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Best Shopify Delivery Date Apps for Local Retailers

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Top picks at a glance

Ranked in order. Each row names what the pick is best for, with no score attached.

  • Stellar is the easiest start: free for up to 50 orders at up to 3 locations, then $14.99 a month for unlimited orders (Source: Delivery Date and Pickup Stellar on the Shopify App Store).
  • Kite is the budget challenger, free up to 30 orders a month and only $9.99 a month for order limits across up to 1,500 orders (Source: KiteLane Zapiet alternatives).
  • Buunto shows the chosen date at checkout on every Shopify plan, Basic included, which many rivals reserve for Plus stores (Source: Buunto).
  • Zapiet is the multi location heavyweight, but at $49.99 a month for one location and 250 orders, with distance and zip code rate apps sold separately (Source: Zapiet pricing).
  • Order limits, the feature that stops a Saturday overwhelming your kitchen or van, are a paid upgrade almost everywhere, so check which tier unlocks them before you commit.

Compare the picks side by side

Comparison

Read how we score picks, and browse the wider ecommerce apps shelf when you are ready to compare more tools.

Comparison at a glance

How these compare
ToolBest forStandout featurePrice rangeFree plan/trial
Stellar Delivery Date and PickupMost local retailersDate and time picker for delivery, pickup, and shipping, plus a built in route plannerFree (up to 50 orders)Free plan
Kite Delivery Date PickerBudget conscious local shopsOrder limits at a fraction of rival pricesFree (up to 30 orders/month)Free plan; 14-day trial on paid plans
BuuntoBakeries, florists, and food shopsChosen date shown at checkout on every Shopify planFreeFree plan; 14-day trial on paid plans
Flare: Delivery Date PickerStores that ship by carrier as well as locallyPricing by monthly sales, with live carrier transit dates on higher tiers$15/month (Organised)14-day free trial
Zapiet: Pickup + DeliveryMulti location retailersMature pickup and delivery across up to 100 locations$49.99/month (Essential)14-day free trial; no free plan

Scroll sideways to see the full table on a small screen.

How we choose

How we choose

We checked the vendor pages for each app: pricing pages, help centers, and Shopify App Store listings, read on 6 November 2026. Local retail scheduling lives or dies on operational details, so we judged each app on cut off times, preparation lead times, blackout dates, order limits per day or slot, and whether pickup, local delivery, and shipping can share one calendar. We also priced each app at a realistic local volume, a few hundred orders a month across one to three locations, and noted where a headline price hides a second app or add on you will also need.

Our full method

1

Compared tools

2

Stellar Delivery Date and Pickup

Best for Most local retailers that want delivery, pickup, and shipping dates in one picker.

Website: https://apps.shopify.com/order-delivery-date-by-identixweb

Best for: Most local retailers that want delivery, pickup, and shipping dates in one picker.

Website: https://apps.shopify.com/order-delivery-date-by-identixweb

Best for: Most local retailers that want delivery, pickup, and shipping dates in one picker.

3

Kite Delivery Date Picker

Best for Small local shops that need order limits without a fifty dollar app bill.

Website: https://kitelane.com/blog/zapiet-pickup-delivery-alternatives/

Best for: Small local shops that need order limits without a fifty dollar app bill.

Website: https://kitelane.com/blog/zapiet-pickup-delivery-alternatives/

Best for: Small local shops that need order limits without a fifty dollar app bill.

4

Buunto

Best for Bakeries, florists, and food retailers whose orders are made to a date.

Website: https://www.buunto.com/

Best for: Bakeries, florists, and food retailers whose orders are made to a date.

Website: https://www.buunto.com/

Best for: Bakeries, florists, and food retailers whose orders are made to a date.

5

Flare: Delivery Date Picker

Best for Local retailers that also ship by carrier and want one date system for both.

Website: https://www.getflare.co.uk/pricing/

Best for: Local retailers that also ship by carrier and want one date system for both.

Website: https://www.getflare.co.uk/pricing/

Best for: Local retailers that also ship by carrier and want one date system for both.

6

Zapiet: Pickup + Delivery

Best for Multi location retailers that need pickup and delivery run like a system, not a widget.

Website: https://www.zapiet.com/pricing

Best for: Multi location retailers that need pickup and delivery run like a system, not a widget.

