How to Add Different Opening Hours for Each Store Location

Quick Answer

You can add different opening hours for each store location on Shopify by setting hours individually within your store locator rather than applying one schedule to the entire network. SC Store Locator Map lets merchants configure hours day by day for each location, including handling time zone differences for locations spread across regions. This guide covers the mechanics of setting distinct hours per location, from the configuration screen to how hours display to customers.

Introduction

Not every location in a network keeps the same hours. A flagship store in a busy shopping district might open earlier and close later than a smaller location in a quieter area. Locations across different time zones need their hours to reflect local time, not the time zone of company headquarters. Getting this wrong leads to a common and avoidable problem: customers showing up to a closed store because the website showed the wrong hours.

This guide focuses on the mechanics of setting hours for one location at a time, which matters whenever individual locations genuinely need their own schedule. It covers the day-by-day configuration process, how to handle time zones correctly, and how to confirm hours display accurately to customers browsing the live map.

What Is Individual Store Location Hours?

Individual store location hours refers to setting a distinct opening schedule for a single location, day by day, rather than applying the same hours across an entire network. This includes specifying opening and closing times for each day of the week, and, for locations spread across regions, making sure hours are shown correctly relative to the location's own time zone rather than a single default. This is distinct from organizing shared schedules across many locations at once, which is a separate structural task for a large network.

Who Needs Location-Specific Hours?

Setting distinct hours per location matters most for businesses such as:

• Retail chains where individual store hours genuinely differ by location or market
• Brands with locations spread across multiple time zones
• Businesses with a flagship or high-traffic location that keeps extended hours
• Dealer or stockist networks where each partner sets their own operating hours
• Locations in shopping centers or malls that follow the center's specific operating schedule

Why Setting Accurate Hours Per Location Matters for Your Business

Configuring hours individually, rather than assuming a shared schedule, has a few practical benefits:

• It gives customers accurate information about when a specific location is actually open
• It reduces the chance of a customer arriving to a closed store based on incorrect hours
• It correctly reflects time zone differences for locations spread across regions
• It supports locations with genuinely unique schedules, such as a flagship store or mall location
• It builds customer trust in the store locator as a reliable source of information
• It reduces support inquiries related to confusion over store hours

How to Add Different Opening Hours for Each Store Location

Step 1: Confirm Each Location's Actual Hours

Verify current hours directly with each location rather than assuming an older internal record is still correct, particularly for locations that set their own schedule, such as dealers or mall-based stores.

Step 2: Install and Configure SC Store Locator Map

Install SC Store Locator Map, which supports setting hours individually for each location, including day-by-day configuration.

Step 3: Set Day-by-Day Hours for Each Location

Enter opening and closing times for each day of the week directly on the location, rather than applying a single shared schedule across locations that actually operate differently from one another.

• Set hours for every day individually, including days a location is closed
• Note any locations with irregular hours, such as reduced weekend schedules
• Confirm hours with the location itself rather than estimating

Step 4: Configure Time Zones Correctly

For locations outside your home time zone, confirm the hours are configured to display correctly relative to the location itself, not the time zone your team happens to be working in. This step is easy to overlook and one of the most common sources of hours errors for regional networks.

Step 5: Customize How Hours Display

Check how the daily schedule appears on the pin card and location list, adjusting the format so customers can quickly see whether a location is currently open without needing to do the math themselves.

Step 6: Add the Store Locator to Your Store

Publish the store locator with hours included, making sure this information is visible from the location details a customer sees before deciding to visit in person.

Step 7: Test the Customer Experience

Check hours display for locations in different time zones and confirm the schedule shown matches what the location actually keeps, testing at a few different times of day if possible.

Examples and Use Cases

Industry: National electronics retailer
Problem: A flagship downtown location kept extended hours, but the website showed the same schedule as smaller suburban stores.
Setup: The team set individual hours for the flagship location, keeping the shared schedule for the rest.
Result: Customers checking the flagship location's hours saw the correct extended schedule.

Industry: International beauty brand
Problem: Store hours for locations abroad displayed incorrectly because they were entered using the home office's time zone.
Setup: The brand reconfigured hours for each international location using its correct local time zone.
Result: Hours displayed accurately for customers in every region, regardless of where the head office was located.

See more examples from Shop Circle of brands managing location-specific hours across their networks.

Best Practices

A few habits keep individual location hours accurate:

• Confirm hours directly with each location rather than assuming they match a default schedule
• Double check time zone settings for any location outside your home region
• Note irregular or seasonal hours clearly rather than leaving them unrecorded
• Review hours whenever a location changes its schedule, not just during a scheduled audit
• Check how hours actually display to customers, not just how they were entered in the dashboard
• Keep a simple internal record of when each location's hours were last confirmed

Summary

Adding different opening hours for each store location means treating hours as data that can genuinely vary, rather than assuming one schedule fits every location. Confirming hours directly with each location and configuring time zones correctly are the two steps most likely to prevent a customer from arriving at a closed store.

the store locator app supports setting hours individually for each location, so genuine differences in schedule and time zone show up accurately on the live map.