Shipping Method Setup Examples
Your store's shipping setup may range from using a simple, singular shipping rate to more specific shipping categories and rates. In this article, we will go through one example for each of the Base Calculator offered
In this example, you run a store that sells one main product to the United States and Europe and ships from a single location. You work with two carriers:
- USPS Ground (to the US)
- FedEx (to Europe)
You can easily anticipate the shipping costs of any order; thus, offering a flat rate to your customers makes the most sense.
Let's put the pricing as follows:
- For USPS shipments: $5 for the first item, regardless of the quantity. (Flat rate per package.)
- For FedEx shipments: $10 for each item, regardless of the quantity. (Flat rate per package.)
To achieve this setup, you need the following configuration:
- One shipping category: In this example, you only sell one type of product (t-shirts), so you only need to define one default shipping category. Each product would use this shipping category.
- One stock location: At least one stock location is required. You are shipping all items from the exact location so that you can use the default stock location. More on Stock location in this document
- Two shipping methods: In this case, USPS and FedEx.
Please refer to the Shipping Method document for more information
USPS Shipping Method
FedEx Shipping Method
- Two zones: Because your shipping methods are bound to specific geographical regions, you can assign one zone for the United States and another for Europe. To ensure that your customers select the accurate shipping rate, make sure to select "Require manual approval" when creating Zones.
Please refer to this document to learn more about Zones.
For each package that is shipped, this calculator takes the package's total and charges a percentage of it. For example:
- An order has one shipment and total of the three items is $120.00.
- The calculator's is set to 10
- The shipping is calculated as 10% of $120.00: $120.00 * (10 / 100) = 12
You can select this option for products in specific stock locations or categories.
The calculator provides a flexible rate depending on the items in a package. (Or, a subset of specific items in a package.) It has the following preferences:
- first_item : The shipping price for the first item(s).
- additional_item: The shipping price for subsequent items.
- max_items: The maximum number of items that the additional rate applies to.
- currency: The currency. This value must match an available shipping method. The default value is your store's default currency setting.
For example, if you configure the First Item field to $6, the Additional Item field to $4, and the Max Items field to 5, the cumulative shipping rate of your order would break down to:
One item - The total shipping rate is equal to $6
Two items - The shipping rate is equal to $10
Three items - The shipping rate is equal to $14
Four items - The shipping rate is equal to $18
Five items - The shipping rate is equal to $22
Six items - The shipping rate is equal to $28
Once the Max Items threshold is reached, the First Item shipping rate is applied to the next additional product and the pattern starts over
Two items in Cart:
Six items in Cart:
The calculator computes a value for every item on an order. This is useful for providing a discount for a specific product without affecting other products. It has the following preferences:
Amount: The amount per item to calculate.
Currency: This value must match an available shipping method. The default value is your store's default currency setting.
Suppose your rate per item is $7; if your customers select three products in their order, the shipment is $21
This order contains three items
This setting will treat a bundle a one item
The calculator is helpful when you want to provide a discount for an order over a certain price. The calculator has the following preferences:
- minimal_amount: The minimum amount for the line items total to trigger the calculator.
- normal_amount:The amount to discount from the order if the line items total is less than the minimal_amount.
- discount_amount:The amount to discount from the order if the line items total is equal to or greater than the minimal_amount.
- currency: This value must match an available shipping method. The default value is your store's default currency setting.
Suppose you want to charge your customers $4.95 for their orders up to $40, or $6.95 if your customers spend between $40 and $95, and offer free shipping if they spend $95 or more.
Add $40 in your minimal_amount, add 4.95 in normal_amount and 6.95 in discount_amount
in Settings --> Store make sure that the variable FREE_SHIPPING_THRESHOLD is configured with a value of 95
The FREE_SHIPPING_THRESHOLD overrides the Price Sack, so make sure it is not less than the Minimal Amount
For instance, using the example above, if your Threshold value is 50, any orders $50 and up will have free shipping.
Another example: if your customers spend $30, the shipping rate is $4.95
Another example when your customer spends $90, the shipping rate is $6.95
When your customers spend over $95, the shipping is free
You can select your shipment for a flat rate or ship it for free by selecting the "free" checkbox.
Your Flat Rate is configured in your Environment Variables section under Settings --> Stores
If the variable is not listed, scroll down and add SHIPPING_FLAT_RATE with a value of your choice and click the checkmark to Save
If you want the Shipping to be free. Select the Free checkbox
You will see that it overrides the SHIPPING_FLAT_RATE variable.
You can automatically calculate shipping costs based on shipment weight. The cost will be presented to the customer at checkout.
The cost will recalculate automatically when a customer adds or removes products from their cart.
The calculator computes cost based on the weight of a shipment and not on an order. If an order splits into multiple shipments, the calculator will add individual costs for each shipment.
Select Item Weight Shipping.
Input the currency code for shipping costs. The default is USD.
If you select another Currency, ensure you have the front-end appropriately set up.
The calculator presently supports three weight tiers.
Each weight tier contains a weight limit and an amount. The weight limit is the maximum total shipment weight for the specified shipping amount. If the total shipment weight exceeds the weight limit for a tier, the shipping cost will advance to the next tier.
The third tier is the default tier and will be assigned to any shipment that exceeds the tier 2 weight limit. There is no weight limit on tier 3; it is the most a customer will pay for shipping a shipment.
Consider the tier configuration below:
Examples of shipment weight and costs:
| |
|---|---|
Total shipment weight | Shipment cost ($) |
4 | 100 |
5 | 100 |
6 | 200 |
9 | 200 |
10 | 200 |
11 | 500 |
25 | 500 |
The small variant weighs 2.5 pounds. Shipping cost for a single unit falls within the tier 1 limit.
If two more units are added (bringing the total to three), the total weight increases to 7.5 pounds. The shipping cost advances to tier 2.
Even if you are shipping a ludicrous number of products, the total shipping amount will be capped at the tier 3 amount.
You can add a custom message below the shipping and billing address collection at checkout. For more information, please refer to the Environment Variables document