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Welcome to The Dress Rental App. This guide covers the main steps to get your Shopify store ready to accept rental bookings.

1. Complete your general store setup

Add your display name, brand colour, store logo and policy URL. You can also choose whether customers must accept your terms before booking.

2. Configure your rental rules

Set your rental durations, default bond, cleaning fee, inventory method and any sell-variant settings you want to use.

3. Set up delivery options

Choose the fulfilment options you offer, such as shipping, pickup, local delivery or a custom method.

4. Configure bookings and notifications

Review your booking settings and customer email notifications so rental information is clear before you go live.

5. Add rental products

You can add products individually, bulk import existing Shopify products or use automatic product import for future products that match your chosen Product Type.

6. Add the rental widget

Make sure the Dress Rental App block or app embed is enabled on the correct product template in your Shopify theme.

7. Test the full flow

Open your storefront, choose a rental date, add a product to cart and complete a test journey. Check that dates, pricing, delivery information and rental details appear as expected.

Tip: Finish your default rental settings before bulk importing products so new rental items start with the correct configuration.

When changing rental apps, it is important to avoid running two rental systems against the same products at the same time.

1. Record your existing future bookings

Before removing the old app, make sure you have a reliable record of upcoming rentals, dates, products, variants and customer information.

2. Disable the old rental app

Turn off or uninstall the previous rental app when you are ready to move. Avoid leaving two apps actively controlling date selection or product behaviour.

3. Remove old theme blocks and app embeds

Open the Shopify theme editor and remove or disable the old rental app's product blocks and app embeds.

4. Configure The Dress Rental App

Set your default rental durations, inventory method, bonds, cleaning fees, delivery choices and booking settings before importing products.

5. Import rental products

Bulk import existing products, then review a sample to make sure variants and availability are configured correctly.

6. Add future bookings

Bring forward bookings into your new rental workflow so their dates are blocked before the store goes live.

7. Test the storefront

Confirm the old calendar is gone, the new calendar appears and conflicting dates cannot be booked.

Before sending customers to your store, complete a full rental test from the storefront rather than checking settings only inside the app.

1. Open a rental product

Confirm the rental calendar and any relevant selectors display correctly on desktop and mobile.

2. Choose a date and duration

Check that unavailable dates cannot be selected and that the chosen duration produces the expected rental period and price.

3. Add the rental to cart

Confirm the cart contains the correct product, variant, dates, price and rental information.

4. Test fulfilment choices

Check shipping, pickup, local delivery or custom delivery methods that your store offers.

5. Review terms and fees

Confirm bonds, cleaning fees, add-ons and terms acceptance appear according to your configuration.

6. Check notifications

Use an email address you can access and review any customer messages triggered by the test booking.

7. Recheck availability

After creating the test rental, return to the product calendar and confirm the booked period is now blocked according to your inventory method.

8. Test a second product

Repeat the process on a product with different variants or settings. This helps catch template-specific and product-specific issues before launch.

Launch rule: Do not rely on a single successful product-page test. Complete the entire customer journey at least once.

Rental products are the Shopify products that The Dress Rental App uses for availability, dates and rental pricing.

Before you begin

Make sure the product already exists in Shopify and is published to the sales channels you want to use.

Add the product

1. Open The Dress Rental App.
2. Go to your rental products area.
3. Select the Shopify product you want to add.
4. Apply the required rental settings and save.

Review the rental settings

Check the available rental durations, inventory method, stock quantity, bond, cleaning fee and booking calendar window. Product-level settings can be used to override your store defaults where required.

Check variants

If the dress has Shopify variants such as sizes, decide whether availability should be tracked across the entire product or separately for each variant.

Test the product

Open the product on your storefront and confirm the rental calendar appears. Select an available date and check that the correct rental information is added to cart.

Tip: If you have many existing products, bulk import will usually be faster than adding each product individually.

Bulk import is the fastest way to turn existing Shopify products into rental products.

Set your defaults first

Before importing, review your default rental settings. These can include rental durations, stock method, inventory count, bond, cleaning fee and the calendar booking window.

Import your products

1. Open The Dress Rental App.
2. Go to the rental product import area.
3. Select the Shopify products you want to import.
4. Confirm the import.

