap/day 20 on the morning window |
Checklist
- Designs that share an oven are variants of one product
- Count daily limits by is set to Delivery date on each product
- Quantity Limits β Daily holds the oven number, with a little headroom
- No variant overrides, unless a design really has its own limit
- Require a delivery date at checkout is on
- Tested on a development store: both designs, one date, more than the limit
Related: 10 questions a UK bakery asked before choosing a delivery date app Β· limits by delivery date (docs) Β· bakery daily capacity recipe Β· delivery date picker for food and bakery shops