Shipping

Select and Configure Shipping Services and Rates

ShopSite includes a variety of methods for calculating shipping rates for orders. Select what shipping calculation methods will be offered, and how shipping and handling rates will be calculated for orders.

Note:

If you need to charge tax on shipping costs, you can enable that in Commerce Setup > Sales Tax. You should consult a tax expert on this, as shipping charges may or may not be taxable, depending on where your store is located, whether you add a "handling" charge, whether your shipping rates are exact or approximate, and whether passage of title occurs before or after you ship.

Shipping Rate Calculations and Services

Select which shipping rate calculation methods or services you wish to use for orders, then click Configure to configure settings for that service.

ShopSite Shipping Rate Calculations

You may use a simple table to calculate shipping rates for up to ten different shipping methods. ShopSite calculated shipping can be done using one of the following tables:

Shipping by Weight - Calculate shipping charges using the product weight and a table you create. Click Configure to create the rate table.
Shipping by Currency - Calculate shipping charges based off the product cost and a table you create. Click Configure to create the rate table.
Flat Shipping - Charge a single shipping rate for all orders. Click Configure to specify the rate for each selected shipping method.
Flat Base Each Shipping - Calculate shipping charges based off a flat base rate, plus an additional charge for each product ordered. Click Configure to specify the base and per-product rate for each selected shipping method.
Flat Each Shipping - Calculate the shipping rate using a flat rate for each item ordered. Click Configure to specify the per-product rate for each selected shipping method.
Base Shipping - Calculate total shipping as the sum of specified shipping prices for each product. You may also specify a minimum shipping rate to use if the combined shipping rate is less than the minimum. Click Configure to specify a minimum rate for each selected shipping method.
Base Plus Shipping - Calculate shipping as the sum of specified shipping prices for each product, plus a base shipping charge. Click Configure to specify the base charge for each selected shipping method.
None - Select this option if you do not want to use a table to calculate shipping rates. You should generally only select this option if you are using a Custom Shipping Add-on or do not charge shipping for any orders.

Shipping Carriers

ShopSite has integrated support for real-time shipping quotes provided by the shipping carriers below. Select the box for any shipping carriers you wish to offer, then Configure rate calculation for the selected carriers.

Note:

When using a real-time shipping quote service, you should also set up a simple shipping table (such as Flat Shipping) to use as an alternate in case of a time-out waiting for the real-time quote provider. The simple shipping rate will be displayed, even when real-time shipping rates are available, so you should name and set your rates in an appropriate manner.

UPS - To use the United Parcel Service real-time shipping calculator, click Configure to set up your shipping options. Note that configuring UPS requires registration with UPS. After configuring your shipping options, check the box for UPS.
Federal Express - To use the Federal Express real-time shipping calculator, click Configure to set up your shipping options. Note that configuring FedEx requires registration with FedEx. After configuring your shipping options, check the box for FedEx.
U.S. Postal Service - To use the United States Postal Service real-time shipping calculator, click Configure to set up your shipping options. Note that configuring USPS requires registration with USPS. After configuring your shipping options, check the box for USPS.
Canada Post - To use Canada Post real-time shipping calculator, click Configure to set up your shipping options. Note that configuring Canada Post requires registration with Canada Post. After configuring your shipping options, check the box for Canada Post.
Australia Post - To use Australia Post real-time shipping calculator, click Configure to set up your shipping options. Note that configuring Australia Post requires registration with Australia Post. After configuring your shipping options, check the box for Australia Post.

International

GlobalShopex International provides an alternative to the merchant handling payment from and shipping to international customers. Click Configure to set up the GlobalShopex International feature.

Custom Shipping

Check this box if you want to have ShopSite use a custom shipping add-on program to calculate shipping rates. Click Configure Add-on to specify the program and options to use.

Shopping Cart Screen

Select how you would like the available shipping options displayed to customers in the shopping cart.

Display Shipping Options As

Select how you want ShopSite to display the shipping options:

Pull-down menu - shipping methods will be displayed as options in a pull-down menu. This is a compact way to display a large number of shipping options.
Radio buttons - shipping methods will be displayed in a list of radio buttons. This displays all the shipping options at the same time.
By Shipping Carrier - shipping carriers will be displayed in a selectable list. The shipping methods for the selected carrier will be displayed in a list of radio buttons below the carrier name. Enter the name you want to display on the shopping cart for each carrier.

Shipping Option Sort Order

Select the order in which shipping options should be displayed within each shipping service. Use the Shipping Service Display Order (below) to set the order the services will appear in.

Default Selected Shipping Option

Select whether you want the first listed shipping option to be selected by default when the Shipping page loads..

Shipping Service Display Order

Select Services in this order:, then use the Move Up or Move Down buttons to arrange selected services in the desired order. If you want to emphasize one shipping service, you may want to have it displayed first. If you want to display all shipping methods from all services sorted by cost, choose All service options together.

If no shipping service is available to ship the entire order

Select how to handle orders where a single shipping option is not available for all products in the cart.

