Oak & Lever

Note · Updated · 4 min read

How to put a Shopify store on vacation mode

Shopify doesn't have a single “vacation mode” button. You build one from a few settings, and the right mix depends on one decision you should make first.

First, decide what “away” means for your store

There are two honest options:

  • Stop taking orders. Right if nobody can ship anything, you sell perishable or made-to-order goods, or you'd rather not come back to a backlog.
  • Keep taking orders, ship later. Right if your customers will happily wait a week and you'd rather not lose the sale. This only works if they know about the delay before they pay; there's a separate guide for that.

Whichever you choose, the store itself should usually stay visible. A store that disappears for two weeks loses the shoppers who arrive from search, ads and old links, and some of them won't come back.

Step 1: Tell shoppers, in more than one place

An announcement bar is the obvious place. In most themes it's under Online Store > Themes > Customize, in the header area. Say when you're away, when you're back, and what that means for an order placed today.

Shoppers who arrive on a product page from search may never notice a bar at the top, so repeat the message where the decision is made: on the product page near the price, and in the cart. In many themes you can add a text block to the product template for this.

Also set an auto-reply on the email address customers write to, and update any shipping or FAQ page that promises a dispatch time.

Step 2: If you're stopping orders, choose how

Set inventory to zero

Setting stock to 0 and making sure Continue selling when out of stock is off turns every buy button into “Sold out”. Pages stay up and indexed. The downsides: it's slow for a big catalog, you have to restore the exact counts when you return, “Sold out” reads like you're not restocking, and back-in-stock apps may email everyone the day you restore the numbers.

Don't set products to draft

Drafting products removes their pages from your store. Links from search results, social posts and emails break, and search engines eventually drop the pages. It's the most damaging way to pause.

Private mode (the password page)

Under Online Store > Preferences > Store access, Shopify's private mode shows a password landing page instead of your store. It's quick and you can write a custom message on it, but Shopify hides all your online store pages from visitors and search engines while it's on. Fine for a day or two; risky for a long break.

The Pause and Build plan

Shopify's Pause and Build plan keeps your store browsable at a reduced plan fee, while checkout is switched off across all sales channels. It's designed for longer breaks: the switch is scheduled for the end of your billing cycle, apps keep billing unless you uninstall them, and reopening means choosing a plan again. Check Shopify's current plan page for the price and eligibility. There's a full comparison here.

Step 3: Check the things that keep running without you

  • Ads. Pause or reduce paid ads that send shoppers to products they can't buy.
  • Scheduled emails. Look for campaigns or automations due to go out while you're gone, especially ones with a discount code.
  • Subscriptions and recurring orders. If you sell subscriptions, decide whether to skip or delay the next charge.
  • Marketplaces and other channels. Settings on your online store don't automatically pause other channels you sell through.
  • Delivery estimates. If you show delivery dates, make sure they won't promise something you can't meet.

Step 4: Test it like a shopper

Open your store in a private browser window, on your phone as well as a computer. Go from a product page to the cart. Try any quick-add or “Buy it now” buttons your theme shows on collection pages. Can you still buy something you shouldn't? Is the message clear without scrolling?

Step 5: Plan the return

The step most people forget is undoing everything. Write a short list of every change you made so you can reverse each one on the day you're back: inventory counts, announcement text, product page blocks, auto-replies, ads and email schedules. Put a reminder in your calendar for the morning you return.

Doing it on a schedule instead

All of the above is manual: you switch it on before you leave and remember to switch it off. If you'd rather set dates once, a vacation app can handle the switching for you. Our app, Away Mode, turns on and off by itself on dates you choose, keeps your store browsable and indexed, and either pauses orders or adds a “shipping resumes” date to each one. Whatever you use, the checklist in steps 3 to 5 still applies.