The app will apply your current default rental configuration to the products being added.

After importing

Review a sample of the imported products, especially products with multiple sizes or variants. Adjust any item that needs different pricing, inventory or fees from your store defaults.

Bulk import vs automatic import

Bulk import is designed for products that already exist in Shopify. Automatic product import is useful for future products: once enabled, it watches for newly created products with the exact Product Type you have configured.

Important: Configure your defaults before a large import. This reduces the amount of product-by-product editing required afterwards.

The Dress Rental App uses rental bookings and your product inventory settings to determine which dates customers can select.

How a date becomes unavailable

When a confirmed rental uses the available quantity for a product or variant, conflicting dates are blocked so another customer cannot reserve the same inventory for the same period.

Product-level availability

Use product-level availability when all variants represent the same physical rental inventory. A booking against one variant can affect availability for the entire product.

Variant-level availability

Use variant-level availability when each size or variant is a separate physical item. For example, if Size 8 and Size 10 are separate dresses, each can have its own booking schedule.

Manual bookings

Manual bookings should also be created inside the app so the calendar accurately reflects offline, phone, DM or in-store reservations.

If a date looks wrong

Check the product's inventory method, available quantity, existing bookings and any blocked or buffer dates. Also confirm that the booking is linked to the correct product or variant.

Tip: Choose your inventory method based on the physical garments you actually own, not simply how your Shopify variants are named.

The inventory method determines how The Dress Rental App blocks dates when a booking is made.

Product-level availability

Choose product-level availability when the variants do not represent separate physical rental items. The product shares one availability pool, so a booking can block the product regardless of which variant was selected.

Variant-level availability

Choose variant-level availability when each Shopify variant is physically separate. This is common for dress hire businesses that own one garment in each size.

Example

A dress has Size 6, Size 8 and Size 10 variants. If you physically own one of each size, variant-level availability normally makes sense because Size 6 can be booked while Size 10 remains available. If the variants are only used for another selection and all bookings refer to the same physical item, use product-level availability.

Changing the method

Review existing bookings before changing an established product's inventory method. Changing how availability is grouped can affect how future conflicts are interpreted.

Best practice: Match the app configuration to the number of real garments available for hire.

Booking buffers create extra unavailable time around rental bookings. They are useful when a garment cannot safely be booked back-to-back.

Why use a buffer?

Dress hire businesses commonly need time for return postage, cleaning, garment checks and preparation before the next customer receives the item.

How buffers affect availability

When a rental is created, the booked rental period is unavailable. Any configured buffer is also considered when the app calculates whether another booking would overlap.

Choosing a buffer

Your ideal buffer depends on your fulfilment model. Pickup-only businesses may need less time than stores using nationwide shipping. Allow enough time for realistic returns and cleaning rather than relying on best-case delivery times.

Before shortening a buffer

Check upcoming bookings first. Reducing turnaround time can make dates appear available closer together, so confirm your operations can support the change.

Tip: A sensible buffer is one of the simplest ways to reduce late-return conflicts and rushed changeovers.

Sometimes a garment needs to be unavailable even though there is no customer checkout. Blocking dates keeps those periods off the rental calendar.

When to block dates

• The garment is being repaired or cleaned.
• You have an offline reservation.
• The item is being used for a photoshoot.
• You do not want the product rented during a particular period.

Block the required period

Open the relevant rental product or booking tools in The Dress Rental App and add the dates that should not be offered to customers. Save the change, then review the product calendar on the storefront.

Use manual bookings for real customers

If the unavailable period represents an actual customer rental, a manual booking is usually better than a simple blocked date because it keeps the customer and booking information together.

Removing a block

When the item is ready to hire again, remove the blocked period and confirm the dates return to available status.

Tip: Always check the public product calendar after making availability changes.

Manual bookings let you reserve rental inventory without requiring the customer to complete the standard online booking flow.

When to use a manual booking

Use it for bookings taken through Instagram DM, phone, email, in-store payments or imported/offline reservations.

Create the booking

1. Open The Dress Rental App and start a new manual booking.
2. Select the correct rental product and variant.
3. Enter the customer's details.
4. Add the rental dates and any relevant delivery or pickup information.
5. Review the booking and save it.

