X-Cart:Shipping Settings
Contents
- 1 Overview
- 2 Roles in shipping settings management
- 3 Shipping Methods
- 4 Real-time Shipping Calculators
- 5 Shipping Charges
- 6 Shipping Markups
- 7 Setting up Shipping
- 8 Troubleshooting
- 9 FAQ
- 9.1 How to set up: $4.95 flat rate shipping fee for all orders?
- 9.2 How to set up: zero shipping rate for orders above $250, and $6.50 flat rate for all other orders?
- 9.3 How to set up: shipping cost of $2.49 for one item, and then +$1.99 for any additional item?
- 9.4 How to set up: shipping cost of $3.00 for 1-4 items, and then +$1.10 for any additional item?
- 9.5 How to set up: shipping charge of 20% of total price, but not over $600?
Overview
X-Cart can be set up to calculate the cost of shipping for products being ordered by customers.
By default, shipping calculation in your store is disabled. If you wish to provide shipping cost calculation to your customers, you must enable this functionality by selecting the check box ENABLE SHIPPING in the 'General settings/Shipping options' section of the store's Admin area.
After you enable shipping cost calculation, you will need to set up the shipping methods that your store will use to deliver orders to customers. You can either define your own shipping methods or use the pre-defined shipping methods provided by such popular carriers as USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL/Airborne, Canada Post and Australia Post.
If you decide to define and use your own shipping methods, the shipping rates for these methods will need to be entered into X-Cart manually.
If you decide to use the shipping methods provided by the carrier companies like USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc, the shipping rates for these methods will need to be obtained from the respective carrier companies. These rates will need to be entered into X-Cart manually or to be obtained in real time from the online shipping calculators provided by the respective carrier companies or InterShipper service.
define shipping methods that will be used by your store to deliver orders to customers and to inform your customers about the shipping methods available to them and about the cost of shipping by these methods. Before placing an order, your customers will be able to get an estimation of shipping cost by different methods and to choose a shipping method by which they wish the order to be shipped.
No shipping calculation
- ENABLE SHIPPING (General settings/Shipping options) = off
Real-time shipping calculation
- ENABLE SHIPPING (General settings/Shipping options) = on
- Enable real-time shipping calculation (General settings/Shipping options) = on
- Activate the real-time shipping methods that you wish to use:
- a) Go to the 'Shipping methods' section.
- b) In the 'Real-time calculated shipping methods' subsection of the 'Shipping methods' dialog box, enable the 'Active' check boxes opposite the methods you wish to use).
- c) Click the Update button.
- Enable your store to use real-time shipping cost calculators
Non-real time shipping calculation
- ENABLE SHIPPING (General settings/Shipping options) = on
- Enable real-time shipping calculation (General settings/Shipping options) = off
Roles in shipping settings management
If you are an X-Cart GOLD administrator/provider:
- You can define the shipping methods that will be used by your store. The methods can be real-time and non-real time (See the chapter Shipping Methods).
- If you decide to use real-time shipping methods, you can enable your store to use real-time shipping cost calculators (See the chapter Real-time Shipping Calculators).
- If you decide to use non-real time shipping methods, you can adjust shipping rates for them (See the chapter Shipping Charges).
- For real-time shipping methods, you can adjust markups (See the chapter Shipping Markups).
If you are an X-Cart PRO administrator:
- You can define the shipping methods that will be used by your store. The methods can be real-time and non-real time (See the chapter Shipping Methods).
- If you decide to use real-time shipping methods, you can enable your store to use real-time shipping cost calculators (See the chapter Real-time Shipping Calculators).
If you are an X-Cart PRO provider:
- You can adjust shipping rates for non-real time shipping methods (See the chapter Shipping Charges).
- You can adjust markups for real-time shipping methods (See the chapter Shipping Markups).
Shipping Methods
X-Cart allows you to define the shipping methods by which your store will ship ordered products to customers. You can define your store's shipping methods using the 'Shipping Methods' section of the Admin area (Settings menu->Shipping methods). The 'Shipping Methods' section provides a dialog box titled 'Edit shipping methods':
There are 2 major groups of shipping methods that you can use:
1. Shipping methods with manually defined rates:
- user-defined methods (listed in the 'Defined shipping methods' subsection of the 'Edit shipping methods’ form)
- methods listed in the ‘Real-time calculated shipping methods’ subsection of the 'Edit shipping methods’ form that do not get rates from real-time calculation services
Rates for these shipping methods can be adjusted within your store.