Website: https://www.zapiet.com/pricing

Best for: Multi location retailers that need pickup and delivery run like a system, not a widget.

7

The five apps we compared

Best for Most local retailers that want delivery, pickup, and shipping dates in one picker.

See The five apps we compared pricing

1. Stellar Delivery Date and Pickup

Best for: Most local retailers that want delivery, pickup, and shipping dates in one picker.

Stellar's listing offers a delivery date picker and time slots for local delivery, in store pickup or click and collect, and shipping, shown from the cart or product page, with estimated delivery dates and same day delivery handled through cutoff times (Source: Delivery Date and Pickup Stellar on the Shopify App Store). Its pricing starts with a free plan covering delivery date and store pickup for up to 3 locations and up to 50 orders with all features included, then Starter at $14.99 a month adds unlimited orders, product, cart, and checkout calendars, local delivery rates, preparation and cutoff times, order limits, and blackout dates, and Pro at $29.99 a month lifts you to unlimited locations (Source: Delivery Date and Pickup Stellar on the Shopify App Store). The listing also notes Shopify Plus support for displaying the delivery calendar on the checkout page (Source: Delivery Date and Pickup Stellar on the Shopify App Store).

Pros

Cons

Pricing: Free for up to 50 orders and 3 locations; Starter $14.99/month; Pro $29.99/month for unlimited locations. Full tiers at https://apps.shopify.com/order-delivery-date-by-identixweb, checked 6 November 2026.

Skip it if: You run more than a handful of locations with complex per store inventory rules, where Zapiet's depth earns its premium.

Unique detail: Stellar includes a simple built in delivery route planner, so the day's local orders can be sorted into a run for your own driver instead of living as a list (Source: Delivery Date and Pickup Stellar on the Shopify App Store).

Fits: Local retailers from one shop up to multi location groups, from first orders up to unlimited order volume on paid plans.

Pick this if you want the full local toolkit, date picker, cutoff times, order limits, blackout dates, and a route planner, at a price a single store can shrug off.

2. Kite Delivery Date Picker

Best for: Small local shops that need order limits without a fifty dollar app bill.

Kite, from KiteLane, gives you time slots, prep time, cut off times, and blackout dates free up to 30 orders a month, with paid plans from $5.99 a month, a 14-day free trial, and 10 percent off annual billing, according to the vendor's own comparison pages (Source: KiteLane Zapiet alternatives). Its Grow plan at $5.99 a month covers up to 300 orders a month, Advanced at $9.99 a month covers up to 1,500 orders and adds order limits per day and per time slot, and Plus at $14.99 a month removes the monthly order cap (Source: KiteLane Zapiet alternatives). The vendor positions order limits as its headline saving, noting the same feature starts at $79.99 a month on Zapiet (Source: KiteLane Zapiet alternatives).

Pros

Cons

  • Kite cannot set delivery rates by distance or zip code, which the vendor's own comparison states plainly, so delivery areas priced by postcode need a rival or a workaround (Source: KiteLane Zapiet alternatives)
  • It is a younger, smaller vendor than Zapiet or Stellar, so long term roadmap and support depth are less proven
  • Order limits, the feature most busy local shops need first, still sit behind the $9.99 Advanced plan rather than the free tier

Pricing: Free up to 30 orders/month; Grow $5.99/month up to 300 orders; Advanced $9.99/month up to 1,500 orders; Plus $14.99/month with no monthly order cap. Details at https://kitelane.com/blog/zapiet-pickup-delivery-alternatives/, checked 6 November 2026.

Skip it if: Your delivery pricing depends on distance or postal zones, or you need dozens of locations managed today.

Unique detail: Kite's free plan counts orders, not sales, so a high value, low order shop, such as furniture or appliances, can stay free far longer than on sales based pricing (Source: KiteLane Zapiet alternatives).

Fits: Single location and small local retailers doing up to about 1,500 scheduled orders a month.

Pick this if your main pain is too many orders landing on the same day, and you want slot limits fixed this week for under ten dollars a month.

3. Buunto

Best for: Bakeries, florists, and food retailers whose orders are made to a date.

