Fulfillment schedules

Fulfillment schedules define recurring relationships between a fulfillment day and the usage days it serves. Each weekly interval has one fulfillment day of the week and an inclusive range of usage-day offsets. For example, a Thursday fulfillment interval with offsets 2–5 serves Saturday through Tuesday.

A client shipping-method assignment can select a fulfillment schedule and can have a start and end date. The assignment applies according to the usage day when usage-time ordering is enabled, and according to the fulfillment day otherwise. A schedule is independent of fulfillment kind, so the same model applies to delivery and collection.

Fulfillment schedules require the Fulfillment schedules feature. When it is disabled, schedule assignments are not offered or used to resolve availability; the shipping method's delivery-to-usage offsets remain in effect.

Availability and fallback rules

Client-specific shipping-method assignments take precedence over general access:

• When an active assignment exists for the selected method, its fulfillment schedule is used. If that assignment has no schedule, the method's minimum and maximum delivery-to-usage offsets are used instead.
• When a client has shipping-method assignments but none permits the selected method or usage day, that method is unavailable for that day. General access does not override a client-specific restriction.
• When a client has no shipping-method assignments, availability follows the client's program and general shipping-method access. An available method uses its minimum and maximum delivery-to-usage offsets.

The requested fulfillment-date range is inclusive. For usage-time ordering, the resulting usage dates may extend beyond the end of that range when they are served by a fulfillment date within it.

Dates that are not normally available for the selected fulfillment method are omitted from the ordering view, unless an explicit fulfillment schedule makes that date available. A date that is normally available but closed by an exception or department rule remains visible as closed, so customers can distinguish a temporary closure from the normal schedule.

Without an explicit schedule, each usage date belongs to the latest normally available fulfillment date within the method's minimum/maximum offsets. Normally unavailable dates must be excluded before choosing that date, not only hidden afterwards; otherwise they take usage dates away from the preceding normal delivery.

When the order planner cannot resolve an eligible shipping method for the account and period, it does not infer fulfillment dates from existing orders. It shows affected orders as unavailable and allows each order to be cancelled through the normal cancellation rules. Replanning is available only after an eligible shipping method can resolve a validated availability calendar.