What are exceptions and how do they work?
Delm uses a powerful Rule Engine to calculate delivery dates. This system is designed to be both Flexible and Scalable.
- Flexible: You have granular control over every step of the delivery promise. You can change your Processing Time without affecting your Transit Time, or create a specific schedule just for international orders without breaking your domestic setup.
- Scalable: You can manage delivery times for thousands of products as easily as ten. Instead of editing products one by one, you create a single Exception (e.g., based on a "Collection" or "Tag"), and it automatically applies to every matching item in your store.
Each step of the delivery process has a Default Rule and the option to add Exceptions. The Default Rule applies to everything unless an Exception specifically overrides it.
Rule Type | Best Used For |
|---|---|
Visibility | Hiding the delivery widget for specific products. |
Processing Time | Setting longer lead times for custom or made-to-order items. |
Processing Schedule | Defining different working days for specific warehouses. |
Shipping Schedule | Adjusting shipping days for specific carriers. |
Transit Time | Increasing transit estimates for international shipments. |
Transit Schedule | Customizing transit days for specific regions. |
Delivery Schedule | Limiting delivery days (e.g., no weekends) for certain products. |
Adding conditions to an Exception
Apply Conditions to control exactly when an Exception is triggered. An Exception only becomes active if all of its conditions are met.
Condition | Description |
|---|---|
Product | Specific products or variants. |
Collection | Specific collections. |
Tag | Products with specific tags. |
Vendor | Products from specific vendors. |
Product Title | Matches the product title using text patterns. |
Variant Title | Matches the variant title using text patterns. |
SKU | Matches the SKU using text patterns. |
Product Availability | Products that are in-stock vs. out-of-stock. |
Stock | Total inventory count across all locations. |
Inventory Location | Products stocked at specific warehouse locations. |
Shipping Country | The customer's shipping destination (see note below). |
Current Date | Compares the current date. |
Note on Shipping Country: By default, Delm uses the customer's IP address to detect their location. If you prefer to use the country selected in the store, you can change this in the Delm Core app embed settings.
How Exceptions are prioritized
When a customer views a product, Delm evaluates your settings to find the single best match.
- Top-to-Bottom Evaluation: Delm checks your list of Exceptions from top to bottom.
- First Match Wins: The first Exception where the context (Product, Date, Country) matches the conditions is the one used.
- Termination: Once a match is found, the evaluation stops. Any Exceptions further down the list are ignored.
- Default Fallback: If no Exceptions match the conditions, the Default Rule for that category is automatically applied.
Preview and testing
You do not have to guess if your Exceptions are working. Use the Preview tool to simulate real customer scenarios and verify exactly which rules are being applied.
- Go to the Preview section in Delm.
- Input a context: Select a specific Product variant, a Start date, and a Shipping country.
- The system runs the calculation and highlights exactly which Exception was picked for visibility, processing, shipping, transit, and delivery.
- Look for the green checkmark icon next to the active exceptions.
Updated on: 19/04/2026
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