Buunto asks the customer for a delivery or pickup date and time slot on the product page, before checkout, and saves it on the order, with the chosen date shown in checkout's delivery options on every Shopify plan, Basic included (Source: Buunto). Its App Store listing prices a free plan, then Starter at $12.99 a month, Advanced at $19.99 a month, and Unlimited at $36.99 a month, and the vendor site confirms every paid plan starts with a 14-day free trial and support answers around the clock on every plan, free included (Source: Buunto on the Shopify App Store). The vendor is candid about its base: bakeries and florists are its two biggest customer groups (Source: Buunto).

Pros

  • Date visibility at checkout on every plan, not gated behind Shopify Plus, which removes a whole class of confused orders (Source: Buunto)
  • Preparation times can be set per product, so the two day cake and the same day loaf follow different rules (Source: Buunto)
  • Support runs 24/7 on every plan including free, rare at this price (Source: Buunto)

Cons

  • Order limits per day or per time slot only arrive on the Advanced plan and up, per the vendor's own feature pages, so the free and Starter tiers cannot protect a busy Saturday (Source: Buunto)
  • Delivery zones by distance, each with its own price and minimum order, are likewise an Advanced plan and up feature (Source: Buunto)
  • The date is chosen on the product page before checkout, which suits made to order shops but adds a step for baskets of mixed ready and made items

Pricing: Free plan available; Starter $12.99/month; Advanced $19.99/month; Unlimited $36.99/month, with a 14-day free trial on paid plans. Full tiers at https://apps.shopify.com/buunto-date-picker, checked 6 November 2026.

Skip it if: You mainly ship by national carrier and want live transit based dates, where Flare's carrier add ons fit better.

Unique detail: Buunto shows the selected date on POS receipts as well as in the admin and customer emails, which keeps the in store team and the online schedule reading from the same page (Source: Buunto).

Fits: Date sensitive local retailers, especially food and flowers, from free tier volumes up to high order counts on Unlimited.

Pick this if your products are made fresh for a day and a time, and you want the date locked in before the customer ever reaches checkout.

4. Flare: Delivery Date Picker

Best for: Local retailers that also ship by carrier and want one date system for both.

Flare prices by monthly sales through the app rather than orders: its pricing page lists a free tier up to $5,000 a month in sales, Organised at $15 a month for up to $30,000 monthly sales, Advanced at $99 a month for up to $100,000, and Precise at $199 a month for up to $200,000, with paid plans carrying a 14-day free trial and annual billing saving 25 percent (Source: Flare pricing). Organised covers date, cut off, and pickup controls, product and customer rules, lead times, and checkout validation, while Advanced adds zones, rates, rescheduling, POS, and API access (Source: Flare pricing). Live UPS and FedEx transit dates are an optional paid integration add on at $100 every 30 days on paid plans (Source: Flare pricing).

Pros

  • Sales based pricing is painless for high order, low basket local shops that would blow through order caps elsewhere (Source: Flare pricing)
  • One system spans local dates and carrier shipping dates, including live transit times as an add on (Source: Flare pricing)
  • Customer self serve rescheduling on higher tiers cuts the change my day phone calls (Source: Flare pricing)

Cons

  • Order limits and zone based rules sit on the $99 Advanced plan, a big jump from the $15 entry tier (Source: Flare pricing)
  • The top Pro and Max tiers, at $399 and $599 a month, are configured with Flare rather than self serve in the app, per its pricing page (Source: Flare pricing)
  • The vendor's help centre lists different plan prices and a shorter trial than its pricing page, and itself says the pricing page is the source of truth, so double check your tier before approving the Shopify charge (Source: Flare plans, billing and trials)

Pricing: Free up to $5K monthly sales through Flare; Organised $15/month up to $30K sales; Advanced $99/month up to $100K; Precise $199/month up to $200K. Full tiers at https://www.getflare.co.uk/pricing/, checked 6 November 2026.

Skip it if: You are a purely local, one van operation, where Stellar or Kite gives you the same calendar for far less.

Unique detail: Flare counts monthly sales through Flare, not orders, so your tier follows revenue, which makes it the only app here whose bill falls in a quiet month even if order count holds up on small baskets (Source: Flare pricing).

Fits: Local retailers from under $5,000 a month in sales up to $200,000 and beyond, especially those mixing local delivery with carrier shipping.

Pick this if delivery dates are only half your problem and carrier ship dates with real transit times are the other half.

