There are a few reasons online store owners may need to temporarily shut down their Shopify stores, such as going on vacation, performing site maintenance, or even just taking a short break from operations. Temporarily closing your Shopify store is easy to do without affecting your store’s data or settings. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk through the steps to temporarily shut down a Shopify store in a few different ways, from the shortest possible shutdown to a more extended closure. We’ll also provide tips on the best practices for closing your store temporarily to avoid issues.
Reasons to Temporarily Shut Down Your Shopify Store
Here are some of the most common reasons Shopify store owners choose to temporarily close their online shops:
- Going on vacation – Closing your store while you’re away means you don’t have to worry about fulfilling orders or managing the business.
- Site maintenance – You may need to temporarily shut down the store to perform site upgrades, maintenance, or migrations.
- Seasonal closures – Some businesses close during slower seasons when less inventory is available.
- Taking a break – Store owners sometimes need a short break from operations to focus on other areas of the business.
- Assessing performance – Temporarily closing can help analyze store performance and sales data without new orders coming in.
- Staffing changes – If staffing resources are limited for a period, temporarily closing the store allows the owner to focus on rehiring.
Whatever the reason may be, Shopify provides store owners the flexibility to easily close up shop temporarily and reopen again seamlessly.
Ways to Temporarily Close Your Shopify Store
There are a few different options Shopify store owners can choose from to close their stores on a temporary basis. The best solution will depend on how long you need to shut down and how much you need to limit store functionality during that time. Here are some of the main ways to temporarily suspend operations for your Shopify store:
Switch to Maintenance Mode
The fastest and simplest way to temporarily shut down a Shopify store is to enable maintenance mode. This essentially puts your shop into hibernation, where the front end of your site will be disabled but the back end admin area still functions normally.
To activate maintenance mode:
- Log into your Shopify admin.
- Click “Settings” and select “Preferences” from the menu.
- Toggle on “Maintenance Mode” under the “Storefront” section.
- Select the date you want maintenance mode to end.
- Click “Save” to apply the changes.
With maintenance mode enabled, customers will see a default message that the store is currently unavailable when they visit the site URL.
The main benefit of maintenance mode is how quickly you can enable it when needed. But keep in mind that some areas of your store may still be partially accessible to customers in this state depending on your settings and apps.
Disable Online Store Option
Another approach is to completely disable your online storefront. When you turn off the “Online Store” toggle in your Shopify settings, all store pages and checkout will become inaccessible to customers. Follow these instructions:
- Go to your Shopify admin and click “Settings.”
- Select “Sales Channels.”
- Under “Online Store,” toggle the button off to disable your store.
With this method, you can be certain no sales or orders can occur while your store is closed. However, it takes slightly longer to disable the online store functionality compared to maintenance mode. You’ll also need to manually enable online sales again when you’re ready to reopen.
Change Store URL
If you want to shut down your Shopify store for an extended period of time, one option is to change your online store’s URL to something temporary. Here’s how:
- Go to “Settings > Domains” in your Shopify admin.
- Add a new domain name (this will function as your temporary URL).
- Click “Save” to update domain settings.
- Delete your original primary domain (this will shut down access at that URL).
By directing traffic to a new URL, you can essentially turn off your regular online storefront for as long as needed. When you’re ready to reopen, simply re-add your original domain.
Just keep in mind that any marketing materials, social media pages, or external links pointing to your original store URL will need to be updated after this change. But it allows you to keep your store inactive indefinitely.
Best Practices for Temporarily Closing Your Shopify Store
Whenever you temporarily shut down your Shopify store, follow these best practices to ensure things go smoothly:
- Provide notice to customers – Send an email to past customers informing them of the temporary closure so they aren’t surprised to find your store unavailable.
- Update website messaging – Add a notification bar or pop-up to inform visitors your store is closed temporarily and will reopen on a certain date.
- Change automated emails – Tailor automated order confirmation, shipping, and other emails to let customers know orders will be delayed during the closure.
- Pause marketing campaigns – Temporarily stop any marketing emails or ads running so you don’t continue promoting your store while it’s closed.
- Hold off on discount codes – Avoid sending any sales or promo emails right before you close, as you won’t be able to fulfill orders.
- Extend processing times – Consider increasing your shipping times in advance to account for any orders placed right before you shut down.
- Update social media – Post on your social channels to let followers know your store will be closed temporarily and when it will reopen.
What to Do When Reopening Your Shopify Store
Once you’re ready to open up shop again after a temporary shutdown, there are a few things you should do to get your store back up and running:
- Enable your online storefront again if you fully disabled it.
- Turn off maintenance mode so your themes and sales pages become live again.
- Switch your website URL back to your original domain if you changed it.
- Update all website messaging about your closure to reflect the reopening.
- Resume marketing campaigns and emails.
- Post on social media to announce your store is back open for business.
- Send an email to customers informing them of your reopening.
- Review any orders that came in during the closure and get caught up on fulfillment.
- Reset shipping times and order processing back to normal.
Following this checklist will ensure you switch your Shopify store back on smoothly after temporary shutdown.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some common questions about temporarily closing down a Shopify store:
Does temporarily closing my Shopify store cancel my subscription?
No, temporarily shutting down your store does not cancel or pause your Shopify subscription. You’ll still be billed your regular monthly fees during any period your store is closed.
Will I lose my store data if I temporarily close my Shopify store?
You will not lose any store data, product information, sales history, or other details when you temporarily disable your Shopify store. All your store content and information will remain intact.
Can I still access the Shopify admin area if my store is temporarily closed?
Yes, you can still access the Shopify admin dashboard and all your store’s data and settings even when your shop is temporarily shut down or in maintenance mode.
Do I need to notify Shopify if I’m temporarily closing my store?
No, you do not need to inform Shopify if you are temporarily shutting down your online store. You can enable maintenance mode or disable your storefront at your own discretion.
Will my store themes and customizations be affected if I temporarily close my store?
Your existing store themes, content, and customizations will not be altered or removed if you temporarily disable your Shopify store. Everything will be preserved as is.
Conclusion
Temporarily closing your Shopify store is easy to do for any reason and duration. Maintenance mode allows store owners to quickly disable the storefront while retaining admin access. For longer closures, fully disabling the online store or redirecting to a temporary URL allows you to completely shut down your shop until you’re ready to reopen it again.
Using these techniques, Shopify retailers can temporarily suspend store operations any time needed. Just follow best practices like notifying customers, updating messaging, and pausing marketing efforts. With the right strategy, you can temporarily close your Shopify store seamlessly. Your sales channels, themes, and customizations will all still be waiting when you’re ready to restart your ecommerce business.
