In "Active dates" on cumulative quantity rules and cumulative price rules, you can set two things: a schedule that resets the totals to zero, such as on the 1st of each month, and the period in which the rule limits and tracks purchases. You can use both together. If you select neither, every purchase since the rule was created is tracked without resetting (all time).
Note: Active dates cannot be changed once you create the rule and tracking has started. To change them, stop the rule and create a new one.
Full plan: Cumulative quantity rules and cumulative price rules are available on the Full plan.
Enabling cumulative purchase limits: Before you create your first rule, approve the additional permissions and enable cumulative purchase limits. For details, see “Cumulative Purchase Limits: Shared Specifications”.
The combination of the "Set a date range" and "Reset totals on a schedule" checkboxes decides how the totals are counted.
What you select | How the totals are counted | Example |
|---|---|---|
Neither (all time) | Every purchase since the rule was created is tracked without resetting | Up to 3 per customer for the whole period |
Set a date range | Only purchases from the start date and time through the end date and time are counted, and the limit applies only during that period | Up to $100 in total during the campaign period only |
Reset totals on a schedule | Totals go back to zero on each cycle | Up to 3 per customer each month |
Both | Within the dates you set, totals go back to zero on each cycle | For 3 months starting in November, up to 3 per customer each month |
For examples with the settings and steps, see the following articles.
Limit How Many Items Each Customer Can Buy per Month (Monthly Reset)
Limit How Much Each Customer Can Spend During a Campaign (Set a Date Range)
The steps for active dates are the same for cumulative quantity rules and cumulative price rules.
(1) Open the screen for creating a rule
In the app admin, open "Quantity limits", then "Cumulative quantity rules", and select "Create rule". For a cumulative price rule, open "Price limits", then "Cumulative price rules".
(2) Enter the rule name, the limit details, and the eligible items
What you enter for each item is explained in “Cumulative Quantity Rules: Settings” and “Cumulative Price Rules: Settings”.
(3) Set the period to limit
To limit purchases to a date range, check "Set a date range", then enter the "Start date" and "Start time". To set an end as well, check "Set end date", then enter the "End date" and "End time". If you are not limiting the period, go to the next step.
Enter the time in the store's time zone. The time zone is shown in the field name.
If you do not set an end date, limiting and tracking continue until you stop the rule.
Set the end date and time after the start date and time, and after the time you create the rule.
(4) Choose the schedule that resets the totals
To reset the totals to zero on a schedule, check "Reset totals on a schedule". Choose "Daily", "Monthly on the 1st", "Yearly on January 1", or "Custom". If you do not want a reset, go to the next step.
If you select "Custom", enter these three fields.
Interval: How many days, weeks, months, or years between resets. The maximum is 365 for "Days", 52 for "Weeks", 12 for "Months", and 5 for "Years".
Unit: Choose "Days", "Weeks", "Months", or "Years".
Cycle start date: The date counting starts from. Totals reset every interval from this date. For "Weeks", the reset falls on the same weekday as the cycle start date.
(5) Enter the messages and save
Enter the "Product message" and the "Alert message", then save the rule.
(6) Enable the rule
On the details screen of the saved rule, select "Enable". Creating a rule does not apply the limit.
Under "Active dates" in the "Summary" on the rule details screen, you can check what you set and which purchases are included in the current totals.
Date range: The start and end date and time you set are shown. If you did not set a date range, "All time" is shown. Before the start, the badge is "Not started". After the end, the badge is "Ended".
Totals reset: Shown as "Totals reset: Monthly on the 1st", for example.
Current totals: Shown as "Current totals: purchases from … to … (next reset …)": the period of purchases in the current totals, and the next reset. Use these dates to check cases such as month ends.
The lists of cumulative quantity rules and cumulative price rules also show the period and the reset schedule in the "Active dates" column. After a reset, the totals go back to zero, and customers can buy up to the limit again in the next period.
Both the date range and the reset time use the store's time zone. A reset runs at 12:00 a.m. on the reset day.
Purchases made before you create the rule are not counted. If the start date and time are in the past, and for the first period of a reset schedule, counting starts from when you create the rule.
Orders placed outside the active dates are never counted later. They are not tracked even if you recreate the rule with different dates.
There is no way to manually adjust or reset a customer's total. To start the numbers over, stop the rule and create a new one.
Before the start date and time, and after the end date and time, the rule does not limit or track purchases, even if it is enabled.
An order placed at the exact end date and time is not included in the period.
After the end date and time, the rule does not stop automatically. The details screen shows "The active dates have ended".
Note: Until you stop it, an ended rule still counts toward the rules tracking at a time (up to 20) and keeps using one of Shopify's checkout rules. When you no longer need it, disable the limit, then stop it and delete it.
"Every N days" counts each period measured from the cycle start date. Counting purchases from the last N days is not supported, and there is no workaround.
If the cycle start date is the 29th, 30th, or 31st, a month that does not have that day resets on the last day of the month.
If the cycle start date is February 29 and the totals reset each year, a year without February 29 resets on February 28.
Canceling an order from a previous period does not subtract it from the current period's total.