James Cress Florist is a nationally recognized floral brand offering
both local and nationwide delivery. With the volume and complexity of their
fulfillment channels growing, they partnered with Minion to develop a
custom Shopify integration that could intelligently route orders between local
operations and national fulfillment networks. By building logic-based automations
and connecting their store to third-party partners like MAS Direct and
HANA Florist, Minion helped reduce errors, improve speed, and expand
their reach through Shopify.
The Challenge
James Cress Florist runs a hybrid fulfillment model — fulfilling local orders through
in-house teams and routing national orders to trusted third-party providers. Their
existing Shopify setup lacked the automation to distinguish and route orders based
on delivery zones, leading to manual reviews, fulfillment delays, and errors. With
their order volume growing and customer expectations rising, James Cress needed a
streamlined, automated approach to ensure the right orders were fulfilled by the
right party, every time.
"We needed a way to make our local team more efficient without
sacrificing our ability to serve customers across the country. Minion helped us
build exactly that."
— James Cress Florist Team
The Solution
Minion developed a custom Shopify integration that uses location-based
logic and delivery data to automatically route orders to the correct fulfillment
provider. Using filters based on zip codes, order attributes, and internal rules,
the system automatically distinguishes between local deliveries and nationwide
orders. Local orders are routed through HANA Florist, while nationwide
orders are passed to MAS Direct via a seamless API integration.
- Real-time syncing between Shopify and third-party fulfillment
partners
- Scalable logic layers to accommodate additional fulfillment zones
in the future
- Backend dashboard for monitoring routing rules and delivery flow
"This wasn’t just an integration — it was a rethinking of how we
approach fulfillment on Shopify. Minion gave us the tools to grow without adding
complexity."
— James Cress Florist Team
The Results
- 25% reduction in average order processing time
- More consistent on-time delivery for both local and national
customers
- Fewer support tickets related to routing or delivery issues
- Estimated 500+ labor hours saved monthly from automation — up to
760+ during peak months
- Increased capacity to scale marketing and fulfillment efforts
without added overhead
"We’re now operating at a higher level across every channel. It’s
been a game-changer for our team."
— James Cress Florist
Team
What’s Next
Minion and James Cress are continuing to optimize backend systems and explore
additional automation — including delivery time estimation, support ticket
integration, and expanded fulfillment partnerships — all powered by Shopify.