5. Zapiet: Pickup + Delivery

Best for: Multi location retailers that need pickup and delivery run like a system, not a widget.

Zapiet's own pricing page lists Pickup + Delivery at Essential $49.99 a month for 1 location and 250 orders a month, Advanced $79.99 a month for 1 to 10 locations and 1,000 orders a month with preparation times per product and order limits per date or time slot, and Professional $179.99 a month for 1 to 100 locations and 2,500 orders a month with priority support, with a 14-day free trial and 10 percent off annual billing (Source: Zapiet pricing). The same page is explicit that every Zapiet app is priced separately and there is no bundle you have to buy into, which also means extras like Rates by Distance and Rates by Zip Code are separate subscriptions at $14.99 a month each (Source: Zapiet pricing). Orders can be taken online, over the phone, and through Shopify POS on the same rules (Source: Zapiet pricing).

Pros

  • The deepest location model here: up to 100 locations with per location dates, prep times, and slot limits on Professional (Source: Zapiet pricing)
  • Phone and POS orders follow the same pickup and delivery rules as online orders, which keeps one source of truth (Source: Zapiet pricing)
  • Production reports and live pickup and delivery inventory on Professional suit stores where the day is planned like a kitchen board (Source: Zapiet pricing)

Cons

  • No free plan at all, and $49.99 a month for a single location and 250 orders is steep next to Stellar's free start (Source: Zapiet pricing)
  • Order caps bite: pass 250 orders a month on Essential and you are on Advanced pricing whether you need its features or not (Source: Zapiet pricing)
  • Distance and zip code based rates are separate paid apps at $14.99 a month each, so a full local setup can stack three Zapiet subscriptions (Source: Zapiet pricing)

Pricing: Essential $49.99/month (1 location, 250 orders/month); Advanced $79.99/month (1 to 10 locations, 1,000 orders); Professional $179.99/month (1 to 100 locations, 2,500 orders). Full tiers at https://www.zapiet.com/pricing, checked 6 November 2026.

Skip it if: You run one or two locations at modest volume, where the rivals here deliver the same calendar for a fifth of the price.

Unique detail: Zapiet publishes pricing for its whole app family on one page, including the per app extras, so you can cost the full stack before installing anything (Source: Zapiet pricing).

Fits: Retailers with several locations and hundreds to thousands of pickup and delivery orders a month, including chains planning to grow locations.

Pick this if locations are multiplying, staff take orders by phone and POS as well as online, and you want one mature system to hold every rule.

1. Stellar Delivery Date and Pickup

Best for: Most local retailers that want delivery, pickup, and shipping dates in one picker.

Stellar's listing offers a delivery date picker and time slots for local delivery, in store pickup or click and collect, and shipping, shown from the cart or product page, with estimated delivery dates and same day delivery handled through cutoff times (Source: Delivery Date and Pickup Stellar on the Shopify App Store). Its pricing starts with a free plan covering delivery date and store pickup for up to 3 locations and up to 50 orders with all features included, then Starter at $14.99 a month adds unlimited orders, product, cart, and checkout calendars, local delivery rates, preparation and cutoff times, order limits, and blackout dates, and Pro at $29.99 a month lifts you to unlimited locations (Source: Delivery Date and Pickup Stellar on the Shopify App Store). The listing also notes Shopify Plus support for displaying the delivery calendar on the checkout page (Source: Delivery Date and Pickup Stellar on the Shopify App Store).

Pros

Cons

Pricing: Free for up to 50 orders and 3 locations; Starter $14.99/month; Pro $29.99/month for unlimited locations. Full tiers at https://apps.shopify.com/order-delivery-date-by-identixweb, checked 6 November 2026.

Skip it if: You run more than a handful of locations with complex per store inventory rules, where Zapiet's depth earns its premium.

Unique detail: Stellar includes a simple built in delivery route planner, so the day's local orders can be sorted into a run for your own driver instead of living as a list (Source: Delivery Date and Pickup Stellar on the Shopify App Store).

Fits: Local retailers from one shop up to multi location groups, from first orders up to unlimited order volume on paid plans.

Pick this if you want the full local toolkit, date picker, cutoff times, order limits, blackout dates, and a route planner, at a price a single store can shrug off.

2. Kite Delivery Date Picker

Best for: Small local shops that need order limits without a fifty dollar app bill.

