Getting the Most out of Black Friday & Cyber Monday with Bird’s Pickup and Delivery Tools

Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) remain two of the busiest shopping events for merchants. 2025 is expected to continue this trend with even higher order volumes and customer expectations for flexible fulfillment. To handle the surge efficiently, retailers need systems that can manage demand, offer convenient pickup and delivery options, and provide visibility into order readiness. Bird Pickup & Delivery integrates directly with Shopify to help merchants plan, manage and optimize fulfillment during BFCM without overwhelming staff or compromising customer experience.

Why preparation matters

Before BFCM begins, merchants usually plan inventory, marketing and staffing. Equally important is preparing fulfillment. Ensure real‑time stock availability, implement order limits per slot, adjust preparation times and use production reports to forecast demand. We also recommend offering store pickup discounts and free local delivery above certain order values to encourage customers to choose cost‑effective options. These high‑level strategies help reduce shipping strain and improve margins.

Bird provides tools to implement these strategies with minimal manual work. Below are key features and suggestions for maximizing their value during BFCM.

Let customers self‑select the right fulfillment option

Bird’s pickup and delivery widget lets customers choose between store pickup, local delivery or shipping, select dates and time slots, and validate postal codes or distance‑based areas directly from the cart. The widget displays real‑time calendar availability so customers cannot pick oversold slots. Offering multiple fulfillment options reduces cart abandonment and spreads demand across pickup and delivery channels.

Centralized or location‑specific schedules

If you operate multiple locations, Bird allows either a unified schedule or location‑specific schedules. A unified schedule applies the same operating hours, preparation times, blockout dates and product availability to every location. Use this when stores share similar staffing and service areas.

For stores with different hours or regional delivery zones, set up separate schedules per location. This flexibility ensures customers see only the options relevant to them while giving merchants central control.

Manage volume with order limits and lead times

High‑order days can overwhelm staff if customers over‑book the same time slots. Bird lets merchants set order limits per day and per time slot. This ensures only a manageable number of orders can be booked for pickup or delivery in any given window. Combined with real‑time calendar updates, this prevents bottlenecks and protects the customer experience.

Preparation and lead times determine how soon a customer can schedule their order. Bird supports uniform or day‑specific lead times and allows you to set cut‑off times. After the cut‑off, the earliest available slot automatically shifts forward to ensure staff have enough time to prepare orders.

During BFCM, merchants often extend lead times or earlier cut‑off times to handle increased volume; Bird makes these adjustments straightforward and intuitive.

Control your calendar

Unexpected closures, restocking or staff shortages can arise during the holiday season. Bird lets you block specific dates or date and time ranges from the delivery calendar, ensuring customers cannot book on days when the store is closed or overwhelmed. You can also limit how far into the future customers may schedule their order; by defining the maximum number of available days, you narrow the booking window to a manageable horizon.

These controls help you avoid commitments you cannot fulfill.

Fine‑tune product availability

Not every product can be delivered or picked up in the same way. Bird uses product tags to include or exclude items from pickup, local delivery or shipping. Merchants choose either an include mode (only tagged products are allowed) or an exclude mode (tagged products are restricted). For example, you could restrict large items to pickup only while allowing smaller items for delivery.

Bird also offers product overrides for product‑specific lead times and availability. If an item requires extra preparation or needs to be available only on certain days, assign a specific lead time and blockout dates for that product.

This ensures customers receive accurate dates during checkout without manual intervention.

Keep customers and staff informed

During BFCM, timely communication is essential. Bird automatically sends ready for pickup and delivery notifications via email as soon as an order is prepared or dispatched. Merchants can trigger these notifications from Bird’s dashboard or from Shopify’s order actions.

Staff notifications are also supported: each location can have designated email addresses, and Bird sends the order’s delivery date, time and method to staff when orders arrive. This reduces confusion and ensures team members know when to prepare orders.

Offer delivery only where you can reach

Bird’s postal code validation helps ensure local delivery is offered only to eligible addresses. Merchants can choose exact, partial or advanced matching to define service areas. For more granular control, Bird supports postal code‑based zones. You can create multiple zones with their own postal codes, minimum order values and delivery rates, all linked to your main inventory location.

This flexibility lets you charge appropriate fees for farther deliveries or limit service to nearby neighborhoods.

Incentivize pickup and manage costs with discounts and rates

Instead of promoting generic coupon codes, Bird can automatically apply Shopify discount codes based on the delivery method. This allows you to offer a discount only to customers choosing store pickup or local delivery, encouraging them to use the most cost‑effective options.

Bird offers a brilliant rates engine that provides advanced rate conditions. You can set shipping, delivery or pickup rates based on order price, weight, day of the week, time of day, urgency or multiple conditions. For local delivery, rate rules can be tied to postal code zones; each zone may have its own delivery fee and minimum order value.

These controls help you cover costs while remaining competitive.

Plan for production and fulfillment

Knowing what to prepare in advance is crucial for large sales events. Bird’s production reports export product quantities, names and variant details in a CSV format for orders within a selected period. This report helps you forecast inventory and staffing needs, ensuring you are not caught off‑guard by a sudden surge in orders. You can filter by date range, fulfillment method or order status before exporting, making it easy to generate a report tailored to your BFCM timeframe.

Bringing it all together

Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales require careful planning. Bird Pickup & Delivery provides the tools to implement these strategies: a flexible widget for customers, schedule controls for your team, automated notifications, postal code restrictions, rate and discount management, product‑specific settings and actionable production reports. By configuring Bird ahead of BFCM, merchants can deliver a smooth, well‑orchestrated experience that keeps staff sane and customers happy while maximizing revenue.