Shipping carrier warning and error messages

Check this box to have all shipping-related error messages and warnings displayed to the customer.

Shipping Box Dimensions

If you are using UPS or a Custom Shipping Add-on to calculate shipping charges, you may need to specify the dimensions of each product’s shipping box as well as the product weight to get the correct shipping charges.

Unit of Measure

Select whether your box measurements are in inches or centimeters, whichever is appropriate for your country.

Standard Box Sizes

Enter the dimensions of your standard shipping boxes in the format LxWxH (Length by Width by Height). When you are adding a product or editing product info, you will be able to select from these box sizes in a pull down menu. You can add an optional text description for each box by typing a semicolon between the dimensions and the description. You can list the dimensions or the description first, like this:

24x24x24; Big Square Box

Big Square Box; 24x24x24

Only the dimensions will be sent to UPS or the Custom Shipping Add-On.

You may want to look up the UPS Box Sizes or FedEx Box Sizes.

Handling Charges

In addition to shipping charges, you can add a handling charge to each order. If you have enabled tax on shipping, handling charges will also be taxed.

Handling Charge

Check this box to add a handling charge to each order, based on the values that you define here. The handling charge will be included in the shipping charge; it will notbe displayed as a separate line item in the shopping cart

Handling Charge Formula

Use these fields to create a formula for calculating handling charges. You can define a simple formula, or one based on other costs in the order.

Base - Enter an optional base handling charge for each order. You can enter just a Base charge, just a Plus charge, or a combination of the two. Any Base charge will be added to all orders, regardless of the number of products or the amount of the order, etc.
Plus/Times - Select a criteria for calculating handling charges - in addition to any Base charge that you defined - and then select a multiplication factor. Here are some example:
- None - only the Base charge will be added to orders.
- Subtotal - The handling charge will be calculated as a percentage of the product subtotal, in addition to any Base charge. For example, if you select Subtotal times .05, the handling charge will be 5% of the product subtotal.
- Total Number of Products - The handling charge will be calculated based on the number of products in an order, in addition to any Base charge. For example, if you select Total Number of Products times 1.25, the handling charge will be $1.25 for each product ordered.
- Weight - The handling charge will be calculated as a percentage of the total weight of the order, in addition to any Base charge. For example, if you select Weight times .5, the handling charge will be $0.50 per pound.
- Shipping - The handling charge will be calculated as a percentage of the shipping charge, in addition to any Base charge. For example, if you select Shipping times .1, the handling charge will be 10% of the shipping charge.

Maximum Handling
Charge

Enter an optional maximum handling charge for each order. If the calculated handling charges exceed this amount, ShopSite will charge the maximum instead of the calculated amount. Note that the calculated amount includes the per order charge defined here and any Extra Handling Charges defined for individual products.

Turn Off Handling Charge if this Subtotal reached

Enter an optional value at which ShopSite will not add a handling charge to an order. Leave this field blank to add a handling charge based on the Handling Charge Formula, regardless of the order subtotal.

Free Shipping

Settings in this section apply to both the Free Shipping Threshold and Free Shipping Coupon

Allowed Countries

Click Configure to select which countries will have Free Shipping enabled. This will take you to the Commerce Setup > States and Countries screen, where you can check the Free Ship checkbox for any countries to which free shipping will be allowed. You can use the Exclude ZIP Postal Codes option below to restrict free shipping within allowed countries.

Excluded ZIP Postal Codes

Enter the ZIP or Postal Codes for regions in allowed countries you want excluded from free shipping. For example, a merchant offering free shipping in the contiguous 48 U.S. states would enter the ZIP codes for Alaska and Hawaii to exclude those states.

Free Shipping Threshold

Enable Free Shipping

Check this box to enable free shipping when a minimum cart value is met..

Minimum Amount

Choose whether to use the Product Total (the combined product cost before coupons or volume discounts are calculated) or the Subtotal (after discounts, but before tax and handling charges are applied) to determine the minimum cart subtotal to qualify for free shipping. If the selected total meets the minimum value, the free shipping option will be selected automatically, though the customer will still have the option to select a different shipping method.

Shipping Option Name

Enter the text that you want displayed in the shopping cart for the free shipping option.

Free Shipping Message

Text of message displayed in shopping cart when the free shipping option becomes available.

Free Shipping Coupon

You may create special Coupons that offer free shipping as the discount. This section allows you to enable the Free Shipping option for coupons, and to specify which shipping method to use for free shipping.

Free Shipping coupons will be valid only for countries and ZIP/Postal Codes where Free Shipping is enabled (above).

Enable Free Shipping Coupon Usage

Check this box to enable Free Shipping Coupons. You do not need to have Free Shipping enabled in order to create Free Shipping Coupons. You may then create the coupons by going to ShopSite > Merchandising > Coupons.

Shipping Service to use

Select which of your configured shipping methods to use for free shipping coupons.

ShopSite Help and Resource Center
Last updated: February 26, 2013
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