Boosting Customer Satisfaction: The Custom Delivery Date Picker for BigCommerce that Transformed Jane Packer Flowers

At Flair, we specialize in developing custom ecommerce solutions that help businesses deliver exceptional customer experiences. When Jane Packer Flowers, a renowned florist that designed the victory bouquets for the London 2012 Olympic Games, approached us with a unique challenge, we were excited to craft a solution that met their specific needs. Jane Packer Flowers is well-known for providing next-day delivery of luxury flower bouquets and gifts, but they needed more flexibility than their BigCommerce platform could provide out of the box. Our team built a custom delivery date picker app that not only solved their problems but also enhanced their overall operations.

Client: Jane Packer Flowers
Industry: Floristry
Service: Custom Development

The Problem

Jane Packer Flowers uses BigCommerce to manage their online store, but the standard delivery date picker offered limited functionality. 

BigCommerce’s native product options allowed for basic date selection through dropdowns, which was far too rigid for their needs. With a business built around timely deliveries, particularly for events like birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays, they required a more dynamic and customer-friendly solution.

Here are the specific challenges our client was facing:

• Calendar-based Picker: The default dropdowns for selecting delivery dates weren’t ideal for customers who expected a more intuitive, calendar-style interface.
• Next-day Delivery with Cutoff Time: Customers are offered next-day delivery for orders placed by 15:00, but for any orders after that time, the next available day should be two days later, excluding Sundays and Mondays.
• Complex Weekend Logic: If an order is placed after the Friday cutoff time including the weekend, the next available delivery should be Tuesday, as there are no Sunday or Monday deliveries.
• Manual Date Blocking and Whitelisting: They needed the ability to block specific dates, such as public holidays (e.g., Christmas Day and Boxing Day), when no deliveries are available. Additionally, special occasions like Mother's Day and Valentine's Day require allowing deliveries on a specific Sunday or Monday.
• Future Date Scheduling: They needed to take orders for certain future events, like Valentine’s Day, ensuring that customers could place orders well in advance for a specific date, even if it was months away.

Clearly, the standard date picker on BigCommerce wasn’t cutting it. Our client needed a solution that offered flexibility, scalability, and control over their delivery schedule without sacrificing customer experience.

The Solution

To address these challenges, we developed a custom delivery date picker app that integrates seamlessly with our client's BigCommerce store. This solution gave them full control over their delivery scheduling while simplifying the process for customers. 

Here’s how it works:

• Calendar-based Interface: We replaced the basic dropdown fields with a sleek, calendar-based picker that made selecting a delivery date much easier for customers. This not only improved the user experience but also aligned with the expectations of a luxury brand like Jane Packer Flowers.
• Dynamic Cutoff Times: We introduced functionality that automatically adjusted the available delivery dates based on the time an order was placed. If a customer orders before 15:00, the next-day delivery option is available. After 15:00, the system automatically updates the calendar to show the next eligible date, skipping Sundays and Mondays.
• Weekend Delivery Logic: Our solution accounts for the complexities of weekend deliveries. If an order is placed after the Friday cutoff or over the weekend, Tuesday becomes the earliest delivery option, ensuring that the no-Sunday/Monday delivery rule is respected.
• Manual Date Blocking and Whitelisting: Specific dates—like Christmas and Boxing Day—can now manually be blocked, directly from their custom control panel. This ensures customers never mistakenly select a date when deliveries aren’t available. Other holidays which they specifically deliver for—like Mother's Day—can be whitelisted so they show as available, despite the general no-Sunday/Monday delivery rule.
• Event-based Scheduling: We also provided our client with the ability to create future delivery schedules for special events, like Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. This ensures customers can place orders well in advance, and only the specific delivery day is available for selection.

The custom app allows the team at Jane Packer to configure multiple calendars for different products, giving them full flexibility to control availability based on product types, seasonal demand, or operational capacity.

Implementation Process

Working closely with our client, we identified their key pain points and mapped out a solution that fit their unique business model. Our team integrated the custom app with BigCommerce’s existing product options, ensuring that the delivery date picker worked seamlessly across their store.

We took a phased approach:

1. Initial Consultation: We collaborated with them to fully understand their business and delivery requirements.
2. Development: We built the external control panel that allows them to manage their delivery schedules easily, adding features like cutoff times, date exclusions, and multiple calendars for different product lines.
3. Testing: We rigorously tested the app in a staging environment to ensure everything worked as expected before rolling it out to the live store.

Our solution has the flexibility to adapt to future requirements, providing Jane Packer Flowers with a scalable tool as their business grows.

Results and Benefits

The custom delivery date picker has transformed how Jane Packer Flowers manages deliveries through their online store. 

Some of the key benefits include:

• Enhanced Customer Experience: The calendar-based picker simplifies the checkout process, reducing friction for customers trying to select a delivery date.
• Reduced Operational Errors: Automatic cutoff times and dynamic date selection have minimized the chances of customers selecting dates when deliveries aren’t available, reducing the need for manual intervention by their team.
• Scalability: With the ability to manage multiple delivery schedules, they can now control which products are available for delivery on specific dates, whether it’s due to seasonal demand or product limitations.
• Improved Flexibility: They can block or open delivery dates as needed, ensuring they maintain full control over their delivery capacity without relying on external systems.

Conclusion

The custom delivery date picker app we built for Jane Packer Flowers shows how tailored ecommerce solutions can drive business success. By addressing our client's specific challenges, we helped them streamline their operations and offer a better experience to their customers. Whether you’re looking to enhance your online store’s delivery options or need a fully custom solution built for BigCommerce, we’re here to help.