Kite, from KiteLane, gives you time slots, prep time, cut off times, and blackout dates free up to 30 orders a month, with paid plans from $5.99 a month, a 14-day free trial, and 10 percent off annual billing, according to the vendor's own comparison pages (Source: KiteLane Zapiet alternatives). Its Grow plan at $5.99 a month covers up to 300 orders a month, Advanced at $9.99 a month covers up to 1,500 orders and adds order limits per day and per time slot, and Plus at $14.99 a month removes the monthly order cap (Source: KiteLane Zapiet alternatives). The vendor positions order limits as its headline saving, noting the same feature starts at $79.99 a month on Zapiet (Source: KiteLane Zapiet alternatives).

Pros

Cons

  • Kite cannot set delivery rates by distance or zip code, which the vendor's own comparison states plainly, so delivery areas priced by postcode need a rival or a workaround (Source: KiteLane Zapiet alternatives)
  • It is a younger, smaller vendor than Zapiet or Stellar, so long term roadmap and support depth are less proven
  • Order limits, the feature most busy local shops need first, still sit behind the $9.99 Advanced plan rather than the free tier

Pricing: Free up to 30 orders/month; Grow $5.99/month up to 300 orders; Advanced $9.99/month up to 1,500 orders; Plus $14.99/month with no monthly order cap. Details at https://kitelane.com/blog/zapiet-pickup-delivery-alternatives/, checked 6 November 2026.

Skip it if: Your delivery pricing depends on distance or postal zones, or you need dozens of locations managed today.

Unique detail: Kite's free plan counts orders, not sales, so a high value, low order shop, such as furniture or appliances, can stay free far longer than on sales based pricing (Source: KiteLane Zapiet alternatives).

Fits: Single location and small local retailers doing up to about 1,500 scheduled orders a month.

Pick this if your main pain is too many orders landing on the same day, and you want slot limits fixed this week for under ten dollars a month.

3. Buunto

Best for: Bakeries, florists, and food retailers whose orders are made to a date.

Buunto asks the customer for a delivery or pickup date and time slot on the product page, before checkout, and saves it on the order, with the chosen date shown in checkout's delivery options on every Shopify plan, Basic included (Source: Buunto). Its App Store listing prices a free plan, then Starter at $12.99 a month, Advanced at $19.99 a month, and Unlimited at $36.99 a month, and the vendor site confirms every paid plan starts with a 14-day free trial and support answers around the clock on every plan, free included (Source: Buunto on the Shopify App Store). The vendor is candid about its base: bakeries and florists are its two biggest customer groups (Source: Buunto).

Pros

  • Date visibility at checkout on every plan, not gated behind Shopify Plus, which removes a whole class of confused orders (Source: Buunto)
  • Preparation times can be set per product, so the two day cake and the same day loaf follow different rules (Source: Buunto)
  • Support runs 24/7 on every plan including free, rare at this price (Source: Buunto)

Cons

  • Order limits per day or per time slot only arrive on the Advanced plan and up, per the vendor's own feature pages, so the free and Starter tiers cannot protect a busy Saturday (Source: Buunto)
  • Delivery zones by distance, each with its own price and minimum order, are likewise an Advanced plan and up feature (Source: Buunto)
  • The date is chosen on the product page before checkout, which suits made to order shops but adds a step for baskets of mixed ready and made items

Pricing: Free plan available; Starter $12.99/month; Advanced $19.99/month; Unlimited $36.99/month, with a 14-day free trial on paid plans. Full tiers at https://apps.shopify.com/buunto-date-picker, checked 6 November 2026.

Skip it if: You mainly ship by national carrier and want live transit based dates, where Flare's carrier add ons fit better.

Unique detail: Buunto shows the selected date on POS receipts as well as in the admin and customer emails, which keeps the in store team and the online schedule reading from the same page (Source: Buunto).

Fits: Date sensitive local retailers, especially food and flowers, from free tier volumes up to high order counts on Unlimited.

Pick this if your products are made fresh for a day and a time, and you want the date locked in before the customer ever reaches checkout.

4. Flare: Delivery Date Picker

Best for: Local retailers that also ship by carrier and want one date system for both.

