Overview
Planned Service Areas enhance the unserviceable address flow in Checkout. They help you capture and organize interest from people who can’t get service yet but live in locations where you plan to launch soon.
They enable tailored “coming soon” messaging, waitlist sign-ups tied to specific projects, and clean, project-specific lead lists you can action when service goes live.
In this article, we’ll cover what a Planned Service Area is, how to configure it, how matching works at checkout, and how to use reports when a project launches.
Understanding a Planned Service Area
A Planned Service Area distinguishes between generic unserviceable addresses and addresses in locations where you intend to launch service soon. When an unserviceable address is inside a Planned Service Area, Checkout swaps the generic “no service” message for “coming soon” and presents a waitlist form. Submissions are stored with the address and linked to the specific Planned Service Area report for later outreach.
Planned Service Areas are not an order mode. They don’t place orders; they instead improve lead capture and reporting for unserviceable addresses.
Configuring Planned Service Areas
To add a new Planned Service Area, go to Settings > Checkout > Planned service areas > New planned service area.
Enter general information
- In Planned service area, enter a clear project name (e.g., Quebec City Phase 1).
- In Slug, enter a URL-friendly identifier you’ll reuse for workflow-based matching (e.g.,
quebec-city).
Choose a data source
Select how you will define the Planned Service Area:
- Coverage area — Use an existing Coverage Area configured in gaiia. Then select the Coverage area from the dropdown (use “Add a new one here” if needed).
- Custom — Use your Product Availability Workflow to assign addresses to this Planned Service Area by its Slug.
When you click Custom, the Coverage area selector is hidden. (See the New planned service area screen for reference.)
Implementation note: Slug-based workflow logic is typically implemented with assistance from gaiia. Contact gaiia Support if you’d like to enable or modify this logic for your tenant.
Understanding how Planned Service Areas work
When an address is unserviceable
When a customer enters an address where no internet plans are available:
- An Unserviceable Address record is created within the Unserviceable Address report.
- Checkout displays a generic “We don’t serve your address” message.
- A lead form appears requesting name, email, and phone number.
- The lead is attached to the Unserviceable Address record.
When the address is inside a Planned Service Area
If the unserviceable address falls within a defined Planned Service Area:
- The address is still stored as an Unserviceable Address.
- Checkout displays “coming soon” messaging instead of the generic message.
- The lead form is presented as a waitlist sign-up to clarify intent.
- This creates an entry in a dedicated Planned Service Areas report that includes address details, any provided customer info, and a reference to the matched Planned Service Area(s) as well as a unique URL to continue their checkout flow.
Rules that apply: If plans are available (via Coverage Areas or a custom Product Availability Workflow), plans are shown and the Planned Service Area flow is skipped. A single address can match multiple Planned Service Areas; one submission links the lead to all matched areas.
Setting the service status
Every Planned Service Area carries a Service status that controls what a prospective customer sees at checkout. You set it from the Planned areas list, not from the edit form.
Changing the status requires the Admin > Checkout > Planned service areas > Edit permission.
| Status | What a prospective customer sees at checkout |
|---|---|
| “Planned” | The default for a new area. Anyone entering an address inside the area gets the “coming soon” message and can join your waitlist. |
| “Ready for service” | The area is open for business. Addresses inside it are treated as serviceable and any products assigned to the coverage area appear in checkout. |
| “Disabled” | Addresses inside the area are reported as unserviceable. No waitlist form is offered, but existing waitlist entries are kept. |
To change the status:
- Go to Settings > Checkout > Planned areas.
- Open the Ellipsis menu on the row of the area you want to change.
Choose Set planned coverage as ready for service, Set planned coverage as planned, or Set planned coverage as disabled. Only the statuses the area is not already in are offered.
The confirmation dialog spells out the effect of the status you picked before anything changes.
- Click
Confirm.
Setting an area to “Ready for service” does not by itself make plans purchasable. If no products are assigned within the configured coverage area, addresses there are still reported as unserviceable at checkout. Assign your products first, then change the status.
When you set an area to “Ready for service” and it has people on its waitlist, gaiia tells you how many prospective customers are waiting and offers a View report shortcut straight to the checkout report, so you can start outreach immediately.
Prefer “Disabled” over deleting an area you want to pause. Deleting erases all related conditions and everyone on the waitlist, and cannot be undone.
Leveraging Planned Service Areas for expansion projects
Create one Planned Service Area per construction or expansion project. When the project goes live, use your Planned Service Area to quickly mobilize interested contacts:
- Pull the waitlist report for the Planned Service Area to retrieve all interested contacts.
- Export the list to your marketing platform for targeted announcements.
- Share the special Checkout URL provided in the report so that resulting orders are linked back to the Planned Service Area for reporting.
The Checkout URLs are only added to the report once the Planned Service Area has been set to “Ready for service”.
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