Order Prep Time ~Revisiting~

[sugarlab]

I wrote a post very similar to this back in 2020 so I wanted to follow up. Being closed Sundays and Mondays again has cause our prep time days to go wonky. We had two orders come in today for Tuesday; today is Friday so Thursday should be the earliest if we have it set for 4 business days. 

If we look at the 4 business days as the setting: 

Tuesday is the soonest available day if someone orders on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Once it gets to Saturday, it pushes it back to Wednesday until we close at 3 pm (only early day closing is Saturday). Then the soonest available is Saturday. 

Since the timing changes depending on when I'm ordering on Saturdays (during open hours or after), I know the business days setting is taking our actual hours into account, versus some predetermined hours like a Monday-Friday situation. But then choosing calendar days is no different than business days. 

This doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it makes us have to squeeze in prep on Saturday for a Tuesday order. OR requires me to come in on a day off to get it done. 

If anyone has ideas for a work around too, I'd love to hear them. 

[MayaP · Accepted solution]

Hello @sugarlab,

From my testing, your pickup is working without any issues based on how you have it set up. I added the item called "Standard Cupcakes" to my cart. Since you aren't open on Monday/Tuesday, with that 4-day prep time that would make the item available on Friday, which is what I see in the cart. I noticed "Do you start preparing orders as soon as they are received?" is set up for starting orders when they're received. If you're not starting orders right away, you may want to consider the 2nd option. You could also look at "If a customer places an order during your fulfillment hours, what is the soonest that the order can be picked up?" and see if the other option for that would work for you. 

I hope that helps! If you need anything else, please let me know. 

[MayaP · Accepted solution]

Hello @sugarlab,

From my testing, your pickup is working without any issues based on how you have it set up. I added the item called "Standard Cupcakes" to my cart. Since you aren't open on Monday/Tuesday, with that 4-day prep time that would make the item available on Friday, which is what I see in the cart. I noticed "Do you start preparing orders as soon as they are received?" is set up for starting orders when they're received. If you're not starting orders right away, you may want to consider the 2nd option. You could also look at "If a customer places an order during your fulfillment hours, what is the soonest that the order can be picked up?" and see if the other option for that would work for you. 

I hope that helps! If you need anything else, please let me know. 

[sugarlab]

Tuesdays are usually fine for ordering; it's later in the week that struggles, specifically Friday and Saturday. Which is what trips us up since they are able to order for Tuesday, even though we have it set for business days, versus calendar days. (closed Sunday and Monday)

[MayaP]

Thank you for the update @sugarlab.

I am still looking into this and will keep you posted. 

[MayaP · Accepted solution]

UPDATE!! 

I apologize for the delay!

Our team confirmed your fulfillment appears to be working correctly. They advised to think of the Prep time like a countdown.

A 4 day prep time does not literally mean that 96 hours of 'business time' need to elapse before the order can be ready. If that were the case, these items would be pushed out several weeks. The prep time is really just a countdown. The countdown can only start during operational hours. Once the countdown starts, it does not stop, regardless of how long they are open during the countdown time. Once the countdown has elapsed, the system then slots the item to be available during their next business hoursWhen I looked at their fulfillment calculator on their Pickup & Delivery settings if I enter the date of an order placed for Saturday 10/12 at 2:00PM it seems to follow their prep time of 4 business days making the order available on Wednesday at 2PM.

96 hour countdown would begin from Saturday at 2pm and would be available during their earliest business hours once the 96 hours has elapsed. Regardless if they are open for that total 96 hoursIf I place an order at 3:00PM which is when they close on Saturday it then pushes the order can be picked up date back to Saturday 10/19.

This seems like its working as intended. If the order is placed after they close on Saturday, that means the prep time countdown cannot start until their next operational time which is Tuesday. 4 day prep time consumes Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri and order is ready on Saturday.

I hope this clairifed some things! If not don't hesitate to reach back out!!