The peaks are planned from data or they are guessed. What sold last Christmas, in what proportions and how much was left over on the twenty-seventh, is what makes this year's production a plan rather than a hope.
Batches and best-before dates have to be tracked. Chocolate has a defined life, allergen information attaches to a batch, and a withdrawal without that record means clearing everything rather than one production run.
A gift order is a delivery date with a product attached. It has to arrive before an occasion, which makes dispatch scheduling far more critical than in ordinary retail — a day late is a completely failed order.
Corporate orders are a different transaction. A quote, an approved design, a purchase order and an invoice at thirty days behave nothing like a counter sale and should not be squeezed through the till.