How to set up Packaging Sizes

Packaging sizes can be used as both a suggestion of which size of box to use when shipping an order and a factor when filtering orders through your shipping rules. 

First we will look at the 'Packaging Sizes' page in StoreFeeder. ('Settings > Shipping Configuration > Packaging Sizes')

Here we have 10 fields:

Name: This is the reference for your packaging size.

Size: This is a unit of space for all of your packaging size, when assigning sizes to your packaging sizes consider this:

If packaging size A = 1 then how many of packaging size A could you fit into packaging size B? If the answer is 2 then the size for Packaging size B = 2

The diagram below should help:

Packaging Weight (kg): The weight of the packaging itself. Note that this weight is included in calculations for maximum weight capacity.

Height (mm), Width (mm), Length (mm): The dimensions of the packaging in mm, used for calculating the volume of space for products.

Packaging Cost: Value in £ of each individual box/packet of this type.

Royal Mail Packaging Type: If you use Royal Mail, use this to select the packaging type according to Royal Mail standards. If you do not use Royal Mail, you can leave these as N/A.

Include Weight on Orders: Tick the box to include the package weight in order weight total calculations.

Weight Capacity (kg): The maximum weight capacity the packaging type will hold. Typing a value will ensure that the total weight of products assigned to the packaging type cannot exceed the Weight Capacity value.

Product Packaging Size

The Product Packaging Size for an individual product is calculated from the selected Packaging Size and the Packaging Quantity. These can be set on the Additional Information tab on the Product Page.

In the above example, a Packaging Size of ‘Box1’ has been selected, and the Packaging Quantity has been specified as 4.

Referring to our Existing Packaging Sizes we are able to see that ‘Box1’ has a size of 1. We have specified that our product has a Packaging Quantity of 4, which means that 4 of that product could fit into that Packaging Size. From here we use a simple formula to work out the Product Packaging Size.

Product Packaging Size = Packaging Size / Packaging Quantity

In our example we have a Packaging Size of 1 and a Packaging Quantity of 4, so substituting our values in we have:

Product Packaging Size = 1/4

Product Packaging Size = 0.25

Determining which packaging size an order requires

Packaging Sizes can be used to help determine which shipping rule is applied to an order.

Total Order Packaging Size will be calculated for your order based on the sum of the Product Packaging Sizes of the items in an order.

Let’s consider an example order:

The order contains 5 individual items.

By adding the Product Packaging Size of each individual item together we determine that the Total Order Packaging Size for this order is 2.6.

StoreFeeder is now able to look at the Packaging Sizes you have set up and select the appropriate Packaging Size for your order. StoreFeeder will select the first Packaging Size whose size is large enough to accommodate the Total Order Packaging Size.

Let’s remind ourselves of the packaging sizes we have:

‘Box1’ has a Size of 1. Our Total Order Packaging Size is 2.6, which is greater than the Size of ‘Box1’, so this Packaging Size will not be applied.

‘Box2’ has a Size of 2. Our Total Order Packaging Size is 2.6, which is greater than the Size of ‘Box2’, so this Packaging Size will not be applied.

‘Box3’ has a size of 3, which is greater than our Total Order Packaging Size of 2.6, so this Packaging Size is large enough to accommodate our order. ‘Box3’ will therefore be selected as this Packaging Size is large enough to fit all the items from the order in.