2. Shipping methods with real-time calculated rates:
- methods listed in the ‘Real-time calculated shipping methods’ subsection of the 'Edit shipping methods’ form that get rates from real-time calculation services.
Rates for these methods are delivered by Intershipper or by special integrated modules from real-time shipping services like UPS, USPS, FedEx, Airborne, etc.
Managing methods with manually defined rates
Adding your own shipping methods
You can create your own shipping methods and define (or allow providers to define) rates for these methods using the 'Shipping charges' section of the Provider area. To add a new shipping method:
1. Click on Shipping Methods in the Settings menu. The 'Edit shipping methods' form will appear.
2. In the 'Add shipping method' subsection specify the name for the new method, the delivery time in days (the average number of days in which ordered products can be shipped to the customer), the weight limit (set the value of these fields to zero if there are no limitations), and the position number (the number affecting the order in which the shipping methods are displayed to your customers).
3. Select National or International from the DESTINATION drop-down box, depending on whether this shipping method can be used for shipping goods to national or international locations. If you select National, this shipping method will not be available to international customers and customers who are not logged in. International shipping methods are only displayed to customers from countries different from the country of shop location.
4. Select COD check box to enable Cash on delivery for this shipping method. A customer then can select COD as a payment method.
5. Click the Update button. The new method will be added to the list in the 'Defined shipping methods' subsection. It will be marked as active.
Editing shipping methods
You can edit shipping methods of your own (listed in the 'Defined shipping methods' subsection) and shipping methods provided by the services listed in 'Real-time calculated shipping methods' subsection. To edit a shipping method:
1. Click on Shipping Methods in the Settings menu. The 'Edit shipping methods' form will appear.
2. Locate the shipping method you want to edit. Your own shipping methods are listed in the 'Defined shipping methods' subsection of the 'Edit shipping methods' form. Methods provided by the services listed in 'Real-time calculated shipping methods' subsection can be accessed by clicking on the names of the shipping services.
3. Make the necessary changes:
- For a real-time calculated shipping method, the delivery time, the weight limit, the position number and COD availability can be changed.
- For a method added by yourself, the name, the delivery time, the destination, the weight limit, the position number and COD availability can be changed.
4. Click the Update button.
Activating/deactivating shipping methods
You can activate/deactivate shipping methods of your own (listed in the 'Defined shipping methods' subsection) and shipping methods provided by the services listed in 'Real-time calculated shipping methods' subsection. To change the status of a shipping method:
1. Click on Shipping Methods in the Settings menu. The 'Edit shipping methods' form will appear.
2. Locate the shipping method you need to activate/deactivate. Your own shipping methods are listed in the 'Defined shipping methods' subsection of the 'Edit shipping methods' form. Methods provided by the services listed in 'Real-time calculated shipping methods' subsection can be accessed by clicking on the names of the shipping services.
3. Select/unselect the check box in the ACTIVE column next to the shipping method the status of which you want to change. You can use the Check all / Uncheck all links to select all the real-time shipping methods on the page.
4. Click the Update button.
Deleting shipping methods
You can delete shipping methods you created. To delete a shipping method:
1. Click on Shipping Methods in the Settings menu. The 'Edit shipping methods' form will appear.
2. In the 'Defined shipping methods' form find the shipping method you need to delete. Click the Delete button next to this shipping method.
Managing methods with real-time calculated rates
Editing shipping methods
You can edit real-time calculated shipping methods provided by the services listed in 'Real-time calculated shipping methods' subsection. To edit a shipping method:
- Click on Shipping Methods in the Settings menu. The 'Edit shipping methods' form will appear.
- Locate the shipping method you want to edit (Methods can be accessed by clicking on the names of shipping services).
- Make the necessary changes: the delivery time, the weight limit, the position number and COD availability can be changed.
- Click the Update button.
Activating/deactivating shipping methods
You can activate/deactivate real-time calculated shipping methods provided by the services listed in 'Real-time calculated shipping methods' subsection. To change the status of a shipping method:
- Click on Shipping Methods in the Settings menu. The 'Edit shipping methods' form will appear.
