Logistics buffers add time around rentals so your team can prepare, deliver, and restock items before they are rented again. The rental period + logistics buffers = the reservation period.
Rental page showing rental dates and reservation dates with buffers

Compare rental dates and reservation dates to see the buffers applied

Your preparation buffer and outbound delivery buffer make up outbound logistics.
Your reverse delivery buffer and restock buffer make up reverse logistics.

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Calculating availability

Supercycle calculates the soonest available rental as: Current time in store’s timezone + preparation time → next available cutoff time + delivery time.

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Buffer types

Each buffer defines how much extra time is added before or after a rental.
  • Preparation time: Time your store needs to make the item available before delivery. Added before cutoff time is checked.
  • Cutoff time: The daily time (in your store’s timezone) after which you stop fulfilling new orders. Leave blank if you fulfill all day.
  • Delivery buffer: Number of days after the cutoff time required to deliver an item.
  • Reverse delivery time: How long it takes for an item to return to your store after the customer sends it back.
  • Restock time: Time needed to process the returned item and make it available again.
Diagram illustrating preparation, cutoff, delivery, reverse delivery, and restock buffers

Preparation, cutoff, delivery, reverse delivery, and restock buffers

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Considerations

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Effects on availability

When Ally calculates item availability, the full reservation period is considered unavailable, including all buffers. Items are available for new rentals only after either:
  • The end of an existing reservation, or
  • The item is restocked after return, whichever is sooner.
When a customer browses rentals by calendar date, Ally places buffers around their chosen rental period before confirming availability. This means customers in different timezones will always see availability based on the store’s timezone (for example, UTC+0 in London), not their own.

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Effects of restocking

When an item is restocked after return, it becomes immediately available for future rentals, even if the original reservation’s buffer period had not ended.

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Set up logistics buffers

1

Navigate to logistics settings

In Shopify admin, go to Supercycle > Settings > Logistics.
2

Set your buffers

  • Under Preparation, set your preparation time.
  • Under Delivery, set your delivery buffer.
  • Under Return, set your reverse delivery time.
  • Under Restock, set your restock time.
Products can override the global restock time during calendar product setup.
Select Save before exiting.