WooCommerce Bookings Add-ons – Auto-Select Available Date for Customer

In this article, you will learn how you can display the calendar with an auto-selected or pre-selected first available date(s) for the customer using the WooCommerce Bookings and Appointments Plugin. Read along to know more. 

There are times when you don’t want the customer to select the date and let them proceed with the booking with a pre-selected date. This mostly applies in the case of events where an event is for a specific date and the customer doesn’t really have to choose between dates. For eg, you may have a 1-day event on a monthly basis and only one date is available to book throughout the month.

Auto Select Available Date for Customer Add-on

The Auto Select Available Date for Customer Add-on plugin allows you to pre-select that 1 date in the month showing the price for that date. Even if the booking is for a fixed date range of, let’s say 10 days in a month, by using this add-on you can pre-select the fixed date range for the customer as soon as the product page loads up. Thus, allowing the customer to just click on the ‘Book Now’ button and not select the dates every single time. 

Please note: This addon is NOT a stand-alone plugin and has to be installed with the WooCommerce Bookings & Appointment Plugin to work.

What does this Add-on do?

This add-on plugin allows the pre-selection of the first/next available date/ date range when the product page loads. It also displays the booking details for that date. The setup process is quite simple to follow and is shown below.

Pre-Requisites:

• WooCommerce Bookings and Appointments Plugin [Version 1.6.5 and above]
• Auto Select Available Date for Customer Add-on Plugin [contact for a custom quote]

Example Business Case: 

Allow the pre-selection of the dates when the product page loads.

A Tour Booking company provides tours to the customers for a fixed date range(i.e from July 11 – July 20). The dates of the tour are fixed and hence they do not want the customer to select any dates. The customers should only be able to view the dates and place a booking for them. 

Solution:

The above business case can be fulfilled by following the steps mentioned below.

• Install the Auto Select Available Date for Customer Add-on plugin on your WooCommerce store.
• Go to the desired bookable product settings.
• Set the Booking Period to Enable Calendar Range with Blocks of 10 Days and set the Minimum and Maximum Duration as 1 in the Bookings Settings tab as shown below.

• Enable the Make all dates/blocks as unavailable option and set the rule for the Date Range which is available for Booking in the Booking Availability Setting tab as shown below.

• Save the settings
• Visit the product page to see the date range. You can refer to the image below.

• Customers can now simply click on the ‘Book Now‘ button and proceed to the checkout page to complete the payment and place a successful booking.

Final Thoughts

WooCommerce Bookings and Appointments plugin is a one-stop booking solution for WooCommerce store owners. The plugin supports multiple booking scenarios and additional customized solutions discussed in this article.

If you have any queries based on the plugins discussed above, or you have a complex booking scenario, feel free to contact our Contact PluginHive Customer Support. We will try our best to help you find a solution and set up your online WooCommerce store.

Good luck! 🙂