- Locate the shipping method you need to activate/deactivate (Methods can be accessed by clicking on the names of shipping services).
- Select/unselect the check box in the ACTIVE column next to the shipping method the status of which you want to change. You can use the Check all / Uncheck all links to select all the real-time shipping methods on the page.
- Click the Update button.
Real-time Shipping Calculators
Some carrier companies (like UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL/Airborne, Canada Post and Australia Post) provide real-time shipping rates that allow users to estimate the cost of shipping by methods provided by these companies. Your X-Cart based store has shipping modules that enable it to obtain shipping rates from the real-time shipping calculators of such companies and provide your customers with an estimation of shipping cost for orders before they are placed. Integrated shipping modules are provided for UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL/Airborne, Canada Post and Australia Post. There is also a module allowing your store to obtain shipping rates for UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL/Airborne through InterShipper rate service.
To use X-Cart's shipping modules for obtaining real-time shipping rates, you will need an account with each company that you will use to ship products to your customers (except for Australia Post - for which no account is needed) or an account with InterShipper.
Here you can find the instructions for enabling your store to use real-time shipping cost calculators provided by:
- USPS,
- Canada Post and
For information on setting up your store to use UPS real-time shipping calculator, see UPS Developer Kit
Video tutorial
See also:
Shipping Charges
X-Cart shopping cart software allows you to define shipping rates for each shipping method and destination zone defined by the administrator of your store. This is done by setting up shipping rules in the 'Shipping charges' section (Settings menu->Shipping charges). Each rule defines a shipping rate for a specific shipping situation (e.g. the shipping of an order the weight of which is between 10 and 15 lbs to the country located in zone 2 by UPS Ground should cost that much).
- For International destination zones and International shipping methods correspondingly.
- For National> destination zones and National shipping methods correspondingly.
If your shipping policy is complex you may need to define multiple shipping rules to cover all the cases.
In X-Cart GOLD, both shipping methods and shipping charges are defined by the store administrator. If he fails to define shipping charges for certain shipping methods, such methods will be unavailable to customers.
In X-Cart PRO, the store administrator defines only shipping methods, shipping charges for these methods are defined by providers. If providers fail to define shipping charges for some shipping method, the shipping cost for this method will be "0" (zero).
Defining shipping charges
1. Go to the 'Shipping charges' section.
2. Scroll to the 'Add shipping charge values' section of the 'Shipping charges' form.
3. Define the shipping rule, adjust the fields as follows:
- Shipping method: The shipping method for which you wish the shipping rule to be used.
- Zone: The destination zone for which you wish the shipping rule to be used.
- Apply rate to: Select from DST (Discounted subtotal) or ST (Subtotal) to determine whether shipping should be calculated as a percentage from subtotal with or without discount (if any).
- Weight range: The weight range for which you wish the shipping rule to be used. Must be set in units of weight used by the store.
- Order subtotal range: The order subtotal range for which you wish the shipping rule to be used. Must be set in units of primary currency used by the store.
- Flat charge: The fixed amount that you wish to charge per order. Must be set in units of primary currency used by the store.
- Percent charge: The amount that you wish to charge based on the order subtotal. Must be set in percent.
- Per item charge: The fixed amount that you wish to charge for each item in the shopping cart. Must be set in units of primary currency used by the store.
- Per <unit of weight> charge: The fixed amount that you wish to charge per unit of weight (For example, the amount you wish to charge per kilogram of total order weight). Must be set in units of primary currency used by the store.
4. Click the Add button.
After shipping charges are defined, the cost of shipping in your store will be calculated according to the formula:
SHIPPING = Rate + TOTAL_WEIGHT*Weight_Rate + ITEMS*Item_Rate + SUM*Percent_Rate/100
where:
- SHIPPING is Shipping cost.
- Rate is the amount defined by the 'Flat charge' field.
- Weight_Rate is the amount defined by the 'Per <unit of weight> charge' field.
- Item_Rate is the amount defined by the 'Per item charge' field.
- Percent_Rate is the amount defined by the 'Percent charge' field.
- TOTAL_WEIGHT is the total weight of the order (sum of weights of all the items in the shopping cart).
- ITEMS is the total number of items in the shopping cart.
