Ecommerce vacation mode: obligations and delivery time

When an e-shop goes on vacation, the customer does not see a vacation. They see an open shop, add a product to the cart and pay. From that moment a contract exists and the seller has to perform it, even if they are only back two weeks later.

The short answer: during a vacation you may ship orders later, but customers must learn about it before they place the order, and you have to meet the date you give them. If you say nothing else, the rule from the EU Consumer Rights Directive applies: goods are delivered without undue delay and at the latest within 30 days of the order.

This text is general information, not legal advice. The exact rules and penalties differ from country to country, so check the national rules or ask a lawyer before you plan your vacation.

By when do you have to deliver an order?

Article 18 of Directive 2011/83/EU says that unless the seller and the consumer have agreed on another delivery time, the seller delivers without undue delay and no later than 30 days after the contract is concluded. Member states have transposed this into their own laws, so you will find the rule in the national law of every EU country, just under a different section number.

Two practical points follow. First, 30 days is the upper limit for the case where nothing else was agreed. If the shop promises dispatch within two days on a product page, the customer relies on those two days. Second, agreeing on a different time means the customer knows about it and accepts it by placing the order. A date buried in the terms and conditions usually does not meet that bar.

If you miss the 30 days and never discussed the date with anyone, the customer can set an additional deadline and, once that passes without delivery, withdraw from the contract.

What must the customer know before paying?

Information about delivery time has to be clear and understandable before the order. During a vacation that means the customer should not find out about the delay from the confirmation e-mail.

A good notice contains three facts: how long the vacation lasts, from which date you ship, and that you keep accepting orders in the meantime. For example: “We are on vacation until 16 August. We accept orders and will ship them from 17 August.”

Avoid “delivery may take longer”. It does not say how much longer, and in a dispute it tends to be read against the seller.

Where should you put the information?

One place is not enough, because customers do not always enter the shop through the home page. Four places can be set up quickly.

The banner at the top of the shop is seen on every page. It has to include the dispatch date.

The availability text on the product page is where the customer decides. Instead of “In stock, ships within 2 days” it should read “In stock, ships after 17 August.” If the delivery time also appears in the cart and at the shipping step, it changes there too.

The footer of your e-mails, above all the order confirmation, is proof that you informed the customer. Add one sentence with the dispatch date.

The contact page and the auto-reply of the contact form help those who ask where their parcel is.

What should you do with orders already in progress?

Orders placed before the vacation carry the original promise. If you told the customer the parcel leaves within two days, it has to leave within two days, not after you return.

Before you leave, go through the list of open orders and sort them into three groups. Ship the ones you can still ship. For those you cannot, write an e-mail with the new date and the option to cancel.

If someone else handles orders while you are away, tell them which deadline applies to which orders. The most common mistake is that the stand-in knows only the new date and nothing about older promises.

Should you close the shop or keep it open?

Both options are fine. It depends on what you can manage.

A closed shop is simple: nothing comes in, nothing has to be kept. It costs you revenue and, if the shop is unavailable for longer, partly your search rankings. For a short break of up to a week this is often acceptable.

An open shop with shifted delivery times keeps revenue and search visibility, but it comes with a commitment: every order has to ship by the date you stated. It suits you if someone can pack orders during the vacation or you can start right after you return.

On Shoptet there is one more limit: the platform has no API for pausing ordering, so neither an add-on nor any other tool can switch it off for you. An open shop with a clear notice is therefore the simplest route.

Checklist before you leave

• Set your return date and the date from which the first parcels ship.
• Check that the orders from the first day back can really be shipped within the time you promised.
• Shift the delivery times on products, or add a “ships after” text.
• Switch on the banner with the date and, if needed, the notice in the cart.
• Add a sentence to the footer of confirmation e-mails and to the contact page.
• Go through open orders and write in advance to customers whose date you cannot keep.
• Decide who watches the inbox and new orders during the vacation.
• After you return, restore the original delivery times and hide the banner.

A more detailed walk-through is in A checklist before your e-shop goes on vacation. If your vacation overlaps with the Christmas season, Christmas delivery deadlines: how to tell customers clearly will help as well.

Frequently asked questions

Can I cancel an order during my vacation if I cannot fulfil it?

You can, provided you inform the customer and the cancellation is consistent with the terms you stated at the time of ordering. Cancelling one-sidedly without a reason is not acceptable, and the customer is entitled to a refund. It is better to offer a new date and let them choose.

Is it enough to put the date in the terms and conditions?

No. Delivery information has to be understandable before the order, so put it where customers actually read: the banner, the product page and the cart. Keep the terms as a supplement.

What if a product still says “in stock, ships within 2 days”?

The customer relies on the text they see. If you leave it unchanged, you risk a dispute over a promise you cannot keep. Availability texts need to be changed for the length of the vacation and then changed back.

Do I have to announce the vacation if I will still ship within 30 days?

If the delivery time becomes longer than your usual promise, it is fair and safe to say so. The 30-day legal limit is no reason to stay quiet when the customer sees a shorter time on your site.

How to avoid editing hundreds of products by hand

Rewriting availabilities by hand before every vacation is slow, and it is easy to forget to change them back. The Vacation mode add-on for Shoptet does it with one switch: it shifts delivery times by a number of days or adds a “we ship after” text with the date, shows a banner in the shop, optionally a notice in the cart, and can schedule the vacation in advance. When you return, it restores the original values. It cannot pause ordering, because Shoptet has no API for that, so always say in the notice when you will ship.