Check availability first

Before confirming the booking, make sure the item is available for the requested dates. Creating manual bookings in the app allows those dates to be included in future availability calculations.

Keep records consistent

Use the same customer details and date conventions you use for online bookings. This makes upcoming rentals, returns and reporting easier to manage.

Tip: Avoid keeping confirmed offline rentals only in a diary or DM thread. Add them to the app so the storefront cannot accidentally accept a conflicting booking.

Rental dates sometimes need to change after a customer books. Always check availability before moving an existing rental.

Before changing the dates

Confirm the new requested period is available for the exact product or variant. Consider any booking buffers and nearby reservations.

Update the booking

Open the customer's booking in The Dress Rental App, edit the rental dates and save the change. Recheck the booking details after saving.

Confirm the storefront availability

The original period should be released if it is no longer required, while the new rental period should become unavailable according to the product's inventory settings.

Communicate the change

Make sure the customer understands the revised dispatch, pickup, event and return dates, especially if the change affects fulfilment.

Important: Do not move a booking into dates already reserved by another customer simply because the calendar looks close. Verify the full rental and buffer period first.

Your upcoming rentals view is the operational checklist for bookings that are approaching.

Review upcoming bookings regularly

Check the customer, product, variant, rental dates and fulfilment method. Resolve missing information before the garment needs to leave your business.

Prepare the garment

Use the booking dates to plan cleaning, inspection, packing and dispatch or pickup preparation. If you use buffers, treat them as part of your turnaround plan.

Check delivery and pickup details

Make sure shipping addresses, pickup arrangements or local delivery information are correct. Contact the customer early if anything is unclear.

Update booking status

Keep the booking status current as the rental progresses. This makes it easier to separate upcoming work from completed, cancelled and no-show bookings.

Watch for conflicts

If an item is returning close to its next booking, monitor the return carefully and have a clear process for late rentals.

Tip: A quick upcoming-bookings check each day can prevent most last-minute rental problems.

A clear return process helps keep your availability accurate and your next booking on schedule.

Review expected returns

Check which rentals are due back and confirm the item, customer, return date and next upcoming booking.

When an item is returned

1. Inspect the garment for damage or missing items.
2. Record any relevant notes for your business.
3. Move the booking to the appropriate completed or returned status.
4. Begin cleaning and preparation for the next rental.

Do not release inventory too early

A garment should only be treated as ready for the next customer when it has actually returned and you have enough time to clean and inspect it. Your configured booking buffer helps protect this turnaround period.

Check the next booking

If the same garment is booked again soon, confirm the next fulfilment date and prioritise preparation accordingly.

Tip: Review expected returns alongside upcoming rentals so late items are identified before they affect the next customer.

An overdue rental can affect the next customer if the item is booked again soon. The best approach is to identify late returns as early as possible.

Check overdue items regularly

Review rentals that have passed their expected return date and have not yet been marked as returned or completed.

Contact the customer

Confirm whether the item has been posted, dropped off or is still with the customer. Record tracking or other return information where available.

Review future bookings

Check whether the garment is booked again. Consider the time needed for return delivery, inspection and cleaning, not only the next rental start date.

Keep statuses accurate

Do not mark the rental as completed simply to clear it from your dashboard if the item is still outstanding. Accurate statuses help you see which garments require action.

Use your store policy

Any late fees, replacement costs or customer communications should follow the rental terms you have published for your store.

Tip: Booking buffers reduce risk, but they do not replace active overdue-return management.

Booking statuses make it easier to separate active work from finished or cancelled rentals.

Upcoming

Upcoming bookings are rentals that still require action. Use this view to prepare garments, confirm delivery details and monitor closely scheduled returns.

Completed

Move a booking to completed when the rental process is finished and the item has been returned or otherwise fully resolved according to your workflow.

Cancelled

Use cancelled when a booking will no longer proceed. Check your availability after cancellation to make sure dates are released as expected.

No-Show

No-show is useful where a customer does not attend an appointment or collect a booking as arranged, depending on the workflow you are tracking.

Why statuses matter

Keeping them accurate gives you a cleaner dashboard and makes it easier to identify what requires attention each day.