- SUM is the order total amount.
Modifying shipping charges
1. Go to the 'Shipping charges' section.
2. Select the group of shipping methods the charges for which you need to modify. Select the destination zone.
When the page is reloaded, only the shipping methods belonging to the specified group will be displayed.
3. Change the values that need to be modified (you can change the shipping method, the destination zone, the weight range or the total order amount range, the contents of the Flat charge, Percent charge, Per item charge and Per lb. charge fields)
4. Click the Update button.
Deleting shipping charges
- Go to the 'Shipping charges' section.
- Select the group of shipping methods to which the shipping charge you need to delete applies. Select the destination zone. When the page is reloaded, only the shipping methods belonging to the specified group will be displayed.
- Select the check boxes next to the shipping rule that needs to be deleted. Use the check box next to the shipping method name to select or unselect all the charges for this shipping method.
- Click the Delete selected button.
Video tutorial
Shipping Markups
You can define markups for real-time calculated shipping methods. This can be useful when your shipping expenses exceed the value returned by the real-time shipping processor (e.g. You have to pay for packing, insurance, etc).
Shipping markups are defined using X-Cart's 'Shipping markups' section (Settings menu->Shipping markups).
Shipping markups are defined similar to shipping charges.
After you define markups, the shipping cost in your store will be calculated according to the formula:
SHIPPING = Rate + Markup + TOTAL_WEIGHT*Weight_Markup + ITEMS*Item_Markup + SUM*Percent_Markup/100
Where:
- SHIPPING is the shipping cost.
- Rate is the shipping rate returned by the real-time calculation service (UPS, FedEx, etc).
- Markup is a fixed markup amount applied to the order (the value of the 'Flat charge' field).
- Weight_Markup is a shipping markup based on product weight (the value of the 'Per lbs charge' field).
- Item_Markup is a shipping markup applied per item ordered (the value of the 'Per Item charge' field).
- Percent_Markup is a shipping markup calculated as percent of the total order amount (the value of the 'Percent charge (%)' field)
- TOTAL_WEIGHT is the sum of weights of all the items in the shopping cart (variable).
- ITEMS is the total number of items in the shopping cart (variable).
- SUM is the total order amount (variable).
If a markup needs to be applied only to a certain weight and/or order subtotal range, specify this range using the corresponding fields.
The markups defined here will be added to the value returned by the real-time shipping calculation service.
1. For packages that weigh 5.00-10.00 lbs, $1 per each pound will be added to the rate returned by the real-time calculation service.
2. For packages that weigh 10.00-20.00 lbs, a flat charge of $15 will be added to the rate returned by the real-time calculation service, plus $0.50 will be added per each item in the package.
Setting up Shipping
In this section we will walk you through the process of shipping setup step-by-step. Please note that the shipping rates and methods are given as samples only. Use your own rates and methods when setting up shipping in your store.
Shipping system in X-Cart is based on the correct setup of the 3 main parameters:
Step 1. Desired shipping rates
First of all you need to decide exactly, which shipping method (or methods) you will use. You might want to use different shipping methods for certain package weight ranges, or for certain order subtotals; you might want to charge a flat charge, per item charge, percent charge or a combination of the above. In our example we will define charges depending on package weight.
Here are the shipping charges we want to set up:
UK:
| weight range, kg | shipping charge, GBP | shipping method |
| 0-1 | 3.00 | Royal Mail 1st Class |
| 1-2 | 5.00 | Royal Mail 1st Class |
| 2+ | 9.00 | City Link |
EU - EUROPEAN UNION:
| weight range, kg | shipping charge, GBP | shipping method |
| 0-1 | 5.00 | Royal Mail Airmail |
| 1-2 | 10.00 | Parcelforce International |
| 2+ | 30.00 | Parcelforce International |
USA / CANADA / FAR EAST & AUSTRALIA:
| weight range, kg | shipping charge, GBP | shipping method |
| 0-1 | 8.00 | Royal Mail Airmail |
| 1-2 | 18.00 | Royal Mail International Signed For |
| 2+ | 43.00 | Parcelforce International |
REST OF WORLD:
| weight range, kg | shipping charge, GBP | shipping method |
| 0-1 | 8.00 | Royal Mail Airmail |
| 1-2 | 18.00 | Royal Mail International Signed For |
| 2+ | 55.00 | Parcelforce International |
Step 2. Creating shipping methods
Create manually defined shipping methods you are going to use. The ones we need are as follows:
National
- 1. Royal Mail 1st Class
- 2. City Link
International
- 3. Royal Mail Airmail
- 4. Royal Mail International Signed For
- 5. Parcelforce International
So there should be 5 manually defined shipping methods set in the 'Shipping Methods' section of the cart's Admin area.
