Shipping rates are what you charge your customer in addition to the cost of the products that they order. The cost of any shipping rates are added to a customer's order at checkout.
You can choose a variety of shipping rates and methods to appear as options for your customers, or keep it simple and provide a single option or just make it free.
When you create shipping rates, you can also specify specific restrictions or rules around which shipping methods are available based on the contents of the customer's cart, the value of the order, etc.
Manual shipping rates
Manual shipping rates are specific shipping amounts that you charge a customer based on their order and customer is presented with options based on your rate configuration.
For example, if you want to charge $4.99 for shipping each time a customer places an order, then you would set up a $4.99 flat shipping rate.
The benefit to flat shipping rates is that you have control over precisely what a customer is charged at checkout.
Flat rates
Flat rates provide a flat rate shipping cost regardless of what is in the cart.
For example, if you want customers to be able to choose between regular shipping costing $4.99 or expedited shipping costing $19.99, then you would set up two general flat rates, one for each option.
These two rates then appear as options in your checkout for any customer's order.
Priced-based rates
Priced-based rates let you set minimum and maximum cart values for for your manual shipping rates.
For example, suppose that you wanted to charge different rates for orders below and over $100. Using priced-based rates, you could set a flat shipping rate of $4.99 for orders under $100, and a flat shipping rate of $9.99 for orders over $100.
Using the example above, a customer with a cart valued at $35 would have only the $4.99 shipping option appear at checkout.
Weight-based rates
Weight-based rates let you set minimum and maximum cart total weights for your manual shipping rates.
For example, suppose that you wanted to charge different rates for orders below and over 5 pounds. Using weight-based rates, you could set a flat shipping rate of $5 for orders under 5 pounds, and a flat shipping rate of $10 for orders over 5 pounds.
Using the example above, a customer with a cart that has a combined weight of 5 pounds would have only the $10 shipping option appear at checkout.
Free shipping rates
Any manual shipping rate can be made into a free shipping rate by setting the shipping cost to $0. For example, if you want to offer free shipping on all orders, then you can create a general manual shipping rate with a cost of $0.
Instead, if you wanted to offer free shipping on orders over $100, then set up a priced-based manual rate of $0 for orders over $100.
Calculated shipping rates
Calculated shipping rates are shipping costs that are provided by any shipping provider that your configure for your store.
When a customer reaches checkout, their cart information is sent to the shipping provider, and they return what you should charge for shipping.
The benefit of shipping provider calculated shipping rates is that you can pass on the exact cost of shipping an order directly to the customer.
Calculated shipping rates from shipping provider
Shipping providers could use any of the following when determining how much to charge for shipping:
- Shipping origin
- Shipping destination
- Weight of the shipment
- Value of the shipment
- Dimensions of the shipment box
- Dimensional weight
- Requested speed of delivery
For example, suppose that a customer from Portland, Oregon., USA reaches the checkout with a 1 pound order. Your store is located in San Diego, California and your default box size is 2" x 10" x 3" weighing 0.75 pounds. If you connect with Easypost.com account and select USPS as a provider, Easypost calculates the possible shipping options for your customer based on the order criteria, and provides them at checkout for the customer to choose from.
Customer experience choosing shipping rates
The shipping settings that you use affect what your customers see at checkout.
After you've set up your shipping rates, you can place a test order using your own checkout to see what options your customers have and make sure that your rates are appearing correctly.
How your customers choose a shipping method
As soon as your customers reach checkout and enter a shipping address, their shipping methods are displayed. Although you can create many shipping options, each customer is shown only those applicable to their order. The cheapest option is shown as the default.
Note: Your customers won't see their shipping methods until they enter a shipping address.
If your customer leaves the checkout page to change the contents of their order, then their shipping rates might change. Since most shipping rates are calculated based on an order's weight, any significant changes to its contents can make the original shipping rate inaccurate. When your customer returns to the checkout process after changing their order, they're redirected back to the same step of the checkout process. They won't receive the new, recalculated shipping rate until they're ready to complete their purchase.
Customers who enter a shipping address in a region that isn't included in your shipping zones receives no shipping rates and will be able to checkout without shipping charges on the order. You will always can contact the customer to collect additional shipping charges once known.
Shipping Rates List
Navigate to 'omniCommerce \ Shipping \ Shipping Rates' to manage existing list of rates.
Create or Edit Shipping Rate
Navigate to 'omniCommerce \ Shipping \ Shipping Rates' and click Create to add a new shipping rate.
- Select Shipping Provider if any.
- Give a descriptive name, it will appear in the list of rates at checkout.
- Enter price charged for this rate. For FREE shipping, enter 0.
- Optionally add Handling Fee as a fixed amount or a percentage of the order.
- Select a currency in which is rate is charged. It is useful if your store supports multi currency.
- You can optionally configure Condition when rate is applied. Options are Based on item weight or Based on order price.
