Order pauses in Ooooby offer flexibility for both customers and hubs, allowing for temporary halts in subscriptions without cancelling them. This guide provides detailed instructions on how customers can skip their own orders, how shops can skip orders on behalf of customers, and special considerations for fortnightly subscriptions.
Customers Skipping Their Own Orders
How to Skip:
Access Dashboard: Customers log in and navigate to their dashboard by clicking on the circular Account button in the top right-hand corner of the screen:
Edit Pauses: Click on Upcoming Orders > Skip Orders
Select Dates to Skip: Click 'Skip' next to any scheduled date to skip it. The 'Skip' button will change to 'Resume' to indicate that the skip has been set for that week. Press 'Save changes' to confirm. If you have given customers the option to donate their order while they are away, then the option to 'Skip and donate' will be available.
Unpausing:
To resume an order, customers simply reverse the pausing action and save their changes.
Fortnightly Subscriptions
Customers with fortnightly subscriptions see their orders set to a bi-weekly pattern. Pausing affects one scheduled date at a time. If a customer wants to shift their delivery schedule (e.g., skip the 16th November order and resume on the 23rd November to adjust the fortnightly cycle), they must contact the shop directly to modify the delivery offset.
Shop Pausing a Customer's Order
Shops can also skip orders on behalf of customers.
Navigate to Customer Overview: Find the customer’s profile.
Access Subscriptions: Click on 'Manage' next to the relevant subscription, then on 'Skip Orders'.
Pause Dates: Click on 'Scheduled Order' next to the relevant order date and set to 'Paused' to pause that delivery for the customer. The 'Donate' option may also be available if you give your customers the option to donate their order while away. Press 'Save Changes' to save the settings.
Unpaused Subscription Example:
Paused Subscription Example:
Pausing Fortnightly Schedules.
Pausing a fortnightly subscription is done in exactly the same way as pausing a weekly subscription. The article on Managing Shop Pauses and Fortnightly Schedules in Ooooby has more detailed information on pausing fortnightly subscriptions.
Payments and Pauses (and Cancellations)
Advance Billing Pauses
Email Notification: Customers pausing their subscription receive an email confirmation.
Scheduled Payment Impact: Pausing the next order cancels the scheduled payment. Pausing any other order doesn't affect payments.
Debt-Based Billing Pauses
No Payment Cancellation: For shops using debt-based billing, adding pauses doesn’t cancel any payments, regardless of which order is paused.
Debt-Based Billing & Cancellations
Subscription Cancellation: Like pauses, cancelling a subscription under debt-based billing doesn’t automatically cancel any payments.
Pause Diversion for Donations
Shops using Ooooby can enable a feature that redirects paused customer orders to a donation site, such as a food bank or charity. This option helps maintain subscription continuity while supporting community causes.
Customers can choose to donate instead of pausing their orders, depending on shop settings. For shops, setting up pause diversion involves creating a donation delivery group and adjusting system configurations.
Learn more about setting up pause diversion in our Pause Diversion Guide.
Conclusion
The ability to pause orders provides significant flexibility for both customers and shops in managing subscriptions. By understanding and utilising the pause function, both parties can ensure that subscriptions are managed efficiently, accommodating for holidays, personal preferences, or changes in availability. Shops should communicate clearly with customers about the process for pausing and adjusting subscriptions to ensure smooth operations.