RouteMile for WooCommerce

Description

RouteMile turns a single-restaurant WooCommerce store into a full delivery operation. Customers drop a pin on a map at checkout; the store owner manages orders through a dedicated deliveries dashboard; riders work from an installable mobile web app.

Checkout

• Interactive map location picker (Google Maps with an API key, or a free OpenStreetMap + Leaflet mode with no key required)
• Distance-based validation — orders outside your delivery radius are blocked before payment
• Distance-based delivery fee: flat rate, per-km rate, or distance tiers, with an optional free-delivery threshold and minimum order amount
• Live fee update in the Order summary as the customer moves the pin
• Store opening hours: per-weekday schedule, “open all day” / “closed all day” toggles, and a special-occasion override
• Estimated arrival time shown to the customer (kitchen prep time + travel time)

Store management

• Deliveries dashboard listing unassigned, assigned, and out-for-delivery orders, including the customer’s kitchen note
• Custom order statuses: In Kitchen → Assigned → Picked Up → Completed, each with its own WooCommerce email notification
• One-click assignment of delivery riders, with automatic reassignment handling
• “Accept Order” action to move new orders into the kitchen with one click
• Admin-bar toggle to open/close ordering instantly
• Rename the five order stages (labels, colours, icons) to match your restaurant’s wording — shown in the admin, the rider app and customer tracking; order data itself is untouched
• Set a brand colour once and every plugin surface (checkout, tracking, My Account, rider app) recolours automatically, with WCAG-checked text contrast

Delivery rider app

• Installable PWA (Add to Home Screen) that looks and feels like a native app
• Live order list with New / In Progress / Delivered tabs and automatic refresh when new orders arrive or statuses change
• Per-order actions: call the customer, open the exact delivery location in maps, mark picked up / delivered
• Cash-on-delivery awareness: shows the amount to collect per order and a running “cash in hand” total
• Rider-initiated cash settlement requests that a manager or admin accepts or rejects, with a full audit ledger
• Riders see delivery instructions only — kitchen notes stay private to the store

Customer features

• Order tracking page showing live status and, once assigned, the rider’s name and phone number
• Reorder shortcut and an upgraded My Account dashboard with order stats and saved delivery address
• Thermal-printer-friendly receipt template

Privacy & external services

This plugin contacts third-party services only when the map provider you choose requires them. The customer’s chosen coordinates (latitude, longitude) and your store address are sent to whichever provider you select. The plugin stores no telemetry and contains no advertising or analytics tracking.

• Google Maps — JavaScript is loaded from maps.googleapis.com on the checkout page; geocoding and routing requests are sent server-side to maps.googleapis.com. Service: Google Maps Platform. Terms: Google Maps Platform Terms of Service. Privacy: Google Privacy Policy.
• OpenStreetMap tiles — map tiles are loaded from tile.openstreetmap.org. Service: OpenStreetMap. Terms / licence: OpenStreetMap Copyright and License. Privacy: OpenStreetMap Foundation Privacy Policy.
• Nominatim geocoding (OpenStreetMap mode only) — coordinate and address lookups are sent to nominatim.openstreetmap.org. Subject to the OpenStreetMap Foundation’s Nominatim Usage Policy (1 request/second application-wide). Privacy: OSM Foundation Privacy Policy.
• Project OSRM routing (OpenStreetMap mode only) — driving-distance and travel-time queries are sent to router.project-osrm.org. Service: Project OSRM. Terms: Project OSRM Terms of Service. Privacy: the OSRM public router is operated by the OSRM community on a best-effort basis; please review the operator notice linked on the OSRM project page.
• MapTiler — map tiles and geocoding calls go to api.maptiler.com. Service: MapTiler. Terms: MapTiler Terms of Service. Privacy: MapTiler Privacy Policy.
• Geoapify — tiles, geocoding and routing calls go to api.geoapify.com and maps.geoapify.com. Service: Geoapify. Terms: Geoapify Terms and Conditions. Privacy: Geoapify Privacy Policy.

Each provider’s “Powered by …” attribution string is shown on the customer-facing map only when you tick “Show provider credit” under WooCommerce → Settings → RouteMile → Map Provider. The default is OFF per the WordPress.org Plugin Directory Guideline 10; you should turn it ON whenever your selected provider’s licence requires visible credit.

This plugin does not set its own cookies, embed tracking pixels, or otherwise contact the visitor’s browser beyond what the chosen provider does directly.

Configuration

Map provider: which one?

• OpenStreetMap (default, no key) — free, works instantly. Best for small/low-volume stores; address lookups are throttled by OSM’s usage policy.
• Google Maps — best data quality and road distances; needs a Google Cloud account with billing enabled.
• MapTiler — free key, 100k tile loads + geocodes/month; no road routing.
• Geoapify — free key, 3,000 requests/day covering tiles, geocoding and road routing.

You can switch providers at any time — orders already placed are not affected.

Getting a Google Maps key

1. Go to Google Cloud Console and create (or pick) a project.
2. Enable Maps JavaScript API, Geocoding API, and Distance Matrix API.
3. Create an API key under APIs & Services → Credentials.
4. Paste it into WooCommerce → Settings → RouteMile → Map Provider → “Google Maps JavaScript API Key”.
5. Recommended: also paste a second key into the “Server-side API Key” field and restrict each one:
   • Browser key → restrict to your domain under Application restrictions → HTTP referrers (https://*.yourdomain.com/*).
   • Server key → restrict to your server’s IP address. The plugin automatically uses this one for behind-the-scenes distance/geocoding calls.

Getting a MapTiler or Geoapify key

MapTiler: sign up at cloud.maptiler.com and copy a key.
Geoapify: sign up at myprojects.geoapify.com and create a project key.
Paste either into the “Provider API Key” field that appears when you select that provider. Restrict the key to your domain in the provider’s dashboard if it offers referrer restrictions.

Delivery fees

Choose flat rate, per-kilometre, or distance tiers under Delivery Fee Settings — only the fields relevant to your choice are shown. Optional free-delivery threshold and minimum order amount are on the same screen.

Opening hours

Set per-weekday times, tick “Open all day” for 24-hour days, or use the special-occasion override to stay open despite a closed schedule. The admin-bar “Deliveries: Open/Closed” toggle is always the master switch.

Security Recommendations

This plugin handles real orders and real money (including cash on delivery). A few settings matter beyond the plugin itself:

• Use HTTPS. Checkout coordinates, rider sessions, and admin logins must travel encrypted. Most hosts offer free Let’s Encrypt certificates.
• Restrict your map keys. Browser-exposed keys (Google JS, MapTiler, Geoapify tiles) should be locked to your domain in the provider’s dashboard; the Google server-side key should be locked to your server IP. Keys without restrictions can be abused if extracted from your page source.
• Limit who sees what. Managers/admins need edit_shop_orders or manage_woocommerce; riders only need the “Delivery Boy” role — they see only their own assigned orders and never other agents’ data.
• Cash settlement is trust-based by design. The plugin records exactly how much cash each rider collected and what was handed over (with who approved what, when), but physical cash counts must still be reconciled by a human.
• Back up before big changes. Standard WordPress database backups cover all RouteMile data (orders stay in WooCommerce’s own tables).