--- title: "Lead times" canonical: "https://help.liftoffcommerce.com/space/KB/2983559172/Lead%20times" format: markdown --- Lead time is the time between initiation and completion of the fulfillment process for a given product. Liftoff uses lead times to provide information to the customer about when products can be expected to ship and be delivered. ## Lead time calculations To enable lead time calculations for an account, navigate to **Ecommerce > Shipping**, click the *Settings *tab, and check the box for *Enable lead time calculations*. ![image](media://1f5aab43-3b58-4f70-ba5d-10ceecc385df) > ℹ️ Note that *Lead Time Calculations* can only be enabled if *Shipping Calculations* are also enabled. After enabling lead times for your account, you must still configure production days and related settings for each vendor location. If production days are not specified for a vendor location, then the products that are fulfilled by that location will not have lead times calculated or displayed. ## Vendor location lead time settings Lead times settings for each location are accessible by navigating to **Products > Vendors** and clicking the *Edit *button for a given vendor. From there, proceed to the *Locations* tab and click *Edit *for the location of your choice. If you have enabled *Lead Time Calculations*, then a tab for *Lead Time Settings*** **will be present, allowing management of the settings for that particular vendor location. ![image-20240614-013534.png](media://5ad63552-a573-4e69-8a23-a859dcd320da) ### Time Zone The preferred time zone for the vendor location, selectable via a dropdown. ### Production Days The days on which this vendor location fulfills orders. If production days are not specified for a vendor location, then lead times will not be calculated or displayed for products that are fulfilled by that location. ### Cutoff Time The time after which orders will not be processed on a given business day. Use `12:00 AM` or `00:00` to indicate *no cutoff time*. ### Non-Production Days Days on which orders will not be processed. Here you may specify dates on which orders will not be processed as well as the reason for non-production (for example, due to a holiday, closure, emergency, or an unspecified reason). ![image](media://8a2210f8-2f55-4e45-aaaa-9ce4861e839b) ## Product lead days Lead days are the number of days required by the supplier to fulfill an item following the placement of an order. By default, the lead days for every product is `0`, meaning orders should be fulfilled and shipped on the same day they are placed, so long as that day is a production day and the order is submitted by the vendor location’s cutoff time. To customize the lead days for a specific product, navigate to **Products > Products**, click *Edit* for the product, and proceed to the *Specs*** **tab. At the bottom of the page is the *Lead Days* field, where you can specify the lead time required by the vendor. ![image](media://0e772891-64e4-4ecf-b1a9-3815e3c733f6) If a product has multiple SKUs, it is possible for each SKU to have a different value for lead days. To do so, just be sure to select the SKU you want to apply updates to from the dropdown on the *Specs* tab, rather than selecting to apply updates to **ALL variants of this product**. Be sure to factor in [order approvals](https://help.liftoffcommerce.com/space/KB/2730786821/Order+rules#Order-approval-rules) when specifying lead days for products. For example, you may want to add a day to the product lead time to compensate for the time it will take for the order to be reviewed and approved before it is placed into process. ## Ship dates and delivery dates ![Screenshot 2025-04-17 112507.png](media://2768f5cb-1011-4979-8330-fc469605a733) The *Estimated ship date* is the date on which the fulfilling vendor location is expected to release the shipment. The *Estimated delivery date* is the date on which the shipment is expected to reach the customer. Note that currently, delivery dates can only be estimated for shipments that are sent via a carrier-rated method, such as USPS, UPS, or FedEx. If a shipment uses a non-rated carrier *(**[custom shipping method](https://help.liftoffcommerce.com/space/KB/2730819596/Custom+and+heavy+shipping)*), then rather than displaying *Estimated delivery date, *Liftoff will display an *Estimated ship date* at checkout. ![Screenshot 2025-04-17 114313.png](media://9935300b-d0ff-4e0f-a7b4-17d3da0eec90) These dates are also displayed on the order confirmation page, in emails, and in the customer's order history. > ℹ️ Note that products that track inventory **and*** *allow out-of-stock ordering will not have a calculated lead time if the order quantity is greater than the available quantity. ### Shipping groups Liftoff defines a **shipping group*** *as one or more shipments that are sent to a given address via a given shipping method. A shipping group may contain multiple shipments with different origin addresses. For example, if a customer orders business cards and envelopes, each of those items may be fulfilled by a different vendor location. Even though both items belong to the same **shipping group** since they ship to the same destination address via the same shipping method, they come from different locations and therefore require different **shipments**. Lead times for a shipping group are calculated based on the product with the longest lead time. ### Ship dates and delivery dates on account sites On your account sites, if lead times are configured, ship dates and delivery dates will be displayed to customers in the following places: - In the cart (ship dates only, since a shipping method has not yet been specified by the customer) - At checkout - On the order confirmation page - In order emails - In the customer's order history ![Screenshot 2025-04-17 115206.png](media://8558d1cf-2f2d-47b3-88d7-f71a9c12fbde) ### Ship dates and delivery dates in My Liftoff Within My Liftoff, ship dates and delivery dates are visible when drafting a new order via **Orders > Draft Orders / Estimates > Start New Order / Estimate**. ![Screenshot 2025-04-17 115712.png](media://3821189a-a5dd-4dd1-980c-ac780d64f629) ![Screenshot 2025-04-17 115855.png](media://35780d41-f500-4391-8cd8-1b112be93130) Estimated ship dates may also be edited in My Liftoff on the *Shipments* tab of the order details page (**Orders > Submitted Orders > Details** **> Shipments**). ![image](media://10d354c2-e6fd-4031-b37d-76131b46ca97)