Tip: Do not mark overdue or unresolved rentals as completed simply to remove them from the upcoming view. The status should reflect what has actually happened.

The rental dashboard is designed to give you a quick view of what is happening across your rental operation.

Start with what needs attention

Review upcoming bookings, returns and any overdue items before focusing on historical data. These are the areas most likely to affect customers today.

Use booking statuses

Statuses such as Upcoming, Completed, Cancelled and No-Show help separate active work from closed bookings.

Check booking details

Open individual bookings when you need customer information, product or variant details, rental dates and fulfilment information.

Use the dashboard as an operational routine

A quick check at the start of each workday can help you identify garments that need dispatching, appointments that need preparation and returns that have not arrived.

Keep the data accurate

The dashboard is only as useful as the booking information recorded in the app. Add offline rentals as manual bookings and keep statuses updated.

Tip: Treat the dashboard as your rental operations hub rather than relying on separate spreadsheets, messages and calendars for confirmed bookings.

Rental durations control how long customers can hire an item and can be used alongside different rental prices.

Choose the durations you offer

Common examples include short event hires and longer rental periods. Choose durations that match your business operations, shipping times and return process.

Set your defaults

Configure your standard rental durations in The Dress Rental App before importing a large number of products. This helps new rental products start with consistent settings.

Override when required

Some products may need different durations or pricing. Review those products individually rather than changing your store-wide defaults for a small exception.

Consider turnaround time separately

The customer-facing rental duration is not the same as your operational buffer. You may still need time before or after a booking for dispatch, return postage and cleaning.

Test your storefront

Select each duration on a rental product and confirm the displayed dates and price match what customers should be charged.

Tip: Keep duration names simple and consistent so customers can understand their choices quickly.

Rental bonds can be configured as part of your standard rental settings. Your bond setup should match the terms shown to customers on your store.

Choose a bond method

Depending on your configuration, a bond can be set as a fixed amount or as a percentage. Choose the method that best reflects how your business manages security deposits.

Set the default

Add your default bond settings before bulk importing rental products so newly imported items receive the correct starting configuration.

Use product-specific settings when needed

Higher-value garments may require a different bond from your standard amount. Review product settings and override the default where appropriate.

Keep customer information clear

Your rental terms should explain what the bond is, when it applies, how it is handled and any circumstances that may affect its return.

Test before launch

Run a storefront test on products with your default bond and any custom bond settings to confirm the customer sees the expected charges.

Important: App configuration supports your rental workflow, but your published store policies should accurately explain your own bond rules.

Cleaning fees can be included in your rental setup when you want the cost of garment cleaning separated from the base hire price.

Set your default cleaning fee

Open your rental settings and configure the amount you normally charge. Setting the default first makes bulk product setup faster.

Review individual products

Some garments may require specialist cleaning or no additional cleaning charge. Use product-level settings to adjust exceptions.

Keep pricing transparent

Customers should be able to understand the full cost of their rental before checkout. Test your product and cart experience to make sure the fee is displayed as expected.

Do not confuse cleaning with damage

A standard cleaning fee and a charge for damage are different business rules. Explain each separately in your terms if both apply.

Test different rental products

Check at least one product using the default fee and one using an override so you know both scenarios behave correctly.

Tip: Configure cleaning fees before a bulk import to reduce repetitive editing afterwards.

Add-ons let you offer optional extras alongside the main rental product, such as protection or other rental-related services.

Plan the add-on first

Decide what the add-on covers, how much it costs and whether it is optional or required for your business workflow.

Create clear customer wording

Name the add-on in plain language and explain exactly what the customer receives. If you offer a protection-style option, clearly state its limits and exclusions in your store terms.

Check the rental journey

Test the add-on from product selection through cart and checkout. Make sure the customer's choice is visible in the booking information you use operationally.

Review pricing

Confirm the add-on is charged only once where intended and that it does not accidentally replace or duplicate the base rental price.

Keep terms aligned

Your app settings and customer-facing policies should describe the same rules.

Tip: Add-ons work best when they solve a clear customer need without making the booking process complicated.

Your rental product setup can combine hire pricing with Shopify product options and, where appropriate, settings for products that can also be sold.

