Configuring shipping doesn’t have to be complicated.
Our shipping module is pretty powerful and can even be configured to charge shipping from multiple origins to both local and international destinations using different shipping methods and shiprates.
Here’s a quick rundown guide on what you need to do and how to set up basic shipping in InstanteStore.
Stuff You Need To Decide
– Where are you planning to ship to? Certain region(s), countries or states?
– Will you be using your own shipping rates or real time rates with USPS, UPS, Fedex or Australia Post?
* Don’t worry, all our plans allow access to real time carrier shipping at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE *
– If you’re using your own shipping rates, please determine how you want to charge the rates.
The below setup guide will cover how to :
1) Determine Target Market (where you want to ship to)
2) Group countries or states into different shipping zones
3) Add Shiprates (how much you want to charge) to your shipping zones
4) Specify Ship From Address
5) Determine weight and package type
Determine Your Target Market
To set up your shipping, just go to Settings > Shipping. You’ll notice 5 different tabs.
The first place to start is to determine your target market. Picking your target market means you’re selecting all the countries that you wish to offer shipping to.
You can select by region or just select by country.
For example, if you’re planning to offer shipping worldwide but would like to specify different rates for different countries or regions like USA, Europe and Australia, just select all and click on the Submit button to confirm.
Tip : Don’t worry if you’re still undecided. Just “Select All” and click “Submit”.
That will add all the countries into your target market.
Don’t worry as customers won’t be able to purchase from your store until you allocate your shipping zones and add in your shiprates.
Next, you want to set those countries that you wish to ship to into different Shipping Zones. Click on the Shipping Zones tab.
Group Your Shipping Zones
You’ll see all the countries lumped into one zone (Zone 1).
Start to group your countries into different shipping zones.
Example : You may group United States into one zone and Australia into another zone. Europe could be broken into several zones or just grouped into one zone depending on your preference while the other countries could be considered worldwide and grouped into another zone.
To do this, click on Modify in Zone 1, select for example United States and choose Shift To New Zone, click “Continue” button.
What you’re doing is moving different countries or region from the worldwide zone into their own zones.
So you would end up with Zone 1 with all the other countries in it except United States (Zone 2), Europe (Zone 3) and Australia (Zone 4). After you’re done setting up your zones, click “Save Settings”.
Tip : If you want to offer different shipping rates to different states within a country like United States, you’ll need to group the different states into different zones. Select CS on United States and click Save Settings.
For example, if you want Hawaii and Alaska to be grouped together, select them and “Add New Zone” > Do Action and click “Save Settings”. They’ll be grouped into Zone 6.
Set Up Your Shipping Methods And Shiprates
Once you’ve selected the target market and created the shipping zones for the country, region or states of your choice, you may then set up your shipping methods by adding shiprates (how much you want to charge) for specific zones.
Click on the Shipping Methods tab, click “Add Shipping Method”.
First, give your shipping method a name.
For example if you’re going to use USPS to handle your shipping within USA, you can call it “United States – USPS” and then click on Add Shiprates.
Adding Your Shiprates
You can choose to charge shipping by either :
– selecting UPS, USPS, Fedex, Australia Post, easyParcel real time carrier rates
– based on a flat fee per order
– based on base fee + flat fee per item
– based on base fee + package weight
– based on base fee + percentage of order value
– based on base fee + weight / quantity / price pair
You could also choose to set either :
– A minimum or maximum charge
– Free shipping based on quantity of order
– Free shipping based on value of order
Please remember to pick the respective zones for each shiprate that you add.
Example : A merchant wants to offer flat fee shipping worldwide @ $10, to United States @ $5.99, to Europe @ $6.99 and to Australia @ $8.99. Free shipping if orders are above $100.
Based on the example, merchant will select Flat Fee per order (key in $5.99) + select free shipping based on value order (key in $100) + select the USA zone 2. Click on Add Shiprates.
Click “Done” or continue to “Add Shiprates” for the other respective zones.
Real Time Carrier Rates
If you prefer to use real time carrier rates, just select the carrier of your choice and pick the service you wish to use.
InstanteStore is integrated with UPS, USPS, Fedex, Australia Post and easyParcel.
You have the option to add in additional processing fee as well. Please remember to select the zone that you wish to apply the service to.
Ship From Address
If you are using UPS, USPS, Fedex, Australia Post or easyParcel for real time rates, please key in your address details in the Ship From Address section so that the respective courier company could trace either your zipcode or address for real time shipping rates.
Shipment Properties
Here you may choose the weight unit for your products (eg. in pounds, kilograms, etc) and to pick the dimensions of your order packaging size. Click “Update Shipment Properties” once done.
Please Publish your store after all the changes have been made.
That’s it!
Please remember to test out your shipping configuration.
However, if you have any questions about shipping or need help with the configuration, please send us a ticket and we’ll definitely get back to you.
And did you know that a good shipping strategy can help increase online sales?
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