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Why do most shoppers go online? Convenience. They know what the product is, what others think of it, and most importantly, when it will be delivered. Few people want to place an order without knowing that one detail. And certainly no one wants to be told an item is not available for a particular date after they have placed the order.
This problem is easily solved by installing the Order Delivery Date for WooCommerce plugin or the Product Delivery Date plugin (which allows for custom delivery dates for each product). It allows customers to book products for particular days. More importantly, it tells customers whether a particular product or order can be delivered on a particular day or not. As we have said before, plugins make managing businesses super easy. Don’t want to deliver cookies on Christmas? No problem. Have a strict “I don’t work on my birthday” policy? Just tell the plugin once.
No matter what you sell, knowing delivery dates is of paramount importance, for both you and your customers. Read on to find what kinds of businesses should install it.
Before you begin, read this little post on the differences (and similarities) between the Order Delivery Date plugin and the Product Delivery Date plugin.
1. Florists
A large number of our clients are florists. And think about it, if you are selling flowers, you have to be very specific about what you can deliver. They need to be fresh, they come in a huge varieties and are subject to seasons – both natural and man-made. Peonies or hydrangeas, tulips or orchids; a customer may demand for anything, anytime, so long as the product is listed on your store.
With the Order Delivery Date plugin, you can put a minimum number of days before which the order must be placed. You can also control maximum orders per day. If you are looking to control the delivery settings for each flower on your roster, then the Product Delivery Date plugin would be more suited for your business.
Like we said, a big chunk of our clients are florists, from across the world. They are all listed in our showcases section. Among them are:
Churchland’s Village Flower Shop, Porstmouth, which sells flowers for anniversaries, birthdays and other occasions.
Mizzu Flora, a flower shop in Singapore that sells fresh and preserved flowers and customized bouquets.
And if you think the $99 are not worth it, read this case study on how Floral Garage Singapore, a flower and supplies store, achieved a 300% growth rate by using our Order Delivery Date plugin.
2. Bakeries
A customer who forgot an anniversary or a birthday, a customer too tied up with work to order a cake in advance, a kid’s party that requires a big batch of cookies – last-minute planning is a big part of celebrations. As a bakery, you may want to be prepared for these times – simply enable the ‘same day’ or ‘next day’ delivery option on the Order Delivery Date plugin for local addresses and you will not miss out on any last-minute orders.
Cookies, pastries, breads – whatever you are selling, you can now restrict your orders to how much you can produce. While we know you’d love to share the love and sweetness with more people, it is not always possible. So say no to saying no!
Take a cue from our customers:
The Colorado Cookie Company, which sell cookies, gift boxes and sweets in the Denver Metro area.
Cake Mail, a bakery based in New South Wales, Australia.
Jenny Cakes Bakery, a bakery in Maryland, which also provides customized cakes.
3. Farms, Fisheries and Produce
No one understands the importance of timely delivery more than farmers and fishermen. Be it grains, produce, organic fruits and vegetables or seafood – you have a finite stock of perishable products and almost always an infinite demand. You cannot store it for too long so you cannot allow for fewer orders, and you don’t want to take excess orders either. The best way is to allow customers to pre-book, so you have an estimate of demand. If you are middleman, such an option will help curb excess buying.
One feature of the plugin is that it allows you to set different delivery and shipping days. This means that if you ‘ship’ on a Sunday but the shipping company does not ‘deliver’ it, you can control the settings from the admin end. Convenient right? No confusion, no lengthy explanations to confused customers and no fighting over delayed orders. A win-win-win!
Once again, there are too many clients to list them here. Among them are:
Chris Antico, a home-delivery farmer’s market in Sydney, Australia.
Maine Lobster Direct, a Portland-based company shipping shellfish, fresh fish and lobsters.
Come Fruta, a fruit-delivery business in Spain.
Christie, the butcher, greengrocer and farmer based in Glasgow.
In fact, you can read about how Green Pasture Farms grew their organic meat products business, in UK, with our Order Delivery Date Plugin, here.
4. Handicrafts & Hampers
Can only make 20 candles a day? Sell no more than 10 dream catchers in a week? Know that the accessories you are crafting, or the pots your are baking, will all take at least two days to make? Know that your gift hampers will take at least three days to put together?
Don’t waste time explaining yourself to customers. Just put a cut-off period on the Order Delivery Date plugin and then let the site to all the ‘talking’. You concentrate on the making.
Why the delivery date really helps is because handicrafts are always booked. According to the time it takes for you to make or procure something, you can choose your settings. If it is holiday season and you need to pay extra shipping, you can charge a different price from the customers too. Or you could stop accepting orders after a particular date. The best thing is that it can be synced with your Google calendar, making life that much less cluttered for you.
5. Food Delivery
Here’s another big customer-base. Whether you delivery healthy meal boxes, food hampers, offer catering services, gourmet foods or meal plans; you can manage your orders with the Order Delivery Date plugin or the Product Delivery Date Plugin. It will give you complete control on how much to cook on what day, how many orders to accept and also if you want to allow for meals to be picked up from locations or delivered to customers.
And no matter which country, you can customize the calendar in the language of your choice and the language of your online store.
Our customers include:
Simply Cornish Foods, a food and food hamper delivery company in Cornwall, UK.
Macro Meals, a freshly-cooked meal-delivery service in UK.
Mealz of Steel, a chef-prepared meal-delivery service in Ohio.
King Catering, which specializes in Caribbean cuisine with a North American twist, based in Toronto.
6. Niche & Luxury Products
If you are into extremely niche businesses, such as sales of luxury cars, selling warehouse space, exotic (but not endangered) animals, or rare memorabilia such as Pokemon cards or comics, chances are your audience and your stock are limited. In such a case, using delivery date plugins (either for individual products or orders as a whole) will add to the customers’ ease of shopping. Such customers, like those for luxury products, are known to have higher expectations from store owners. You don’t want to make mistakes in their orders.
We have several such customers selling niche products, in addition to the above, such as portable steamboats and stoves. Take a look:
Mobistore, a storage facility in New Zealand.
Underground Reptiles, a reptile-selling company in the US.
Vesta Stoves, wood burning and multifuel stoves sellers from UK.
Customized nappy cakes from Stacey Janes, Australia, who themselves experiences an increased order fulfillment rate using our plugin. Read about it here.
7. Alcohol & Cocktails
Lastly, it is the drunken mix of them all! Yes, cocktail boxes and curated alcohol delivery are now slowly catching on, with wine clubs and the like moving online. Now there are algorithms that select wines for you based on your answers to certain questions. (Much like Buzzfeeds ‘Which cupcake are you?’ quiz, but more polished.) And if you have been thinking of starting one or just did, you should consider having one of the delivery date plugins. After all, hell hath no fury like a customer of undelivered wine, aye?
Our customers, Cocktail Box from Austria and Bottle in a Box from Scotland has already come on board. What about you?
Conclusion
As we have told you, the Order Delivery Date and Product Delivery Date plugins really help to fulfill orders on time and tell the customers in advance if you are over-booked. You rather say a polite no to a customer than say yes and ditch them last minute.
Try a demo if you are still hesitant and see how it will work for yourself. We are always available to hear and help solve any queries you may have, at [email protected]. Happy selling, everyone!
