> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.twicecommerce.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to let customers return after closing time

> Take returns at a location after it closes, and tell every customer who returns late where to leave the item and keys in their order confirmation.

> [card] [Open in TWICE Admin](https://admin.twicecommerce.com/settings/organization/locations)
>
> settings/organization/locations

Set a location's return hours past closing time, then add drop-off instructions to the order confirmation, so a customer who returns late knows where to leave the item. [Fulfillment hours](https://www.twicecommerce.com/docs/concepts/admin/locations.md#fulfillment-hours) explains how return hours gate the storefront.

Return hours apply to every listing at the location. To keep one listing to opening hours, narrow its end times as in [Set purchase and booking limits](https://www.twicecommerce.com/docs/guides/catalog/purchase-and-booking-limits.md).

## Prerequisites

> [!WARNING]
>
> **Required permissions:** **Create and edit locations** to change the return hours (`account_settings:locations:manage`), and **Edit account settings** to edit the email (`account_settings:notifications:manage`). Admin and Owner hold both. Manager holds only the first, and Member neither. See [Users & Roles](https://www.twicecommerce.com/docs/settings/users-roles.md).

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Have ready before you start:**
>
> * **The latest time you take returns** on each weekday, for example 22:00.
> * **Where the customer leaves the item and keys** after closing, such as a drop box or a key safe, in the words you want them to read.

## The walkthrough

**1. Open the location**

Open **Settings → Locations**. Under **All locations**, open the menu at the right end of the location's row and choose **Edit**. The **Edit Location** page opens full screen, with its tabs along the top.

![The All locations table in Settings, with a location's row menu open and Edit highlighted](https://mintcdn.com/twicecommerce/XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE/images/guide-let-customers-return-after-hours-01.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE\&q=85\&s=19efb62768c92a21e11180c7763ac109)

**2. Open the Fulfillment tab**

Click **Fulfillment** in the tabs along the top, and scroll to the **Return hours** card, the last card on the tab. **Same as opening hours** is chosen on it unless someone changed it.

![The Pickup hours and Return hours cards at the bottom of the Fulfillment tab, Return hours highlighted on Same as opening hours](https://mintcdn.com/twicecommerce/XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE/images/guide-let-customers-return-after-hours-02.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE\&q=85\&s=4f883acde86fcf697f2f4427c06b7d1f)

**3. Choose Custom hours**

On the **Return hours** card, choose **Custom hours**. Three cards open under it: **Regular**, **Exception dates** and **Seasonal hours**. The first time, **Regular** starts as a copy of the location's opening hours. Leave **Pickup hours** as it is.

![Custom hours chosen on the Return hours card, with the Regular card listing the copied opening hours](https://mintcdn.com/twicecommerce/XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE/images/guide-let-customers-return-after-hours-03.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE\&q=85\&s=84346e321e91f1483e2f1ad36358ac32)

**4. Open the regular return hours**

Click **Edit** on the **Regular** card. A panel titled **Regular** opens on the right, with one row per weekday: a tick box with the day's name, then a start time and an end time.

![The Regular panel open on the right, one row per weekday with a tick box, a start time and an end time](https://mintcdn.com/twicecommerce/XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE/images/guide-let-customers-return-after-hours-04.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE\&q=85\&s=6900cdb33c8955c7a93a37004d42f678)

**5. Set the later end times**

Open the end time on each weekday and pick the last time you take returns, for example 22:00. To copy a day, click the copy icon at the end of its row, tick the days under **Copy times to** and click **Apply**. Tick a day the store is closed to take returns on it too.

![Monday's end time list open in the Regular panel with 22:00 highlighted, and the copy icon at the end of Monday's row](https://mintcdn.com/twicecommerce/XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE/images/guide-let-customers-return-after-hours-05.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE\&q=85\&s=64b00c5d2a51c45b6904c34145b1e082)

**6. Save the panel**

Click **Save** at the bottom of the panel. The panel closes, and the **Regular** card lists the new end times. Nothing is stored until you save the location.

![Every weekday ending at 22:00 in the Regular panel, with Save at the bottom of the panel highlighted](https://mintcdn.com/twicecommerce/XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE/images/guide-let-customers-return-after-hours-06.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE\&q=85\&s=0789974ccce959ae5fdce248fdd07913)

**7. Save the location**

Click **Save** in the top-right corner of the **Edit Location** page. The storefront now offers return times up to the new end on each day, and a booking whose return falls after closing goes through checkout.

