置き配 (oki-hai) is unattended delivery: the courier leaves the parcel at an agreed spot — the front door, a 宅配ボックス (home delivery box), or the meter cupboard — with no face-to-face hand-off. It's now a default expectation for Japanese shoppers, and you can offer it at checkout on Shopify with OrderRules, alongside the delivery date and time window.
If you sell in Japan, offering 置き配 cleanly — as a choice the customer makes when they pick their delivery date and slot — signals that you understand how people actually want to receive orders. This guide covers what 置き配 is, where the parcel goes (including a 宅配ボックス), how it differs from 宅配ロッカー and コンビニ受取, and how to offer it on Shopify end to end.
Why 置き配 became the default in Japan
置き配 didn't spread because it's convenient — it spread because Japan's delivery network had a structural problem. For years, roughly one in ten parcels was a redelivery, according to periodic 国土交通省 (MLIT) sample surveys — a courier arrives, no one is home, a slip goes in the mailbox, and the whole trip repeats. That redelivery burden wastes driver hours and fuel at a national scale.
Then came the 物流2024年問題 (the "2024 logistics problem"): from April 2024, tighter overtime caps on truck drivers squeezed freight capacity, with government-linked estimates warning of a double-digit percentage shortfall in delivery capacity this decade if nothing changed (directional projections — treat as scenario, not a fixed number). Cutting redeliveries went from "nice to have" to essential.
置き配 is the cleanest fix: if the courier can leave the parcel safely, there's no missed hand-off and no redelivery. Amazon Japan made 置き配 its default delivery method, and the major carriers built unattended options into their apps. For shoppers, it quickly became the normal way to receive an order. For a Japanese Shopify store, not offering it now reads as a gap.
What 置き配 is (and why shoppers want it)
置き配 lets a customer receive a delivery without being present. Instead of waiting in for a hand-off or dealing with a redelivery slip after a missed one, the courier leaves the parcel at a spot the customer designates. The appeal is straightforward:
- No waiting in. The customer doesn't have to plan their day around a delivery window.
- No redelivery slips. The single most annoying part of missed deliveries disappears.
- Contactless. A habit that stuck after 2020 and never went away.
For merchants, the payoff is operational: fewer failed deliveries means fewer redelivery charges, fewer "where's my order?" tickets, and a smoother last mile.
Where the parcel is left: 宅配ボックス, door, or meter box
置き配 is defined by where the parcel is left. The common destinations are:
- 玄関前 (front door) — the default drop spot for most orders.
- 宅配ボックス (home delivery box) — a lockable box at the residence; the courier deposits the parcel and it stays secure until the resident retrieves it.
- メーターボックス (meter cupboard) — a common out-of-sight spot in apartments.
- Garage, bike basket, or another agreed spot — for houses with a safe, sheltered location.
A 宅配ボックス is the most-requested 置き配 destination because it keeps the parcel secure and weather-protected — which is why "宅配ボックスに入れてほしい" is one of the most common delivery notes in Japan. When you offer 置き配 as a delivery option, you're covering a drop-off to the customer's 宅配ボックス: the choice travels with the order so your team and carrier export know the customer wants unattended delivery rather than a hand-off.
置き配 vs pickup methods: know the difference
The terms get mixed up constantly, so here's the clean split between home delivery and pickup:
| Method | Japanese | What it is | Who handles it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leave-at-door | 置き配 | Parcel left unattended at the customer's own address (door / 宅配ボックス) | Delivery option — offer it at checkout |
| Home delivery box | 宅配ボックス | A specific 置き配 destination: a lockable box at the residence | Delivery option (a 置き配 spot) |
| Parcel locker | 宅配ロッカー (PUDO 等) | Open lockers the customer collects from | Carrier network — set via the carrier |
| Store pickup | コンビニ受取 | Pickup at a convenience store | Carrier network — set via the carrier |
| Your-store pickup | 店舗受取 | Scheduled pickup at your own locations | OrderRules in-store pickup |
| Hand-off | 対面 | Face-to-face delivery with a signature | Delivery option (the traditional default) |
置き配 and 宅配ボックス are things you offer as home-delivery options at checkout. 宅配ロッカー (open parcel lockers like PUDO) and コンビニ受取 (convenience-store pickup) are pickup methods run through the carrier's own network (Yamato, Japan Post, Sagawa) — the customer collects the parcel themselves, and they're selected at the carrier level or via the shopper's carrier account, not configured or enforced at Shopify checkout.