Rental pricing

Review the price associated with each rental duration you offer. Customers should be able to understand how the amount changes when they choose a different hire period.

Keep duration pricing consistent

Set sensible store defaults, then use product-level changes for dresses that need a different price structure.

Sell variants

If your store allows a product to be purchased as well as rented, review the sell-variant settings in your rental configuration.

Buying while rentals are booked

The app includes settings that control how selling should behave when future rental bookings already exist. Choose the option that reflects your business rules so a sale does not create an impossible future rental obligation.

Test both journeys

If a product supports both renting and buying, test each path separately. Confirm the correct price, cart information and availability behaviour.

Tip: Rental inventory and sale inventory can represent different business risks. Review future bookings before permanently selling a garment that is already reserved.

Holiday Mode is available in the app's general settings for periods when your business cannot operate normally.

When to use Holiday Mode

It can be useful during annual leave, temporary closures, relocation periods or other times when you do not want customers booking as usual.

Check upcoming bookings first

Before enabling Holiday Mode, review rentals that are already confirmed. A temporary change to new-booking availability does not remove your responsibility to fulfil existing reservations.

Communicate with customers

If your closure affects dispatch, pickup, returns or support response times, make the dates clear on your storefront and in customer communications.

Test the storefront

After enabling the setting, view the store as a customer and confirm the rental experience behaves the way you expect.

Turn it off when you return

When normal operations resume, disable Holiday Mode and perform a quick availability check on several rental products.

Tip: For isolated garment unavailability, block the relevant product dates instead of pausing the broader store experience.

Pickup is useful for local dress hire businesses that allow customers to collect and return garments in person.

Enable pickup

Open your delivery settings in The Dress Rental App and make pickup available as one of your fulfilment methods.

Add clear instructions

Tell customers where pickup takes place, when the item will be ready and how returns should be handled. Avoid publishing sensitive residential details more broadly than necessary.

Coordinate pickup with rental dates

Make sure your customer-facing instructions explain whether collection happens on the rental start date or earlier.

Prepare upcoming pickups

Use your upcoming bookings to identify pickup orders and have the garment cleaned, checked and ready before the agreed collection time.

Test the option

Run through a storefront booking using pickup and confirm the selected method is captured with the rental information.

Tip: Consistent pickup windows reduce back-and-forth messages and make local orders easier to manage.

The Dress Rental App supports rental businesses that ship orders, offer local delivery, provide pickup or use a custom fulfilment method.

Choose the methods you offer

Open the delivery settings and enable only the options your business can reliably provide.

Shipping

Consider dispatch timing, expected transit time and return postage when deciding when a rental should become unavailable. Your booking calendar and operational buffer should allow enough time for the garment to move both ways.

Local delivery

Define the area and delivery expectations clearly. Confirm customer address details before the delivery date.

Custom delivery options

If your workflow does not fit standard shipping, pickup or local delivery, use a clearly named custom option and explain what customers should expect.

Test each method

Create test rental journeys using every fulfilment option you plan to offer. Check that the selected method and relevant customer information appear correctly with the booking.

Tip: Your fulfilment method should work together with rental dates and buffers; do not treat shipping time as separate from availability planning.

Try-on appointments let customers reserve a time to view or try garments before committing to a rental.

Choose your appointment settings

Configure the appointment duration, any buffer between appointments, maximum bookings per time slot, minimum notice period and how far in advance customers can book.

Set realistic availability

Only offer times when someone can actually manage the appointment. Leave enough buffer for customers arriving late and for resetting the space between sessions.

Link relevant products

If your try-on workflow allows customers to nominate dresses, make sure the appropriate rental products are available for selection.

Review customer instructions

Explain where the appointment takes place, how long it lasts, any fee that applies and what customers should bring.

Test the booking flow

Create a test appointment and check that the date, time, customer details and selected products appear correctly in your try-on calendar.

Tip: A short minimum-notice period may increase bookings, but it can also make it difficult to prepare garments that are currently out on hire.

Your try-on calendar keeps appointments organised separately from rental bookings while still helping you manage the same garments and customers.

