Little Owl - Organic Vege Box Sales

Details   Michael Voumard employs doLithe's web based ordering system. This allows his customers to order from available produce and creates a detailed picking and packing list for staff to fulfill the weekly deliveries.
Quote   The doLithe system has enabled major time saving for my direct sale vegetable business, both in simplifying the product available for the week and then for the invoicing and payment tracking. The most impressive thing was Olmec's ability to TOTALLY customise the mechanics to work with all my operating constraints.
Project Type   Product ordering, payment processing, and customer management
Location   Cheviot (Gore Bay), North Canterbury
Tags     ecommerce  retail  products 

Streamlined operations

At the beginning of each week Michael does a stock take of his produce to determine what will be made available for sale. He then updates the website, hiding, showing and setting produce quantities as required. For popular items he can even specify limits so everyone gets a chance to purchase some, avoiding latecomers missing out.

The shop section of the site is 'opened' for ordering and his customers notified with a personalised message.

Shopping is restricted to existing customers rather than open to the general public. This ensures Michael can maintain a loyal and limited customer base and provide a sufficient range of produce to all.

Customers log in, browse the 'shop', fill their box and choose their preferred delivery option (for a fee) or pickup location. A variable packing fee determined by the value of their order is also applied.

At a preset time (usually 2-3 days) the shop closes and no further ordering is possible.

 

Efficient packing

When it comes time to head out to the fields a picking sheet is produced showing how many of each item is required to fulfill all the orders.

Invoices doubling as packing lists are printed, added to boxes and used to ensure each box gets loaded with the correct produce and included in the appropriate delivery run.

 

Financial management

Customers pay for their purchases by internet banking or credit card with all transactions tracked on the website. Account credits, coupons, individual discount rates and other pricing adjustments are available if required.

Integrated reporting helps Michael learn from his sales over time, giving an overview of which produce is most popular and profitable as well as customer spending habits and much more.