# Preparation time & Date range

Store owners now have the flexibility to control which shipping days are displayed to customers on their store site by configuring **preparation and cut-off times.**

{% hint style="info" %}
Preparation time is the time store owners need to get a product or service ready for shipping. It decides which shipping slots customers can see first—only slots that allow enough preparation time will be shown.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
**Cut-off time** refers to the latest time by which an order must be **placed in order to be eligible for same-day or next-day delivery.** Orders placed after the cut-off time will typically be scheduled for delivery on a later date.
{% endhint %}

## Example

If a store offers shipping on **Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday**, with a **prep time of 3 days,** they can set it up so that customers **who place an order before 1 PM on Sunday** can see the upcoming delivery slots for **regular orders**. However, for **pre-order** products, customers placing orders after 1 PM will only see shipping slots available after 1 week.

Here’s how to set it up:

* Set the prep time before the **cut-off time on Sunday to 3 days.**
* Set the **cut-off time on Sunday to 1 PM** and **delay days to 10 days.**

## Enable preparation time

If you need time to prepare an order for shipping, you can enable preparation time by selecting **Enable**. Once enabled, it will appear as shown below:

<figure><img src="https://825397875-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fdt3xbyFDcRxJKS1ZARtZ%2Fuploads%2FDOhqIcEZnARguvCz7AKt%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=ca2e2f7e-79c8-4473-91d0-fab510de02f1" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

* If you need the same preparation time for every day, select **"Basic settings"**
* If your preparation time varies by day, select **"Advanced settings."**

{% hint style="info" %}
Preparation time is measured in **days, hours, and minutes.**

* **If you set preparation time to 0 days**, it means you offer **same-day shipping.** For example, if you allow shipping on Monday and customers visit your site on Monday, they can place an order and receive it on the same day.
* **If you set preparation time to 24 hours**, the countdown starts from when the customer adds a product to their cart. Customers will only see the nearest shipping slots that meet the 24-hour preparation requirement.
  {% endhint %}

## Enable cut-off time

If you need to set a cut-off time for orders on specific days of the week, simply tick the **"Add a cut-off time"** option.

<figure><img src="https://825397875-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fdt3xbyFDcRxJKS1ZARtZ%2Fuploads%2FvL4WVNCZrGWVEdA6Mf9c%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=8daa770d-ca64-41e7-8b34-2024d628a6a5" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
**Delay time:**  After the cut-off time, the delay time is the period that the store wants buyers to wait before seeing the available pickup or delivery slots that meet the store's set delay time requirements.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
By default, the cut-off time is set to 6:00 PM, and the delay time is set to 2 days. This means that if a customer places an order after 6:00 PM, the earliest available shipping slot they will see will be 2 days later, to account for the delay time. For example, if an order is placed at 7:00 PM, the customer will only be able to choose a shipping date that's at least 2 days in the future.
{% endhint %}

## Configure date range&#x20;

If you want to limit how far into the future customers can choose for their shipping, you can set up a **date range**. This allows you to control how many days in advance customers can select a shipping slot.

Simply **enter the number of days (the range) you want to allow for shipping.**&#x20;

**For example,** if you set the range to 7 days, customers will only be able to choose a shipping date within the next 7 days from the first available date.

<figure><img src="https://825397875-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fdt3xbyFDcRxJKS1ZARtZ%2Fuploads%2FMHY6OhfrS5Yl789kFLvp%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=8e369bbe-375c-4898-8680-d6843a85f5f6" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="info" %}
By default, the date range for shipping is calculated in **days, months, or weeks,** starting from the moment the customer visits the product page and adds an item to their cart.

If you want to offer regular shipping for up to 1 year, you can enter **365 days** as the date range.
{% endhint %}