Review upcoming appointments

Check the customer's appointment time and any products they have selected. Make sure the relevant garments will be available to try on.

Prepare before the appointment

Confirm that dresses are clean, on-site and ready. If a selected item is currently on hire, contact the customer before they arrive rather than discovering the issue during the appointment.

Keep appointment status current

Update appointments when they are completed, cancelled or recorded as no-shows. Accurate statuses help you understand attendance and future availability.

Handle changes carefully

When rescheduling, confirm the new time fits your appointment capacity and notice rules.

Convert interest into a rental

If a customer decides to hire an item after trying it on, create or confirm the rental booking promptly so the requested dates are reserved.

Tip: Review tomorrow's try-ons alongside tomorrow's rentals so you do not promise a garment that will be out with another customer.

Customer notifications help reduce manual messages by sending important rental information at the right stage of the booking.

Review your notification settings

Open The Dress Rental App and review the customer email notifications available for your rental workflow.

Keep the important details clear

Emails should make it easy for customers to understand their rental dates, product information and any relevant pickup, shipping or return instructions.

Use a consistent sender identity

Make sure your store name and branding are recognisable so customers know the message relates to their booking.

Test before relying on automation

Create a test booking using an email address you can access and review the messages that are triggered. Check formatting on both desktop and mobile.

Keep your store policies separate

Notifications can remind customers of important rules, but your full rental terms should remain available through your store policy URL.

Tip: Re-test your emails after making major changes to booking, delivery or rental settings so customer instructions remain accurate.

Your rental terms explain the rules that apply to bookings, returns, damage, late fees and other store-specific conditions.

Add your policy URL

In the app's general settings, add the URL where customers can read your rental terms or relevant store policy.

Require acceptance if needed

You can configure your rental experience so customers must acknowledge your terms before proceeding with a booking.

Keep the policy aligned with your setup

If you change bonds, cleaning fees, delivery methods, late-return rules or other customer obligations, update the written policy as well.

Make the wording easy to understand

Important conditions should be clear and specific. Customers should be able to understand what they need to do, when an item is due back and what happens if a problem occurs.

Review periodically

Rental operations change as a business grows. Revisit your terms whenever your booking or fulfilment process changes.

Important: The Dress Rental App provides tools for presenting and enforcing parts of your rental workflow, but your store is responsible for the content and suitability of its own legal terms.

If the rental calendar is not appearing on a product page, work through these checks before changing your rental settings.

1. Confirm the product is a rental product

Open The Dress Rental App and make sure the Shopify product has been added to your rental products.

2. Check the Shopify theme

Open the theme editor and confirm the Dress Rental App block or app embed is enabled where your rental products are displayed.

3. Check the product template

Some stores use multiple product templates. Make sure you added the rental block to the template actually assigned to the affected product.

4. Remove conflicting rental app blocks

If you previously used another rental app, old blocks or app embeds can interfere with the product page. Disable or remove the old rental app integration.

5. Confirm the product is available on the storefront

The Shopify product should be active and published to the relevant sales channel.

6. Save and refresh

Save the theme changes, reload the storefront and test the product again.

Still not showing?

Gather the product URL, theme name and a screenshot of the product template before contacting support. This makes it much easier to identify the issue quickly.

The Dress Rental App is designed to block conflicting rental dates based on your configured inventory. If two bookings appear to overlap, check the setup before changing the bookings.

Check the inventory method

Confirm whether the product uses product-level or variant-level availability. If each size is a separate physical garment, variant-level tracking may be required.

Check the inventory quantity

If a product or variant has a quantity greater than one, the app can allow more than one booking for the same period because multiple physical units are expected to exist.

Check the exact variant

Two bookings for the same product may not conflict if they use different variants that are tracked separately.

Check manual and offline bookings

Bookings accepted through DM, phone or in person need to be recorded in the app. If they only exist outside the system, the storefront cannot use them when calculating availability.

Check dates and buffers

Review the complete rental period and any turnaround buffer rather than comparing event dates alone.

Remove conflicting rental apps

Running multiple rental systems on the same products can create inconsistent availability. Disable old rental apps and remove their theme blocks.

Tip: When troubleshooting, compare the physical number of garments you own with the inventory quantity configured in the app.