Flare prices by monthly sales through the app rather than orders: its pricing page lists a free tier up to $5,000 a month in sales, Organised at $15 a month for up to $30,000 monthly sales, Advanced at $99 a month for up to $100,000, and Precise at $199 a month for up to $200,000, with paid plans carrying a 14-day free trial and annual billing saving 25 percent (Source: Flare pricing). Organised covers date, cut off, and pickup controls, product and customer rules, lead times, and checkout validation, while Advanced adds zones, rates, rescheduling, POS, and API access (Source: Flare pricing). Live UPS and FedEx transit dates are an optional paid integration add on at $100 every 30 days on paid plans (Source: Flare pricing).

Pros

  • Sales based pricing is painless for high order, low basket local shops that would blow through order caps elsewhere (Source: Flare pricing)
  • One system spans local dates and carrier shipping dates, including live transit times as an add on (Source: Flare pricing)
  • Customer self serve rescheduling on higher tiers cuts the change my day phone calls (Source: Flare pricing)

Cons

  • Order limits and zone based rules sit on the $99 Advanced plan, a big jump from the $15 entry tier (Source: Flare pricing)
  • The top Pro and Max tiers, at $399 and $599 a month, are configured with Flare rather than self serve in the app, per its pricing page (Source: Flare pricing)
  • The vendor's help centre lists different plan prices and a shorter trial than its pricing page, and itself says the pricing page is the source of truth, so double check your tier before approving the Shopify charge (Source: Flare plans, billing and trials)

Pricing: Free up to $5K monthly sales through Flare; Organised $15/month up to $30K sales; Advanced $99/month up to $100K; Precise $199/month up to $200K. Full tiers at https://www.getflare.co.uk/pricing/, checked 6 November 2026.

Skip it if: You are a purely local, one van operation, where Stellar or Kite gives you the same calendar for far less.

Unique detail: Flare counts monthly sales through Flare, not orders, so your tier follows revenue, which makes it the only app here whose bill falls in a quiet month even if order count holds up on small baskets (Source: Flare pricing).

Fits: Local retailers from under $5,000 a month in sales up to $200,000 and beyond, especially those mixing local delivery with carrier shipping.

Pick this if delivery dates are only half your problem and carrier ship dates with real transit times are the other half.

5. Zapiet: Pickup + Delivery

Best for: Multi location retailers that need pickup and delivery run like a system, not a widget.

Zapiet's own pricing page lists Pickup + Delivery at Essential $49.99 a month for 1 location and 250 orders a month, Advanced $79.99 a month for 1 to 10 locations and 1,000 orders a month with preparation times per product and order limits per date or time slot, and Professional $179.99 a month for 1 to 100 locations and 2,500 orders a month with priority support, with a 14-day free trial and 10 percent off annual billing (Source: Zapiet pricing). The same page is explicit that every Zapiet app is priced separately and there is no bundle you have to buy into, which also means extras like Rates by Distance and Rates by Zip Code are separate subscriptions at $14.99 a month each (Source: Zapiet pricing). Orders can be taken online, over the phone, and through Shopify POS on the same rules (Source: Zapiet pricing).

Pros

  • The deepest location model here: up to 100 locations with per location dates, prep times, and slot limits on Professional (Source: Zapiet pricing)
  • Phone and POS orders follow the same pickup and delivery rules as online orders, which keeps one source of truth (Source: Zapiet pricing)
  • Production reports and live pickup and delivery inventory on Professional suit stores where the day is planned like a kitchen board (Source: Zapiet pricing)

Cons

  • No free plan at all, and $49.99 a month for a single location and 250 orders is steep next to Stellar's free start (Source: Zapiet pricing)
  • Order caps bite: pass 250 orders a month on Essential and you are on Advanced pricing whether you need its features or not (Source: Zapiet pricing)
  • Distance and zip code based rates are separate paid apps at $14.99 a month each, so a full local setup can stack three Zapiet subscriptions (Source: Zapiet pricing)

Pricing: Essential $49.99/month (1 location, 250 orders/month); Advanced $79.99/month (1 to 10 locations, 1,000 orders); Professional $179.99/month (1 to 100 locations, 2,500 orders). Full tiers at https://www.zapiet.com/pricing, checked 6 November 2026.

Skip it if: You run one or two locations at modest volume, where the rivals here deliver the same calendar for a fifth of the price.

