[Frank and Joes Deli]

We are trying out your storefront in our wordpress site for a deli that will be able to accept orders online....

however, my question to you is if it is even possible being its a deli and not a 24/7 quickie mart if we can set the store to automatically open and close according to our business hours?

I know you can do it manually but we would like to be able for this to be automatically done.

Thanks,
Steve

[Eugene Rimmer]

No, there is no such feature yet. However, I hope I can convince you that such feature is not even needed actually.

Usually, the workflow of the web based store differs from the one for brick-and-mortar shop. When you are selling on the web, you have your storefront basically always open to the views of the visitors, and those who want to buy something would leave you a note saying 'Hi, I'd like some this and a little of that, thank you, cheque attached'. You process this order as soon as you have time for it, prepare the ordered items and then ship it out to the client (or use local delivery service or leave the fulfilled order in store for local pick up).

People on the web usually understand that you have work hours and sometimes you are closed. A clear note about work hours on the sidebar of your shop page is usually enough to inform your clients, that their order might be fulfilled with some delay. Most of the time your online customers are prepared for the fact that their order would take some time to fulfill, unless you clearly state the opposite (so just don't write 'Always open, instant delivery' on your site).

Even if you are not processing the orders at the moment, an always enabled store with appetising list of your products might bring you even more customers the next morning. Also imagine the frustration of a client who started ordering at 5:55 pm and got ditched just before the last step of the checkout process, because the store was automatically closed at 6 pm.

So I wouldn't recommend to close the store automatically, but I suggest instead to clearly state that you process the orders only in work hours. Your customers will appreciate that.

[Frank and Joes Deli]

woot.. thanks this helped alot. I will let the deli owner know. i didnt even think to add text above the store plugin