Step 3. Defining destination zones
Now it's necessary to define the destination zones you are going to use. This can be done in the 'Settings' -> 'Destination zones' section. The zones should be as follows:
1. UK
2. EU (European Union)
3. USA / CANADA / FAR EAST & AUSTRALIA
4. REST OF WORLD
Step 4. Setting up shipping rates
Once the shipping methods and the destination zones are defined you can set up rates in the 'Settings' -> 'Shipping charges' section. Read more how to configure the charges in the #Shipping Charges section.
You should get the following rules (sample for UK):
1. Royal Mail 1st Class/UK
2. City Link/UK
The rates for all other zones should be configured likewise. Please do note when you use one shipping method for one destination zone, you should define all rates for this method within one rule.
Once all shipping charges are defined, you should enable shipping for all the products in the cart. To do so check the 'General Settings' -> 'Shipping options' configuration and choose the options you like.
Troubleshooting
"There are no shipping methods for your location" error
There are 2 major groups of shipping methods that you can use in your store:
- Shipping methods with manually defined rates
- Shipping methods the rates for which are defined via real-time calculation services - real-time shipping methods
The first group includes all methods for which rates can be set up through ‘Shipping charges’ in the provider zone (the methods added by you + the methods which are listed in the ‘Real-time calculated shipping methods’ subsection of the ‘Edit shipping methods’ form but do not get rates from real-time calculation services).
The second group includes methods the rates for which are delivered by Intershipper or special integrated modules from real-time shipping services like UPS, USPS, FedEx, Airborne, etc.
If you are using methods of the first group, the problem is probably caused by the fact that no shipping rates were specified. Use the ‘Shipping charges’ section of the provider interface to set up the rates you need.
If you are using methods of the second group, getting the ‘no shipping methods’ error means the settings of your real-time shipping methods are incorrect.
FAQ
How to set up: $4.95 flat rate shipping fee for all orders?
You should define your shipping charges as follows:
1) Create a new shipping method with manually defined rates, set 'Destination' = 'National'.
2) Set up Flat Charge rate of $4.95 for the new shipping method and 'Zone Default'.
3) If you need the same flat rate to apply to all international orders, repeat step 1 ('Destination' = 'International') and step 2 accordingly.
How to set up: zero shipping rate for orders above $250, and $6.50 flat rate for all other orders?
You should define your shipping charges as follows:
1st shipping rule:
Order subtotal range: 0 - 250.00
Flat charge: 6.50
2nd shipping rule:
Order subtotal range: 250.01 - 999999.99
All 'charge' fields: 0.00
How to set up: shipping cost of $2.49 for one item, and then +$1.99 for any additional item?
You should define your shipping charges as follows:
Flat charge: 0.50 (calculated as $2.49 - $1.99)
Per item charge: 1.99
In this case the shipping cost will be calculated as follows:
1 item: 0.5 + (1.99 * 1) = 2.49
2 items: 0.5 + (1.99 * 2) = 4.48
3 items: 0.5 + (1.99 * 3) = 6.47
And so on.
How to set up: shipping cost of $3.00 for 1-4 items, and then +$1.10 for any additional item?
Let's say, each item in your store has the same weight e.g. 1.00 lbs.
In this case, you should set up your shipping charges as follows:
1st shipping rule:
Weight range: 1.00-4.00
Flat charge: 3.00
2nd shipping rule:
Weight range: 4.01-999999.99
Flat charge: 3.00
Per item charge: 1.10
How to set up: shipping charge of 20% of total price, but not over $600?
You should define your shipping charges as follows:
1st shipping rule:
Order subtotal range: 0 - 3000.00
Percent charge (%): 20.00
2nd shipping rule:
Order subtotal range: 3000.01 - 999999.99
Flat charge: 600.00
