Shipping Methods
Shipping Method Architecture
The Shipping Method system is composed of five concepts:
Information about your shipping carrier and your online store that is associated with
Shipping Categories allow for descriptions of different shipping methods to be assigned.
Base Calculator will enable you to calculate shipping rates based on order or package.
Zones serve as a mechanism for grouping distinct geographic areas together. The shipping address entered during checkout defines the order's zone (or zones). The zone limits the available shipping methods for the order. It also defines regional taxation rules.
Tax Category is used to group tax rates—all products and shipping methods are assigned a tax category.
Information
Name is required: for example, Really Fast. This is what your customers will see at Checkout.
Code is required and is defined by your 3PLs. To calculate shipping charges on the order item, you must assign shipping calculation codes to either a product or category.
For example Standard_Shipping
Service Level is provided by your 3PL and defines the carrier used for your Standard_Shipping. Example: FedEx SmartPost
Channels If you have multiple channels, select it here or leave it blank if you want the shipping method to apply to all channels.
Channels are a way to define/organize orders within the OMS. Effectively a channel says “how” and which avenue an order came through. If an order is created manually via the OMS admin, the channel defaults to “admin.” Suppose the order was a subscription, the channel defaults to “subscription,” etc.
Easypost carriers: usually left blank because Easypost can auto-identify the carrier; if Easypost cannot do that, the system will try to identify the carriers manually, and in this case, we will ask you to add all of your carriers: USPS, UPS, FedEx.
Tracking URL: You can set up a static URL that will be used with a tracking code to generate a tracking URL.
When a tracking code is generated and received for an order shipment, a tracking URL will automatically be created by appending the tracking code to the pre-defined static URL.
Let’s take the example that my tracking code is:
“1n24nrrsan531” And the tracking URL on the shipping method is set with the following:
“https://www.ups.com/track_package?tracking_code=:tracking”
The tracking URL on my shipment will be:
https://www.ups.com/track_package?tracking_code=1n24nrrsan531”
The “tracking” field is replaced with the tracking code.
Internal Name: This field is only used internally
Stores: It is recommended you select your online store here. If you want the shipping method to apply to all stores, choose all your Stores.
Carrier: is not required if you use a specific carrier for your shipping method; for instance, FedEx 2nd Day Air, enter FedEx or use USPS.
Available to all stock locations: Uncheck to select specific stock locations for this shipping method.
Available to users: If you do not select "available to users," the shipping method will not display to your customers at checkout, but you'll still be able to use that method in the OMS only. Suppose you want to upgrade the shipping for your customer; you can see that shipping method in the Order's Shipment tab.
Shipping Categories
Shipping Categories allow for descriptions of different shipping methods to be assigned.
The OMS creates a Default shipping Category. If you need to add more categories, click on
Shipping Categories tab and create a new category.
You can further restrict when shipping methods are available to customers by using shipping categories. If you assign two products to two different shipping categories, you could ensure that these items are always sent as separate shipments. For example, suppose your store can only ship oversized products via a specific carrier called "USPS Oversized Parcels." In that case, you could create a shipping category called "Oversized" for that shipping method, which can then be assigned to oversized products.
Zones
Zones are groups of States or Countries.
To setup your zone, please refer to the Shipping Zones document
Shipping calculators
A shipping calculator is the component responsible for calculating the shipping rate for each available shipping method.
- Flat percent
- Flat rate (per order)
- Flat rate per package item
- Flexible rate per package item
- Price Slack (for variable shipping cost that depends on order total)
- Flat Rate or Free
- Item Weight Shipping
Please refer to Shipment Setup Examples for detailed information about these shipping rates
Tax Category
You can use tax categories to ensure particular products are taxed as required. For example, if your business is in Minnesota, you need to charge tax on tech products but do not need to charge tax on clothing. You could set up two tax categories, Clothing, and Tech, which you would apply to products of either type.
We calculate the correct tax adjustment to attach to a shipment from the selected tax category on a shipping method. Each tax category has a tax code that identifies a specific rate.
You tax categories are located under Taxes --> Tax Categories
Please refer to Setting Automated Taxes for detailed information about Tax Categories