Order Editing Restrictions
What are Order Editing Restrictions?
Order Editing Restrictions allow you to prevent customers from editing specific products or orders based on a range of different conditions you define in this section. This gives you control over which items can and cannot be changed after purchase.
When to Use Editing Restrictions
Use Editing Restrictions when you have products or orders that shouldn't be modified after checkout. Common reasons include:
Subscription or membership products
Custom or personalized items
Promotional items with special conditions
Products that require immediate fulfillment
Items with complex configurations
How Editing Restrictions Work
You can restrict editing based on various criteria, including:
Product tags - Prevent edits on products with specific tags
SKUs - Restrict specific product variants
Collections - Block editing for entire product collections
Order tags - Prevent edits on orders marked with certain tags
Example: If you sell "Red Hoodies" that are made-to-order, you can create a restriction so customers cannot edit or remove these items once purchased.
How to Set Up Editing Restrictions
Navigate to Settings in your Order Editing dashboard
Scroll to the Editing Restrictions section
Choose your restriction type
Follow prompt box
Click Save Restriction
Common Use Case: Membership and Subscription Products
Scenario: You sell subscription boxes and don't want customers removing the subscription product from their order.
Solution:
Tag all subscription products with "membership" or "subscription"
Create an Editing Restriction for the "membership" tag
Customers can still edit other items in their order, but cannot remove or change subscription products
Recommended Setting: Free Items
Important: We recommend enabling "Disallow free items to be edited" in most cases. This prevents customers from removing complimentary items or exploiting promotional free gifts.
Exception: If you're running a promotion where you want to upsell customers on free gift options (e.g., "Choose your free gift!"), You can leave this option disabled to allow flexibility.
Best Practices
Maintain Consistent Tagging
Use the exact same spelling and casing in Shopify’s product/order tags and in your restrictions.
Test Before Going Live
Tag a product as “bundle,” then create a test order and attempt to edit. Verify it’s blocked as intended.
Communicate Clearly
Because there’s one generic message, you might add a note on your product page or FAQ explaining why certain items (like preorders, bundles) can’t be changed after purchase.
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