Order Editing Rules
Order Editing Rules let you control when customers can edit their orders and what editing options are available for different types of orders.
Instead of using the same editing deadline for every order, you can create rules based on order details such as shipping method, customer location, order value, products, customer tags, discount codes, payment terms, B2B company, and more.
When to use rules
Use Order Editing Rules when some orders need different editing behaviour from your default settings.
Common examples include:
- Blocking edits for same-day shipping orders
- Giving weekend orders more time to be edited
- Shortening the editing window for express shipping orders
- Disabling specific editing features for high-risk orders
- Showing different customer messages for different order types
- Applying product contracts when an order matches specific conditions
- Creating staff-only or testing rules before going live
How rules work
Each rule has three main parts:
- Conditions decide which orders the rule applies to.
- Editing timeline decides when editing expires for matching orders.
- Optional settings can change customer messages, restrict editing features, apply rule-specific settings, combine with other rules, or attach contracts.
When a customer views or edits an order, Order Editing evaluates the active rules for that order.
If an order matches multiple rules, Order Editing uses the rule with the shortest editing deadline as the primary rule. Some settings, including contracts from matched rules, can also be combined depending on the rule configuration.
Editing timeline options
Rules can use different timeline actions:
- Default deadline: Use your store's standard Order Editing deadline.
- Immediate block: Prevent customers from editing as soon as the rule applies.
- Scheduled deadline: End editing at a specific time, weekday, business day, or date.
- Custom deadline: Set a deadline based on a time period after the order is created.
- Until fulfillment: Allow editing until the order is fulfilled.
Rule conditions
Rules can match orders using conditions such as:
- Shipping country, state, or postal code
- Shipping method
- Order tags
- Customer tags or customer email
- Products, line item titles, or SKUs
- Order total or subtotal
- Discount codes
- Payment terms
- B2B company or company location
- Pickup orders
- Recurring subscription orders
- Free items
- Time windows, days of week, or created date
You can combine multiple conditions using AND or OR logic.
Customer messages
Rules can show custom customer messages while editing is available or after editing has expired.
Use customer messages to explain why a customer has a different editing window, why a feature is unavailable, or what they should do next.
Example:
Your order contains same-day shipping items, so editing is only available for a short time before fulfillment begins.
Contracts
Rules can also reference contracts.
Contracts define product behaviour that should happen during an edit, such as adding bundle components, removing related products, applying line item discounts, or protecting selected items during cancellation.
If you use product bundles, required accessories, free gifts, or cancellation protection, see Using Contracts With Order Editing Rules.
Testing rules
Before relying on a rule for live customers:
- Create or update the rule.
- Place a test order that matches the rule.
- Check the editing experience on the Thank You page or Order Status page.
- Confirm the editing deadline is correct.
- Confirm the expected modules, restrictions, customer messages, and contracts apply.
- Place a test order that does not match the rule and confirm it uses the default behaviour.
If you are still configuring Order Editing, use draft mode or staff-only access so real customers do not see editing before you are ready.