What OrderRules covers is (a) home 置き配 as a delivery option, and (b) scheduled pickup at your own store locations — see Shopify in-store & local pickup: setup, scheduling & rules. If you want carrier-locker delivery, that's set through the carrier, and the parcel still flows through your OrderRules carrier CSV export. Being honest about this boundary is better for customers than pretending an app can control a carrier's locker network.
How to offer 置き配 on Shopify
With OrderRules on the Advanced plan, 置き配 is offered as a delivery option the customer chooses while picking their delivery date and time slot — the same flow covered in How to add a delivery date picker to Shopify.
- Create a delivery availability rule. Set your lead time, cutoff, delivery weekdays, and horizon. See availability rules.
- Add 置き配 as a delivery option alongside the date and slot, so customers can choose leave-at-door delivery (to the door or a 宅配ボックス) instead of 対面.
- Keep capacity intact. Because 置き配 rides the same engine, it sits alongside your capacity limits and time slots — it doesn't bypass them.
- Test it. Place a test order choosing 置き配 and confirm the choice is stored on the order.
The selection travels with the order, so your fulfillment team and carrier CSV export both know the customer wants unattended delivery.
Handling the edge cases
置き配 is low-risk for everyday goods, but a few situations deserve a lighter touch:
- High-value or fragile items. Offer 置き配 as an option, not a forced default, and steer expensive or breakable items toward a hand-off. Pair with the carrier's delivered-photo confirmation where available.
- Age-restricted goods. Anything requiring ID or an adult signature should not be left unattended — keep those on 対面 delivery.
- Weather and apartments. A 宅配ボックス solves most weather and security worries; for houses without one, a sheltered spot note helps couriers place the parcel safely.
The point is to make 置き配 the easy default for the majority of orders while keeping a sensible exception path — not to force one delivery style on every product.
The fulfillment side: carrier CSV and 集荷
置き配 is a customer-facing choice, but it has to reach the courier. Once the day's orders are in, filter them by delivery date and export to the Yamato B2クラウド, Sagawa e飛伝III, or Japan Post ゆうプリR layout — each shipment carries the customer's 置き配 preference. Then request 集荷 (carrier pickup) through the carrier's own tool: OrderRules produces the shipment data and the daily ship list, and the carrier handles the 集荷 booking itself.
If you're running a date-critical or gift-season operation, tie this together with how to turn a delivery date into a daily ship-by list, so the day's 置き配 orders and their ship dates line up automatically.
Pair it with the rest of the delivery suite
置き配 works best as one piece of a complete delivery experience:
- Delivery date & time-slot picker — the date and window the customer wants.
- Time slots — windows like 14:00–16:00, each with its own capacity.
- Estimated delivery date — a holiday-aware "Arrives" estimate on the product page (and what "estimated delivery date" means).
- Carrier CSV export — hand the day's shipments (with each customer's 置き配 preference) to Yamato, Sagawa, or Japan Post.
The bigger picture
置き配 is a small option with an outsized effect on the Japanese customer experience — and it's the kind of native expectation a Japan-first delivery build should meet. It cuts redeliveries, matches how shoppers already receive parcels from Amazon and the marketplaces, and costs you nothing but a checkbox in your delivery flow. Control when customers order, when you deliver, and how it's handed over, all in one app.
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