Unique detail: Zapiet publishes pricing for its whole app family on one page, including the per app extras, so you can cost the full stack before installing anything (Source: Zapiet pricing).

Fits: Retailers with several locations and hundreds to thousands of pickup and delivery orders a month, including chains planning to grow locations.

Pick this if locations are multiplying, staff take orders by phone and POS as well as online, and you want one mature system to hold every rule.

Questions buyers ask first

Do you need order limits, or just a date picker?

A picker alone is fine while daily local orders stay well under what your team can prep and deliver. The moment a sunny Saturday or a promotion can swamp the van, order limits per day or per slot become the feature that protects your ratings and your staff. Price that feature specifically when you compare plans, because it sits on very different tiers across these apps.

What is the difference between cut off times and preparation times?

A cut off time is the daily deadline for next day or same day service, while preparation time is the lead time a specific product needs before it can leave. A bakery might cut off at 2 pm for tomorrow, yet still need 48 hours for a custom cake. Set both, per product where the app allows, and your calendar stops promising what the kitchen cannot make.

Can customers change their delivery date after ordering?

It depends on the app and tier: Flare offers customer self serve rescheduling on its higher tiers (Source: Flare pricing), while most apps leave changes to your team in the admin. Either way, publish a clear change deadline, such as before the cut off time, so reschedules do not collide with prep that has already started. Fewer surprise changes means fewer refunds and fewer remakes.

How should a local retailer price delivery by date?

Charge for scarce days, not just distance: weekend slots and same day slots are worth more because they consume your tightest capacity. Several apps here support different rates by chosen day or by order value and weight, so let the calendar carry the pricing logic. Watch margin per delivery run, orders per route, and failed delivery rate, and adjust the day rates monthly.

Buyers guide

  • Whether order limits per day or per time slot are on the plan you are actually buying
  • How the app counts you: orders, locations, or monthly sales through the app, and the overage or upgrade trigger
  • Cut off times and per product preparation times, not just a single store wide lead time
  • Blackout dates for holidays and closures, and how far ahead customers can book
  • Whether the picker can appear at checkout on your Shopify plan, or only on product and cart pages
  • Any second app or add on you will need for distance or zip code based delivery rates

Frequently asked questions

Is a free delivery date app enough for a small local store?

Often, yes, at first. Free tiers here cover roughly 30 to 50 orders with real scheduling features, which suits a shop testing local delivery. You will outgrow them on order caps and order limits long before you outgrow the calendar itself.

What is a blackout date and why do I need it?

A blackout date is a day customers cannot choose, such as a public holiday, a stocktake day, or your driver's day off. Blocking those days in advance is far cheaper than apologizing, refunding delivery fees, and remaking perishable orders.

Can one app handle pickup, local delivery, and shipping dates together?

Yes, that is the point of this category: Stellar, Zapiet, and Flare all cover pickup, local delivery, and shipping in one rule set. Keeping one calendar avoids the classic clash where a shipping order and a van run compete for the same prep slot.

How far ahead should customers be able to book?

Far enough to help your planning, short enough that your menu, stock, and staffing still match reality. Many local retailers open two to four weeks ahead for standard items, with longer windows only for pre order and event products.

Will a delivery date picker reduce failed deliveries?

It should, because the customer chooses a day they will actually be home, and cut offs stop impossible promises. Track your failed delivery rate and your where is my order contacts for a month after install to confirm the app is earning its fee.

Sources

  • Delivery Date and Pickup Stellar on the Shopify App Store, https://apps.shopify.com/order-delivery-date-by-identixweb, checked 6 November 2026
  • KiteLane Zapiet alternatives (vendor comparison page), https://kitelane.com/blog/zapiet-pickup-delivery-alternatives/, checked 6 November 2026
  • Buunto, https://www.buunto.com/, checked 6 November 2026
  • Buunto on the Shopify App Store, https://apps.shopify.com/buunto-date-picker, checked 6 November 2026
  • Flare pricing, https://www.getflare.co.uk/pricing/, checked 6 November 2026
  • Flare plans, billing and trials, Flare Help Centre, https://help.getflare.co.uk/getting-started/plans-billing-and-trials.html, checked 6 November 2026
  • Zapiet pricing, https://www.zapiet.com/pricing, checked 6 November 2026

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