In the busy daily life, everyone occasionally has an urgent need for something but lacks the time or opportunity to personally visit a store or wait for the standard next-day delivery of an online order. Douglas has solved this problem for its customers by offering same-day delivery within two hours through Takeaway.
Many of you are probably already familiar with Takeaway's food and beverage services or have seen their couriers tirelessly delivering orders from address to address.
For the first time in Bulgaria, Takeaway is partnering with a retail merchant outside the food industry, namely Douglas Perfumery Bulgaria. For the needs of our client, our team successfully integrated the Takeaway system with Douglas's Magento administrative panel, introducing the new delivery method "Order within 2 hours with Takeaway" in the cosmetics giant's online store. This provided Douglas's customers with convenience and flexibility in shopping, allowing them to order the necessary products online and receive them in a short time.
Integration of the Takeaway Courier System into Magento
Our team of certified programmers developed complex logic and synchronized Douglas's online store with Takeaway's courier system. We implemented the two-hour delivery option through Takeaway in the modified Magento checkout by Stenik and created an additional module for Google address verification, using Google API and pricing based on geographic zones (polygons).
Here are some of the solutions we implemented:
- We created a module for Google address verification using the Google API. It automatically retrieves the location through geolocation and provides an alternative option for the user to enter the address manually if the user has disabled this function in their browser or wishes the delivery to another specified address.
- Validation of the user's entered address against the imported polygon for store localization purposes.
- Automatic association with the nearest Douglas physical store to check product availability and calculate delivery costs.
- Mandatory payment method with a credit or debit card through iCard.
- Automatic email and Viber message to the e-store administrator after an order is placed to check the product availability in the physical store.
- Administrative setting allowing the administrator to confirm or reject the order.
- Administrative setting for the time required to prepare the order, which provides information to the Takeaway courier about the exact moment to visit the store to pick up the order.
- Automatic synchronization (mapping) between the retailer's locations in Takeaway and Magento to ensure correct system correspondence.
- Setting in the Takeaway system, synchronized with Magento administration, allowing the status of the order to be changed to "Rejected" in case of a refused or undelivered shipment.
How Does the Delivery Option Work in the Douglas.bg Checkout?
In the following lines, we will describe how the service works, which end users can benefit from by following an automated process.
1. Choosing a Delivery Method:
When completing an order in the online store's checkout, at the delivery method step, the customer selects the "2-hour Delivery with Takeaway" option.
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2. Address Verification:
Stenik's Google address validation module automatically detects the user's location through the browser's geolocation. If this function is disabled in the user's device settings or they want to specify another delivery address, they can enter their address manually in the designated field.
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The system automatically determines the polygon based on the user's geographic coordinates and generates the delivery cost, predefined by the retailer. If the entered address is not present in any of the polygon databases, the customer receives a message: "This delivery method is not available for your address."
If a product in the order is not available in the physical store, the user is informed: "Product/s 'product name' added to your cart are not available in your service store. Remove product/s from your cart and try again to complete the order with Takeaway."
In case even one of the products in the order is unavailable, the user is notified and given the option to choose to order only the available products or cancel the entire order. In case of a canceled order, the user receives a refund to their card.
3. Confirmation and Payment:
The user proceeds to the next step in the checkout – payment. Payment can only be made with a bank credit or debit card.
4. Order Confirmation:
Upon order entry by the client and successful payment, the store administrator receives a Viber message and an email with order information and products to check for product availability in the physical store. The notification is sent directly to the physical store administrator responsible for processing the order in the respective polygon (i.e., the physical store where the client is located). This ensures a quick and efficient check of product availability and timely processing.
5. Sending a Request to Takeaway
After the successful completion of the online store order and the administrator's confirmation for order fulfillment, a request for the order is sent to Takeaway with information about:
- The ordered products;
- The physical store from which the products are to be picked up by the courier;
- The client's location;
- The order preparation time;
- The order amount.
Delivery Notification:
The client receives an SMS notification with information about the specific time range, based on automatic calculation in the system for the delivery of their shipment.
6. Status Synchronization
When the package is picked up by a Takeaway courier, the status is changed in the Takeaway system, which automatically changes the order status in Magento and generates a shipment document for the correct order processing, simultaneously sending an email and Viber message with a tracking link to the end customer. When the courier changes the status in Takeaway, the status will be changed in Magento based on the realized status mapping.
7. Package Delivery
The customer receives their package from the Takeaway courier. In case of refusal or unsuccessful delivery, the courier updates the status in the system and automatically cancels it in Magento.
8. Features
Additional automations and functionalities for automatically generating a credit memo and refunding the amount in case of order cancellation by the administrator or Takeaway courier are already being considered. These automations will ensure faster customer service and ease the work of the online store administrators at Douglas.
Conclusion
Customers of Douglas.bg now have the opportunity to receive cosmetic products the same day, within two hours, without leaving the comfort of their home or office. Douglas continues to strive to improve the user experience and add new functionalities and solutions for a high level of user experience. We, on the other hand, always assist with the technical implementation and know-how. We are happy to work with leading retailers in our portfolio and to implement improvements in their online stores that meet the growing needs of customers. Our mission is to make our clients competitive in the digital economy and to create online stores that are preferred shopping destinations for end users.
You can also check out other delivery options that we have implemented through integrations with various courier companies: deliveries with Easybox, delivery to Speedy locker, delivery to BoxNow locker, deliveries to multiple European countries with euShipments, integration of Econt and Speedy in the Magento checkout and the "Choice" option in the cart. The articles will provide you with more information about the different delivery options that we can integrate into your online store.
