Going Vacation Message

[Apolito Ghosh]

Thisis a huge mystery and a major thorn in my side with Focus Mode. Obviously, people go on vacation and they use auto-replies with email all the time. Every day, especially when I send out a group email to a large number of people, at least one or two instantly respond with an automatic reply telling me they're on vacation until a specific date and they will return on another specific date. Also, the Driving Focus Mode allows users to put in a customizable automatic text reply, but when you're in Driving Mode, your phone becomes more or less unusable, since the whole point of Driving Mode is to prevent you from using your phone. So, once I turn on my phone to play music or go to Safari, I've turned off Driving Mode and people can text me again.

So, Apple clearly has the know-how to create a Focus Mode with an automatic text reply, and everyone knows there would be a need for automatic text replies (at least in a "vacation mode") since it's existed in email for years. So, why is Apple not allowing automatic text replies in other focus modes??? It really feels like they are intentionally preventing users from having this ability and I simply can't understand why this is the case. Right now, if I'm in "Do Not Disturb" mode or "Sleep" mode, people may see that I have Focus Mode turned on and I may not be receiving notifications. But that only applies to other iPhone users, and even then, only to iPhone users who are paying attention (many do not, as I've learned). I would LOVE to be able to generate a simple reply saying something like, "Today is Wednesday, April 12, 2023. I will be unavailable between 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM and will not be able to see your text message during that time. I will get back to you shortly after 3:00 PM. If this urgent, please call my office at (555) 555-5555. Thank you."

Thank you. Yes, I did give Apple the feedback, and I have used Driving mode for this, but if I'm in Driving mode and I want to look at my phone for some reason, it reminds me that I'm in Driving mode and asks me if I'm still driving. The only way to access the other features on the phone is to shut off driving mode. That's why I think the feature should be available in other focus modes. Hopefully, enough people have given Apple feedback about this, since I don't know why else they would ever consider changing it, since they never bothered to put it in the first (or second) iteration of focus mode.

Unfortunately, you cannot create a fully automatic Auto Reply, but you can create an automation that pops up every time you receive a message from certain contacts. When you receive a message, a shortcut will start where you have defined a message in advance, all you have to do is add the contact to whom the message should be sent.

Thank you for the kindness you show me by taking the time to respond. Our old mobile carrier, T Mobile allowed me to turn off texting services while I was away from work. My current provider, ATT, does not provide that service, unfortunately. Thanks,again, for the guidance.

Are you saying you want to disable the store? That's bad for your business - it will damage your SEO and your brand reputation. (if someone comes to a broken site they probably won't come back... and search crawlers will take notice).

Are you a small team that fulfills in-house? All good, people love small teams, just add some text in your order confirmation email that "we're a small team and give each order personal attention, we usually ship orders within 3 business days (or whatever you want to say).

Possibly because some of us want to take a real vacation occasionally for 2-3 weeks and we normally ship the day payment is made and advertise that we do. It would be nice to have a vacation mode that would at least allow for an easy landing page that states this and that if they place an order at this time it will ship on x/xx date. You know, without having to spend 4 hours trying to figure out how to make a new landing page just to find out that the landing page will not be a real landing page like on other websites. It will be behind the home page and unless anyone clicks on the landing page they won't see the vacation notice. As it is now, I'm taking a week off next week but I will have to babysit my email and message everyone that buys something and explain and offer to refund if they don't want to wait. Which do you think would piss off customers more? Finding this out after they pay or before? I would rather find out before personally.

I absolutely see where you're coming from with the desire for a 'vacation mode'. While we don't have an option branded as 'vacation mode', there are a few options you can choose from to achieve similar results. One option is to apply the storefront password to your shop when on vacation. This can be done from your Online Store> Preferences, and you're also able to leave a note to appear on the password page for your customers to see. When the storefront password is enabled, you still have full access to the back-end, but customers will not be able to access your shop or make purchases without the storefront password.

I read your followup post in this thread, and I see that you prefer to leave the shop open to customers while on vacation, but don't want them to be able to place orders. A solution you may consider for this is pausing your account while on Vacation, and then un-pausing it when you return. When you pause your store with the option to pause your store and continue to work on it, customers can still visit your store, but the checkout is disabled until you re-select a regular plan tier.

I 100% agree that we need a vacation mode. It's a baffling faliure by Shopify. Example: I am going on vacation for 8 days. Out of the country. It's the Christmas holidays. People will place orders expecting to get them in time. I have spend a long time online trying to find/search for the vacation mode, only to see they don't have one. I can't even simply extend my processing time beyond 2 days. (that would have been too simple for Shopify apparantly). No. I have to jump through all these hoops creating a password, landing pages etc. etc.. What an absolute fail on Shopify's part. It took me 30 seconds to do a vacation mode on Etsy. I'm a business owner. Not a programer. Someone at Shopify needs to be accountable for this error and fix it please.

However, I can offer some insights into why certain platforms, like Shopify, might not have a straightforward "off/on switch" for a store and why taking a day off for vacation might be challenging for some businesses:

E-commerce complexity: Running an online store involves a lot of moving parts, including inventory management, customer support, order processing, and marketing. Unlike Amazon and eBay, which are large marketplaces with extensive infrastructure and resources, individual online stores may not have the same level of automation and scalability built in.

Unique store configurations: Each online store on platforms like Shopify can have different settings, customizations, and third-party apps integrated, making it challenging to implement a one-size-fits-all "off/on switch" for vacations.

Small business operations: Many online stores are run by small business owners or individuals who may not have the capacity to handle a complete shutdown without affecting their operations or customer satisfaction.

Customer expectations: Customers have come to expect quick responses and seamless service from online stores. A sudden, extended closure without any prior notice could lead to disappointment and loss of trust.

Potential workarounds: While there may not be an official "off switch" for a store, some business owners use workarounds such as temporarily adjusting store settings, hiring temporary help, or scheduling vacations during slower periods.

Continuous sales opportunities: Unlike physical stores with set hours of operation, e-commerce operates 24/7, allowing customers from different time zones to shop at any time. Businesses may be hesitant to close completely to avoid missing out on potential sales.

It's important to remember that different platforms prioritize features based on their user base and the overall goals of their service. While some functionalities might seem obvious or necessary to certain users, it might not be feasible or a priority for the platform's developers at a given time.

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