The Shopify Guide to Local Delivery, Pickup, and Scheduling

To run local delivery, store pickup and scheduling on Shopify, decide where each location delivers and which stores offer pickup, then add a scheduling layer so customers book a delivery date or pickup slot your team can actually fulfill. Shopify's built-in settings cover where you deliver and where customers collect; a scheduling app covers when, and the work that happens after checkout.

This guide walks through both halves: what Shopify does on its own, where it stops, and a five-step plan to set up delivery, pickup and scheduling as one flow.

Why local delivery, pickup and scheduling belong together

Local shoppers search for an outcome, not just a product: "local delivery near me", "same-day delivery", "pickup today". When your store answers that question before checkout, buyers hesitate less. When it can't, they leave or open a support ticket.

The stakes are real. According to AlixPartners' 2026 Home Delivery Survey, more than 85% of consumers say a poor delivery experience reduces their willingness to buy again. AlixPartners, 2026 Home Delivery Survey (via Mondaq) (Jun 2026)

Delivery, pickup and scheduling solve three different parts of the same promise:

• Local delivery brings the order to the customer, usually the same day or the next, inside an area you control.
• Store pickup lets the customer collect it, which costs you no delivery run and suits buyers who pass your store anyway.
• Scheduling turns both into a time the customer chose and your team planned for, instead of "sometime this week".

Offering only one of them leaves customers out. Offering all three without scheduling leaves your team guessing what tomorrow looks like.

What Shopify's built-in settings do, and where they stop

Shopify includes local delivery and pickup in store in its shipping and delivery settings. Here is what its Help Center describes (checked Oct 2, 2026), next to what a scheduling app adds.

Need	Shopify built-in	With a scheduling app such as ScrollEngine
Delivery area	A set distance from the location (maximum 100 miles) or a list of postal codes	ZIP codes, a radius or zones drawn on a map, per location
Delivery fee	A delivery price per zone, with a minimum order price	Rates by order value or weight, per zone or rule
Pickup	Customer chooses a location; you set a processing time; a Ready for pickup email	Pickup slots per store, a store finder with drive distance and time, ready messages by email, SMS or WhatsApp
Date and time slot	Not described in either Help Center page	A date and slot calendar with prep time, cutoffs, blackout dates and holidays
Limit per slot or day	Not described	A capacity for each slot and day, per store
Routes, drivers, tracking	Not described	Route optimization, a driver app with proof of delivery, and a live tracking page

One built-in rule is worth knowing before you plan: Shopify says customers "can't choose to have some items shipped and some items locally delivered on the same order", so local delivery only appears when every physical product in the cart can be delivered from one location. If it isn't showing at all, start with local delivery not showing at checkout.

Built-in settings are the starting point. Once you want customers to book times, or need to stop taking more orders than your team can handle, add ScrollEngine for bookable slots with a limit on each one.

Step 1: Decide where you deliver

Start with the map, not the calendar.

1. Add each location that delivers or offers pickup, with its hours and time zone.
2. Draw your delivery area by ZIP code, radius or a zone on a map. Keep it to the area a driver can cover inside one delivery window; you can widen it later.
3. Set delivery fees by order value or weight, per zone. A free-delivery threshold for nearby ZIP codes and a fee for outer zones is a common starting point.

In ScrollEngine, zones and fees live on each location, and location rules send every order to the right store or warehouse. See the overview of local delivery for Shopify.

Step 2: Turn on store pickup at each location

Pickup needs no delivery run, because the customer makes the trip.

• Set pickup hours per store. A store that opens at 10 am shouldn't offer 8 am pickups.
• Write pickup instructions that say where to go and what to show at the counter.
• Decide which products each store can hand over. In ScrollEngine, each store can warn the customer, or block pickup there, when it doesn't carry an item.

If customers can choose between several stores, a store finder that shows drive distance and time helps them pick the convenient one. Our post on how a pickup date picker improves in-store pickup covers pickup slots and counter planning in detail.

Step 3: Add delivery and pickup scheduling

Scheduling is what turns "we deliver locally" into a promise your team can plan around. For each location and method, set:

• Delivery days and time slots, for example 9–11 am, 11 am–1 pm and 2–4 pm.
• Prep time, the notice you need between an order and its slot.
• A same-day cutoff, the time after which today's slots close.
• Blackout dates and holiday hours, for days you're closed or open short.
• Capacity: set a capacity for each slot and day, per store, and see remaining capacity as orders book.

Delivery and pickup each get their own slots and capacity, so a full delivery day doesn't close the pickup counter. For how to size slots and cutoffs, read how smarter delivery scheduling helps local stores.

Step 4: Put the choice in the cart, before checkout

Customers decide faster when they see their options early. ScrollEngine adds a delivery-method chooser to the cart, the cart drawer and the product page:

1. The customer picks local delivery, store pickup or shipping.
2. They check their ZIP code, address or map pin to confirm you deliver there.
3. They choose a date and time slot from the calendar.

Two details stop orders from slipping through without a date. Checkout stays closed until a slot is chosen, express checkout buttons can be hidden in the cart, and on Shopify Plus the date and time picker can also sit inside checkout. See the delivery date picker for the full setup. Weighing apps? See how ScrollEngine compares.

Step 5: Plan routes and keep customers informed

Scheduling decides when orders go out. The last step is getting them there and telling customers where they are.

• Plan routes from the booked slots. Route optimization sequences stops across several drivers, with vehicle capacity, time windows, shifts and breaks.
• Give drivers one app. Drivers run their routes in an iOS and Android app and capture proof of delivery with a photo, signature and notes.
• Update customers automatically. Email, SMS and WhatsApp messages go out as the order moves, with a branded tracking page that shows a live ETA. Pickup customers get a ready-for-pickup message the moment staff mark the order ready.

Clear updates mean fewer "where is my order?" questions for your team to answer by hand.

Common setup mistakes to avoid

• One schedule for every store. Each location has its own hours, staff and time zone; give each its own slots.
• No same-day cutoff. Without one, a 4:55 pm order can book a 5 pm slot nobody can pack.
• Slots with no limit. A popular slot fills past what your drivers can deliver. Set capacity from what one driver or one counter can handle.
• A delivery area that's too wide. One far-off stop can make every later delivery on a route late.
• Not testing as a customer. After every change, open your store in a private window, add a product to the cart and check the dates and slots you see.

Where to go next

This guide is the overview. Each of these goes deeper on one part:

• 5 best Shopify local delivery and store pickup strategies, for growing stores that have outgrown manual planning.
• How a Shopify pickup date picker improves in-store pickup, for pickup slots and the counter.
• How smarter delivery scheduling helps local stores, for designing delivery windows.
• The Shopify merchant's guide to Mother's Day deliveries, for planning a peak weekend.

Run delivery, pickup and scheduling from one app

ScrollEngine's Local Delivery + Pickup Date:S app brings the delivery and pickup choice, the date and slot calendar, routes, the driver app and customer updates into one flow for Shopify stores. It starts with a 7-day free trial, so you can set up your zones and slots and test them on your own storefront first.

👉 Get started with ScrollEngine on the Shopify App Store today.