Shipping options affect the calculation of shipping rates in X-Cart. To access the section where shipping options can be set up, click on General settings in the Administration menu, then select Shipping options from the section menu.
The first subsection of the shipping options page enables you to define general shipping options.
Picture 1: General shipping options.
If the Enable all shipping methods even if a customer is not logged in check box is selected, all the active shipping methods will be shown to the customer even if he is not logged in.
If the Disable shipping check box is selected, there will be no shipping methods for the customer to select during the checkout process and the cost of shipping will not be presented in the cart totals.
If the Do not calculate shipping rates for products with defined shipping freight check box is selected, shipping rates for the products with defined shipping freight will not be calculated.
If you use real-time shipping rates calculation, you do not need to regularly update the shipping charges for the shipping methods you use for your store. Rates are received automatically from the shipping services' servers.
Note. The real-time calculated rate quote is only an estimation and may be different from the actual charges for your shipment.
Picture 2: Real-time shipping options.
To activate real-time calculation of shipping rates, select the Real-time shipping calculation check box.
Note. Do not forget to specify your company address under General settings -> Company options - it will be used in real-time shipping rates calculation.
If you have an account with InterShipper service, you can use it in your store for getting real-time shipping rate quotes.
Note. You can sign up for an account with this service at http://www.intershipper.com
To enable InterShipper, check both the Real-time shipping calculation and Select this if you are going to use InterShipper calculation services check boxes, and real-time shipping quotes will be pulled by InterShipper from FedEx, UPS, USPS and DHL and presented to the customer during the online order checkout process.
Note. Keep in mind that Intershipper works only with US origins
Your InterShipper account information needs to be entered into the InterShipper account section of the 'Shipping options' page.
Picture 3: InterShipper account section of the Shipping options page.
If you do not want to use InterShipper, you can get shipping quotes from some of the services directly: special integrated modules will fetch real time shipping quotes from UPS, USPS and FedEx. To use these modules instead of InterShipper leave the Select this if you are going to use InterShipper calculation services check box unselected.
If you are planning to get rates from USPS, get an account from USPS site at http://www.usps.com. Enter your account info into the USPS account section of the 'Shipping options' page.
Picture 4: USPS account section of the Shipping options page.
If you need to use CANADA POST, set up an account with this service at http://www.canadapost.ca and enter your account details into the CANADA POST account section of the 'Shipping options' page.
Picture 5: CANADA POST account section of the Shipping options page.
If you need to use Airborne, set up an account with this service at http://www.airborne.com and enter your account details into the Airborne account section of the 'Shipping options' page.
Picture 6: Airborne account section of the Shipping options page.
Note. The list of real-time shipping methods available to your customers can be edited under Management menu > Shipping methods.
Note. If you are planning to use real-time
shipping rates calculation by InterShipper, Airborne, FedEx, U.S.P.S.
or Canada Post, make sure you set up the appropriate processors (See Setting up Real-Time Processors).
If you are going to use UPS, enable UPS OnLineŽ Tools module (Administration
menu ->Modules). Then use the UPS
OnLineŽ Tools item in the Management
menu to define the necessary settings for UPS.
If you need to test real-time shipping rates calculation at your store, you can use the 'Test Realtime Shipping Rates Calculation' section of the 'Shipping options' page.
Picture 7: 'Test Realtime Shipping Rates Calculation' section of the 'Shipping options' page.
Enter package weight (units should be defined in the Administration menu -> General settings -> General options section: 'Weight symbol' and 'Grams in the unit of weight defined by the weight symbol').
Click on Test. 'Test destination shipping address' form will appear in a new window.
Picture 8: Test destination shipping address form.
Enter a destination address (for test purposes only).
Click on the Submit button to get XML request and response results and estimated shipping rates.
Related topics:
General Settings
Setting up Real-Time Processors