![The Regular card listing 09:00 - 22:00 on every day, with Save in the top-right corner of Edit Location highlighted](https://mintcdn.com/twicecommerce/XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE/images/guide-let-customers-return-after-hours-07.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE\&q=85\&s=458e089e608f9e5e468a0f2d60df2fec)

**8. Open the order confirmation email**

Open **Settings → Emails** and click **Storefront order confirmation** under **Customer notifications**. It is the email a customer gets after ordering on the storefront. The email editor opens full screen.

![The Customer notifications card under Settings, Emails, with the Storefront order confirmation row highlighted](https://mintcdn.com/twicecommerce/XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE/images/guide-let-customers-return-after-hours-08.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE\&q=85\&s=72b56c5e3bd23ae4874bc1f4d32c27ff)

**9. Open the content**

Click **Content** in the list on the left of the editor. The email's HTML opens, with a preview of the email beside it.

![The email editor on its Content section, the HTML scrolled to the Return location row and the preview beside it](https://mintcdn.com/twicecommerce/XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE/images/guide-let-customers-return-after-hours-09.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE\&q=85\&s=d37c7a4268214c013f172cb2f1565565)

**10. Add the return instructions**

Find `{{returnLocation.name}}` in the HTML and paste a paragraph after the `{{/if}}` that closes its row. The email cannot check the return time, so word it for the customer to apply to themselves. Put the location's name between the quotes, as it reads under **All locations**. The preview shows sample data until you pick one of this location's orders under **Test data**.

```handlebars theme={null}
{{#if (eq returnLocation.name "Harbour Street")}}
<p>Returning after 18:00? Leave the item and keys in the drop box by the main door.</p>
{{/if}}
```

![Three pasted lines after the Return location row in the HTML, and the drop-off paragraph showing under Return location in the preview](https://mintcdn.com/twicecommerce/XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE/images/guide-let-customers-return-after-hours-10.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE\&q=85\&s=d7d74be3d1a052144c90e78c9bc0bae3)

**11. Save the email**

Click **Save** in the top-right corner of the editor. The template keeps its **Active** chip, and the next storefront order returning to this location carries the paragraph. Repeat the paragraph in any language you edited this email in before: choose it under **Language** at the top.

![The email editor header with Save highlighted in the top-right corner and Language beside it](https://mintcdn.com/twicecommerce/XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE/images/guide-let-customers-return-after-hours-11.webp?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=XzdcmB1NxT-YAMjE\&q=85\&s=53f452a20b8e422abd72cd4805a1c5bb)

## How do I know it worked?

* **Return hours reads Custom hours** on the location's **Fulfillment** tab, and the **Regular** card lists the later end times.
* **The storefront offers the later return times** for a booking at this location, and accepts a booking whose return falls after closing.
* **A test order with a return after closing** gets an order confirmation with your paragraph under Return location.

## Troubleshooting / common pitfalls

> [accordion] One listing still stops returns at closing time
>
> Its **End times** on the **Limits** tab are narrower than the location's return hours, and the tighter of the two wins. Widen them, or keep them to hold that listing to opening hours. See [Set purchase and booking limits](https://www.twicecommerce.com/docs/guides/catalog/purchase-and-booking-limits.md).

> [accordion] Returns are offered on a day you are closed
>
> **Custom hours** keep their own **Exception dates** and **Seasonal hours**, so a closure on the opening hours does not reach returns. Add the closure on the **Return hours** card too. See [Close a location for a few days](https://www.twicecommerce.com/docs/concepts/admin/locations.md#close-a-location-for-a-few-days).

> [accordion] An order you took in admin got no instructions
>
> The storefront order confirmation goes out only for storefront orders, and staff can book any return time in admin. Add the same paragraph to **Admin order confirmation** and send it from the order by hand. See [Emails](https://www.twicecommerce.com/docs/settings/emails.md).

## Related articles

> [card] [Locations](https://www.twicecommerce.com/docs/concepts/admin/locations.md#fulfillment-hours)
>
> How pickup and return hours gate the storefront, and how Custom hours differ.

> [card] [Emails](https://www.twicecommerce.com/docs/settings/emails.md)
>
> System templates, template variables, and sending a template by hand.

> [card] [Set purchase and booking limits](https://www.twicecommerce.com/docs/guides/catalog/purchase-and-booking-limits.md)
>
> Start and end times per listing, inside the location's hours.

> [card] [Settings - Locations](https://www.twicecommerce.com/docs/settings/locations.md)
>
> Every tab on a location, opening hours and fulfillment included.


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