TLDR: There is no default method built in to Shopify to allow you to activate vacation mode in the same way that you are able to on other popular platforms like eBay or Etsy. Shopify typically recommends that you password protect your store, or downgrade your plan to pause and build. These solutions are not ideal for merchants who simply want to temporarily disable purchasing. This is why the best method to activate vacation mode on your Shopify store is to use an app called Magical Vacation Mode.

SOLUTION

The best method to activate Vacation Mode on Shopify is to use an app called Magical Vacation Mode

Store owners want Vacation Mode

Merchants want the option to temporarily disable purchasing on their shops without having to do something drastic like password protect their website. I get it too, you might want to take a vacation, maybe you’re sick, or maybe you have a product mix where you want to sell products during a specific timeframe or season. You want your customers to know that you’re still operating as a business, you’re just on a temporary break.

I know this has been asked before, maybe Shopify will respond to this some day – fingers crossed. I have to leave for a week for a family funeral. I do not want to pause and reactivate my store and I do not want to make it password protected. If password protected the screen defaults to a message that applies to a new store about to open: “Be the first to know blah blah blah’. This is in the middle of the page and my custom message is in a smaller font at the top of the page, barely visible. Why is there not a simple way to tell visitors that we will be closed for a week and that we will processing orders when we return?

Kricklewood Shopify User

The native Shopify Options suck

Shopify only offers two default options for vacation mode.

  1. There’s a short term option where you could add a password to your store so that customers can’t visit it.
  2. Downgrade your plan to their pause and build plan which removes the ability for customers to make purchases on your site.

Neither of these options are ideal because most users complain about the potential impact of having their online store password protected. Customers will just see a page with a password, and Google may penalize you for having your website content completely hidden from users and from search.