Defining 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. 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).

Note. Each of the shipping methods can be used more than once: you can make any method available for more than one zone, or set up different shipping rules for the same method within one zone.

If your shipping policy is complex you may need to define multiple  shipping rules to cover all the cases.

Shipping charges in your store are calculated according to the formula:
SHIPPING = Rate + TOTAL_WEIGHT*Weight_Rate + ITEMS*Item_Rate + SUM*Percent_Rate/100

where:

• SHIPPING is Total shipping cost.

• Rate is Flat shipping charge.
If you want the shipping charge to be a fixed value, enter the shipping charge amount into the "Flat" field.

• Weight_Rate is  Shipping Charge Based on Product Weight.
If you want shipping costs to be calculated based on the weight of the products ordered, enter the shipping charge amount into the "Per lb." field. The value in the "Per lb." field will be the flat shipping charge applied to each pound of the products ordered.

• Item_Rate is Shipping Charge Per Item.
If you want shipping costs to be calculated based on the number of items (quantity) purchased, enter the amount into the "Per item" field. The value in the "Per item" field will be the flat shipping charge applied to each item of the products ordered.

 • Percent_Rate is  percent of the Total Amount Ordered.
If you want the shipping charges to be calculated as a percentage of the total order amount, enter the shipping charge amount into "%" field.

• TOTAL_WEIGHT is the sum of weights of all the items in the shopping cart (variable). Product weight can be defined when you add a new product.

• ITEMS is the total number of items in the shopping cart (variable).

• SUM is the total order amount (variable).

To define shipping charges:

  1. Click on Shipping charges in the Inventory menu, the 'Shipping charges' form will appear.

  2. Scroll to the 'Add shipping charge values' section of the 'Shipping charges' form.
    Picture 1:     The Shipping charges form. 

  3. Define the shipping rule:

•  From the drop down list select the necessary shipping method.

•  Select the destination zone for which the shipping method should be available  (E.g.: If you use the same shipping method for shipping orders to Mexico and Australia, but the charges are different, put these countries into different shipping zones and create a shipping rule for each zone).

• Define the weight and order subtotal range the shipping rule should be applied to by entering the maximum weight and order subtotal values. If there are several rules for the same shipping method and zone, they are scanned by the program from the lowest to the highest value of the order subtotal/weight fields. The shipping rule will be applied to any values lower than the values specified in its order subtotal/weight fields, but higher than these values in the previous rule.
E.g.:  4 rules for the order subtotal $10/$30/$50/$999999.00 are defined.
If the order subtotal is $15, the second rule will be used, if $100 - the 4th rule will be used.
 

Note. To define "unlimited" weight and order subtotal amount, enter a huge value like 999999.00 (set by default).

• Enter the appropriate values into the Flat, %, Per item and Per lb. fields (These values will be used in shipping charges calculations as described in the shipping formula above).
Flat is the most commonly used option. It defines a fixed amount that will be charged if this rule is applied. (E.g. if the package weight is up to 10 lbs - the delivery costs $30)
% - the delivery cost is calculated as a fixed percent of the order subtotal. It may be useful if you need insurance for the package depending on the package value.
Per Item is a fixed amount charged for each item in the shopping cart.
Per lb is a fixed amount charged for each lb of the order weight.
The values in these fields can be combined.

  1. Click on Add.

To modify shipping charges:

  1. Click on Shipping charges in the Inventory menu.

  2. Select the group of shipping methods the charges for which you need to modify. Select the shipping 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, %, Per item and Per lb. fields)

  4. Click on Update.

To delete shipping charges:

  1. Click on Shipping charges in the Inventory menu.

  2. Select the group of shipping methods to which the shipping charge you need to delete applies. Select the shipping zone. When the page is reloaded, only the shipping methods belonging to the specified group will be displayed.

  1. Select the check boxes next to the shipping rule that needs to be deleted. You can use the Check all / Uncheck all links to select or unselect all the charges.

  2. Click on Delete selected.

 

 

Related topics:

Defining Destination Zones

Defining Shipping Markups

Defining Shipping Methods