Overview
Shipping options form part of the shipping matrix, linking shipping categories and shipping rates to display to customers on product, shopping cart and checkout pages.
Please Note: This article is for advanced users that wish to set up the individual components of a
shipping option manually. For most shipping setups we recommend the steps in one of
these articles.
In this article
Create a Shipping Option
To create a shipping option:
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In your Maropost Commerce control panel navigate to Settings & Tools > Shipping.
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Locate Shipping Options, in the Shipping section.
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On the Shipping Options page, click Add New Shipping Option and select Add New Shipping Option from the drop down list.
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Enter the relevant details:
| Field | Description | Visibility |
|---|
| ID | Generated by the system | Internal |
| Name | The name of the shipping option. This is what will be viewed by the customer if it is made visible on your web store. You can choose a broad option, like “Standard Shipping” or you can be specific, such as “Australia Post Express eParcel”. However, if you have multiple options, you need the option name to be easily identified. | Customer Facing |
| Status | This field controls whether the option is active (available) or inactive (unavailable) in all parts of the system. | Internal |
| Visible to Customer | This field controls whether the option is visible to customers on the website front end. | Internal |
| Visible to Staff | This field controls whether the option is visible to customers to control panel users. You may choose to have shipping options that are active, but only available to control panel users. | Internal |
| Can Deliver to PO Box | This field controls whether the option will display to an order with a PO box address. It can be used to eliminate a shipping option for carriers that do not deliver to po boxes. This does not apply to ebay orders, as the address details are provided after the transaction has been completed. | Internal |
| Sort Order | This field controls the order that shipping options are made available both on the website front end, and in the control panel, and which of these is the default option. | Internal |
| Description | This information is visible by front end website customers, and can be used to provide further information regarding the service. For example, estimated shipping times, or the address for a pick up option. | Customer Facing |
| Dispatch Email Text | Text emailed to customer. Supports HTML. | Customer Facing |
| User Group Visibility | This can be used to limit shipping options to specific groups/levels* on your website front end or control panel. For example, you could offer a better or faster shipping service, but make this available only to customers in “wholesale group b”. When all groups are ticked, this option will be made available to all customers. *customer groups/levels are set on a customer basis, and can be edited on the customer card. | Internal |
| Pickup/Delivery | Setting this option to Pickup will move this shipping option to the top of the availability list as well as enable the order to be placed in a Pending Pickup status. | Internal |
| Method Type | Deprecated | N/A |
| Service Level | Deprecated | N/A |
| Product Type | Deprecated | N/A |
| Minimum Charge | The minimum and maximum charge fields can be used to limit or set a base charge for this option. If you do not set these, it will default to the charges in the shipping option. | Internal |
| Maximum Charge | The minimum and maximum charge fields can be used to limit or set a base charge for this option. If you do not set these, it will default to the charges in the shipping option. | Internal |
| Minimum Weight | The minimum and maximum weight fields can be used to limit the availability of a shipping option based on weight. If these are not set, it will default to the information in the shipping option. | Internal |
| Maximum Weight | The minimum and maximum weight fields can be used to limit the availability of a shipping option based on weight. If these are not set, it will default to the information in the shipping option. | Internal |
| Shipping Option Discount | You can choose to offer free or discounted shipping over a specific order subtotal by entering values in these fields. This can be applied before or after discounts. | Internal |
Map Shipping Categories
Shipping options can be available to select products by assigning them a category. Categories are in turn assigned to products, to give you greater control over how products can be sent. If in doubt, use the default category.
You also need to select the rates that apply to this shipping option. Rates determine the cost of postage based on the customer's location, and can be calculated a number of ways. See this article to set up your rates.
Additional display options
This option only applies to products in the categories defined above.
Checking this option will only allow this option to display if a product from any of the Shipping Categories is present on the order.
Option only available when order contains a product from each of the above defined shipping categories.
Checking this option will only allow this option to display if a product from every Shipping Categories is present on the order.
This can be used to group certain types of products together with a specific shipping carrier.
Shipping Availability
Maropost Commerce supports the ability to modify the availability of shipping options based on various rules.
Maropost Commerce allows you to control the specifics of when shipping options are available and deliverable. These settings should not be changed from the default unless you have very specific delivery requirements with your chosen Shipping Carrier, as incorrect configuration can result in the customer being unable to checkout.
Availability at the Checkout
- Available Days
- Available Hours within a Day
These check boxes define when a delivery option will be made available. For example, if the option is for same day delivery, but this service is not available on weekends, you would clear the Sat and Sun (Saturday and Sunday) checkboxes. Similarly, you can make an option unavailable at specific times of the day by using the time checkboxes.
Tip: These options are especially useful if your products have expiry dates (food hampers, flowers, chocolate, etc).
Delivery Dates
- Delivery Cut of Times
- Available Delivery Days
- Days a Shipping Carrier can Pick up on
- Delivery Only Available on (Date Group)
- Delivery Not Available on (Date Group)
- Days a Shipping Carrier Can Travel On
- Days a Shipping Carrier Can Not Travel On
These fields affect the order delivery date options available to the customer at checkout.
You can define a delivery cut-off time and specific days. You can also use the Edit dates button to add specific dates to either permit or block delivery.
For example, you could make a specific option that is available / unavailable only on public holidays.
| Field | Description | Displayed |
|---|
| Related Shipping Options | In this area, you can map your shipping categories to the appropriate shipping options, by clicking “add shipping option to shipping category”. If you are not using shipping categories to specify shipping options, simply use the default category here. The example below maps the default category to the shipping option “allied express”. | Internal |
| Related eBay Shipping Services | In this area, you map the shipping option to the eBay shipping service. Choose your eBay site from the drop down box, and the search for the eBay shipping service by typing the name of the service in the box. Select the correct option and it will be added. The example below shows the option being linked to the eBay Australia airfreight service code. | Internal |
| Shipping Option delivery availability | This area allows you to control the specifics of when specific options are available and deliverable. These settings should not be changed from the default unless you have very specific delivery requirements, as incorrect configuration can result in the customer being unable to checkout. | Internal |
| Option available on | These checkboxes define when a delivery option will be made available. For example, if you offer same day delivery, but this service is not available on weekends, you would uncheck: “sat” and “sun”. Similarly, you can make an option unavailable at specific times of the day, by using the time checkboxes. | Internal |
| Delivery date settings | These fields affect the order delivery date options. You can define a delivery cutoff time, and specific days. You can also use the “edit dates” button to add specific dates to either permit or block delivery. For example, you could make a specific option that is available/unavailable only on public holidays. | Internal |
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