When you click "Shipping" from the left hand menu, the Shipping menu is displayed. This menu allows you to configure and maintain the shipping methods and rates available for your store. From here you can add, edit, or delete shipping methods.
A store can have any number of shipping methods defined. Each method will have a specific cost based on the shipping class and defined fee schedule.
AbleCommerce provides three different types of shipping methods: Flat Fee, Matrix by Weight, and Matrix by Cost. Flat Fee assigns a single shipping fee regardless of the contents of a shipment. Matrix by Weight calculates the rate based upon the total weight of a shipment. Matrix by Cost calculates the rate based upon the total cost of a shipment. Both Matrix by Weight and Matrix by Cost use a merchant defined sliding scale to determine the appropriate shipping charge.
Additionally, every shipping method is associated with specific ship-from and ship-to locations. The ship-from location indicates which warehouse(s) provide the shipping method. The ship-to locations indicate which countries the shipping method is available for.
A store can have any number of shipping methods defined and each can be of a different type. By defining multiple shipping methods, merchants can present a wide variety of shipping services to customers. This also allows the merchant to provide services from any number of shipping companies depending on availability and cost effectiveness.
Some merchants do not wish to charge shipping fees to customers. In this scenario, create a Flat Fee shipping method titled "Free Shipping" (or another appropriate title) and set both the fee and surcharge to 0. Apply this to the desired ship-from and ship-to locations. This will create a shipping with no associated cost.
From the Shipping Menu, click Add. This will take you to a page shown below.
Select the class of shipping method that you want to add and click Next. Proceed to the section that explains the set up of the chosen shipping class.
Flat Fee shipping will add the same shipping cost to an order regardless of the total cost of the order, how much the shipment weighs, or its shipping destination. You can give customers options on delivery times by setting up multiple flat fee shipping methods.
Let's say that you set up USPS Express for $12.00 and USPS Priority for $3.50. Upon check out, the customer will select how quickly that they would like their merchandise shipped and the corresponding cost will be calculated to the total of their order.
If you want an additional cost to be added into the shipping cost, enter it here. This is normally used to cover extra costs that go into shipping such as labor and supplies.
Enter the cost that will be added to every order.
Select whether the shipping cost entered is a Fixed Amount, a percentage of Total Weight, or a percentage of Total Cost.
Matrix by Weight shipping will calculate a shipping fee based on how much the shipment weighs. This is the recommended shipping calculation for companies that have products that vary a great deal in weight. The ability to charge different costs depending on the weight of the shipment helps to keep the company's shipping costs down when heavy items are shipped, yet keep the cost reasonable for customers who purchase products that are light in weight.
If you decide to use matrix by weight, you will set up weight brackets and how much shipping will cost if the shipment falls within that bracket. For example: 1 pound up to 5 pounds will cost $3.00, 6 pounds up to 12 pounds will cost $8.00. Just as with the flat fee, you can set up multiple shipping fees depending on the delivery time. Using the first weight bracket above, 1 pound up to 5 pounds will cost $3.00 using Ground and 1 pound up to 5 pounds will cost $18.00 using Next Day.
If you enter fractional weights (e.g. 5.5 pounds) on the product detail screens, be sure the weight scale is set to catch them. The scale described above wouldn't work if a product weight was entered as 5.5 pounds. In order for the AbleCommerce to calculate weights entered as fractions correctly, the scale would also need to be set in fractions (1 pound up to 5.00 pounds is $5 and 5.01 pounds up to 20.00 pounds is $10 and so on.).
Additionally, merchants can further configure the shipping method by setting the type field for each range in the matrix. This allows a shipping method to use features from all three types of shipping and provides even more flexibility in calculating shipping charges. Merchants can now create methods that mirror real world scenarios, like charging a flat minimum fee for shipments up to 10 pounds and 35 cents for each additional pound.
If you want an additional cost to be added into the shipping cost, enter it here. This is normally used to cover extra costs that go into shipping such as labor and supplies.
Enter the minimum weight that will be associated with the cost you will specify in the Rate text box. Leave field empty to specify no minimum.
Enter the maximum weight that will be associated with the cost you will specify in the rate text box. Leave field empty to specify no maximum.
Enter the cost that will be used to calculate the shipping fee if the weight of a shipment falls into the defined weight range.
The type field indicates how the Rate is calculated for the range. You can choose from Fixed Amount, Percent (%) of Total Weight, or Percent (%) of Total Cost.
Matrix by Cost shipping is much like matrix by weight but instead of using a weight scale, you are using a cost scale. In this case, the cost is the total of all products being purchased. There are two common scenarios for using a Matrix by Cost shipping method. In the first scenario, the cost of shipping is increased with the total cost of an order to compensate for higher shipping fees. The second scenario is to decrease the cost of shipping as the order cost increases as an incentive for the customer to purchase more. Just as with Matrix by Weight, you can use the Type field to specify how a rate is calculated for each range.
If you want an additional cost to be added into the shipping cost, enter it here. This is normally used to cover extra costs that go into shipping such as labor and supplies.
Enter the minimum cost that will be associated with the rate you will specify. Leave field empty to specify no minimum.
Enter the maximum weight that will be associated with the rate that you will specify. Leave field empty to specify no maximum.
Enter the cost that will be used to calculate the shipping fee if the cost of a shipment falls into the defined price range.
The type field indicates how the Rate is calculated for the range. You can choose from Fixed Amount, Percent (%) of Total Weight, or Percent (%) of Total Cost.
