Offering delivery time slots can significantly boost your eCommerce store‘s customer experience and streamline operations. This comprehensive guide will teach you how to configure delivery slots from start to finish.
The Value of Delivery Time Slots
Before we dig into the configuration, let‘s look at why delivery slots are so valuable for online stores:
63% of customers abandon their cart or make alternate purchases if delivery options don‘t meet their needs [1]. Delivery slots give customers convenience and choice.
Slotted deliveries have an 82% success rate on the first attempt according to transport carriers [2]. Failed first-time deliveries can cost $15 or more per instance [3]. Scheduling delivery slots drastically reduces missed connections.
When customers select specific delivery times, stores can optimize routes and capacity. Instead of guessing demand, you can accurately dispatch drivers and carriers based on reserved slots.
76% of shoppers say having visibility into delivery dates, times, and status updates is highly important to the online shopping experience [4]. Delivery slots and selection transparency enhance customer confidence and satisfaction.
The benefits are clear. Now let‘s see how to setup the delivery slots feature.
Installing the Delivery Slots Plugin
The easiest way to add delivery slots in WooCommerce is by installing the free WooCommerce Delivery Slots plugin. This handy plugin adds all the necessary functionality.
First, login to your WordPress admin dashboard. Next, navigate to Plugins > Add New. Then search for "WooCommerce Delivery Slots" and click Install Now. Finally, click Activate to enable the plugin.
Configuring General Settings
With the plugin installed, navigate to WooCommerce > Delivery Slots in your admin sidebar.
Let‘s start with the General Settings:
Here you can configure where delivery slot selections will display on your website:
- Product page
- Cart page
- Checkout page
Enable each location you want slots to appear. Most stores will want checkout and cart enabled at minimum.
Setting Up Delivery Days and Capacity
Next navigate to the Date Settings tab:
Checkmark the days your store offers deliveries. Then set the max number of orders you can handle per day. This ensures you don‘t overload your capacity.
As you scale, you can increase the maximum deliveries per day.
You can also apply additional fees for expedited delivery days like Same Day or Next Day.
Creating and Configuring Delivery Time Slots
Now for the most important piece – setting up the actual delivery time slots customers can choose from.
Navigate to the Time Settings tab:
Make sure "Enable Time Slots" is checked.
Start by setting your typical Slot Duration (the interval for each slot such as 30 minutes) and Slot Frequency (such as every 2 hours). Leaving these blank will create a single time slot.
Next, input your desired store Opening Time and Closing Time to set slot availability.
Scroll down to "Time Slot Configuration" to customize further:
- Set maximum orders per time slot
- Add special fees for premium slots
- Restrict shipping methods by slot
Again, start conservatively with limits and increase as you scale operations.
Be sure to Save Changes when done customizing slots. You‘re all set!
Reserving Delivery Slots Before Checkout
You can also let customers reserve future delivery slots before adding items to their cart:
Under the Reservation Table Tab:
- Enable reservations
- Customize reservation rules
- Copy the shortcode
- Add the shortcode to any page
Shoppers visiting that page can temporarily hold delivery slots visible on a calendar while they finish selecting products.
Managing Orders by Time Slot
As store owner, you can conveniently track and fulfill orders by reserved time slot all from the plugin interface.
Navigate to WooCommerce > Delivery Slots > Deliveries to access this organized view:
From here you can efficiently group and process orders by time slot while optimizing routes and resources.
Offer Flexible and Convenient Delivery with Slots
That wraps up our complete guide to configuring delivery time slots within WooCommerce.
The step-by-step instructions above show how quick and easy it is to setup this valuable feature with the WooCommerce Delivery Slots plugin.
We highly recommend offering customers flexible delivery windows. Time slots provide convenience for shoppers while allowing you to streamline fulfillment operations.
Let us know if have any other questions in the comments!
References
- Absolute Logistics, 2022 Delivery Statistics
- ShipEngine, Delivery Success Rates Report
- Transportation Insight, Survey of Failed Delivery Costs
- Convey, Consumer Delivery Preference Survey
