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OrderRules

Recipe: Bakery Daily Capacity by Delivery Date

5 min read Β· Facts checked October 8, 2026

Bakery Daily Capacity by Delivery Date

This recipe caps each delivery date at what your kitchen can make, and stops shoppers booking dates you can't serve. Customers pick a delivery date on the product page or cart. OrderRules checks the date's capacity, your lead time, cutoff, weekdays and blackout dates, and blocks checkout if any of them fail. Delivery dates and daily caps by delivery date need the Advanced plan ($19.99/month).

Use the capacity calculator first to turn staff and oven time into a daily number.

Requirement spec

The numbers below are examples. Use your own.

  • The kitchen can fill 40 orders per delivery date, or bake 120 loaves of one product per date.
  • Orders need 1 day of lead time.
  • After 14:00, today no longer counts toward the lead time.
  • Delivery runs Tuesday to Saturday.
  • Shoppers can book up to 14 days ahead.
  • No delivery on public holidays or a planned closure.
  • Every order must carry a delivery date, including Shop Pay orders.

Configuration

Pick Option A (orders per date, storewide) or Option B (units per product per date). You can use both.

WhereScreen β†’ fieldValue
OrderRulesSettings β†’ Timezone β†’ Store TimezoneYour bakery's timezone
OrderRulesDelivery Dates β†’ Delivery dates β†’ Offer delivery date selection on your storefrontOn
ShopifyOnline Store β†’ Themes β†’ Customize β†’ App embedsOrderRules Delivery on
OrderRulesDelivery Dates β†’ Availability rules β†’ Applies toAll products
OrderRulesAvailability rules β†’ Fulfillment methodDelivery only, or Delivery & pickup
OrderRulesAvailability rules β†’ Lead time (days)1
OrderRulesAvailability rules β†’ Cutoff (HH:MM)14:00
OrderRulesAvailability rules β†’ Max days ahead14
OrderRulesAvailability rules β†’ Deliverable weekdaysTue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat
OrderRulesAvailability rules β†’ Require a delivery date at checkoutOn
Option ADelivery Dates β†’ Delivery date behavior β†’ Maximum orders per delivery date40
Option BProduct Limits β†’ + Add Product Limits β†’ product β†’ Quantity Limits β†’ Daily120
Option BSame product β†’ Count daily limits byDelivery date
OrderRulesDelivery Dates β†’ Delivery blackout dates β†’ Add date, or Copy store holidaysYour closed dates
OrderRules (optional)Schedule β†’ Weekly ScheduleHours you take orders, if you don't take them around the clock

Option A counts orders across the whole store, one figure for every date. Option B counts units of one product. Delivery and pickup share the same cap. Only the daily limit switches to delivery date; weekly and monthly limits still count by order date.

Store hours close checkout for the whole store. Skip the Schedule step if you want to take orders overnight for later dates.

Test cases

#InputExpected result
1Order before 14:00 for the earliest date offeredOrder goes through. The date's count rises by 1 (A) or by the units ordered (B).
2Same check after 14:00The earliest date offered moves one day later.
3Shopper tries to pick a Sunday or MondayNot selectable.
4Shopper tries to pick a blackout dateNot selectable.
5A date reaches its capThe date shows as unavailable in the picker. A checkout for it is blocked.
6Cart for 10 loaves when the date has 6 left (B)Blocked with a message naming the date and the number left.
7Shop Pay from the product page with no date chosenBlocked: a delivery date is required.
8Guest checkout with a valid dateOrder goes through. No customer limits are on, so guests are allowed.
9Same customer places a second order for the same dateAllowed if the date has room. It counts again.
10You fully cancel an orderIts place returns to the date it was booked for.
11You refund an order without cancellingThe place is not released.

Edge cases and limits

  • Near-simultaneous checkouts for the last place. Validation reads a snapshot of bookings and can't reserve. Two shoppers checking out in the same second for the last place on a date can both get through. Where capacity is small, leave a place of headroom.
  • POS isn't blocked. Point of Sale orders skip checkout validation. Keep counter sales for a date in mind when you set the cap.
  • Refunds don't release capacity. Neither do partial cancels. Cancel the order fully to free the place.
  • Same cap every day. No per-weekday caps and no per-date overrides. A busy Saturday gets the same number as a quiet Tuesday.
  • One storewide per-date figure. Maximum orders per delivery date applies to all products together. Use Option B for item-level caps.
  • Checkout-page date picker needs Shopify Plus. The product and cart pickers work on any plan, and enforcement at checkout works on any plan.

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