Delivery Zones & Route Planning

As your delivery operation grows, managing zones and routes efficiently becomes essential. This guide covers everything from setting up your zones to optimizing your delivery route with one click.

Delivery Zone Fundamentals

A delivery zone is a set of ZIP codes with associated rules: what you charge for delivery, what the minimum order is, and which days you deliver there.

Go to Delivery in the admin sidebar to see your zones and pickup locations.

Creating and Editing Zones

Click a zone to edit it, or click Add Zone to create a new one.

Zone fields:

• Name — Internal reference (not shown to customers)
• ZIP codes — Comma-separated list of ZIP codes in this zone
• Delivery fee — Flat fee added to the customer’s order at checkout
• Minimum order — Optional minimum subtotal before this zone becomes available
• Delivery days — Which days of the week you deliver to this zone
• Order cutoff — Day and time orders must be placed by to qualify for the next delivery date
• Lead time — How many days between order cutoff and delivery (used to calculate available delivery dates)

Zone Overlap

ZIP codes should be in at most one zone. If the same ZIP code appears in two zones, Picket shows both options to the customer — which is probably not what you want. Keep zones mutually exclusive.

Pickup Locations

Pickup locations are physical spots where customers can collect their orders — your farm stand, a farmers market, a drop point at a coffee shop, etc.

Adding a pickup location:

1. Click Add Pickup Location.
2. Enter the location name, full address, and any relevant description.
3. Set available pickup days and times.
4. Save.

At checkout, customers choosing pickup see your locations listed and pick their preferred one.

Route Planning

When you have deliveries scheduled for a given day, Picket can build you an optimized driving route.

Go to Delivery > Upcoming Deliveries. You’ll see orders grouped by delivery date and zone.

Generating a Route

1. Select a zone and delivery date.
2. Click Plan Route.
3. Picket sends all delivery addresses to Google Maps and returns an optimized sequence — the order that minimizes total driving time and distance.
4. The route appears as a numbered list with a “Open in Google Maps” link for turn-by-turn navigation.

Route Export

You can also export the delivery list as a CSV file (customer names, addresses, order notes) to use with a navigation app of your choice or print as a paper route sheet.

Setting an Efficient Delivery Area

Tips for zone design:

• Keep zones geographically coherent. A zone should be an area you can deliver in a single trip, not a scattered collection of addresses across a wide region.
• Cluster by day. If you deliver to the city on Wednesdays and the suburbs on Thursdays, create separate zones for each. Don’t mix delivery days in one zone unless your schedule supports it.
• Price by distance. It’s fair to charge more for zones that require more driving. Customers generally understand this.
• Set a minimum order. A $5 delivery fee on a $10 order makes no sense economically. A $30–$40 minimum order ensures each delivery is worth your time.

Delivery Day Logistics

Packing day vs. delivery day — Many flower farmers pack orders the day before delivery. You might mark orders as “Ready” on your packing day and “Out for Delivery” the morning of the delivery.

Order cutoffs — Give yourself enough time between cutoff and delivery to source and prepare the flowers. For fresh-cut flowers, 2–3 days is typical. For pre-grown bouquets, 1 day may be enough.

Last-minute orders — If a customer asks to order after your cutoff, you can create a manual order for them in the admin and include them in the route manually. Just make sure it’s worth the extra work.

Viewing Upcoming Deliveries

Delivery > Upcoming Deliveries shows all orders with upcoming delivery dates, grouped by zone and date. Use this view to:

• Confirm how many orders you have before starting to pack
• Click into any order to see the customer’s details and special instructions
• Identify any orders that need follow-up (wrong address, unclear instructions, etc.)