StoreFeeder provides the facility to set up Rules which will be automatically applied to your Orders when they are imported to determine the correct Shipping Method for that order.
How do Shipping Rules work in StoreFeeder?
The Shipping Rules system allows you to specify a number of criteria about an order.
- Channel
- Here you can specify one of your Sales Channels (eBay, Amazon, etc) or alternatively you can set no value.
- If you choose a Channel then this rule will only apply to orders received from that Channel. If you leave it unset then the rule will apply to orders from any Channel.
- Channel Shipping Method
- Here you can specify a particular Channel Shipping Method or alternatively leave it blank.
- If you define a particular Channel Shipping Method then that rule will only apply to Orders with that Channel Shipping Method. If you leave it unset then the rule will apply to orders with any Channel Shipping Method.
- Order Total (minimum and maximum)
- This criteria allows you to define a price range for the Total Cost of the Order.
- Alternatively you can leave the minimum, maximum or both unset.
- You may wish to use this option if customers automatically qualify for a particular Shipping Service if they spend a certain amount.
- Orders will only be applicable for this rule if their Total Cost is within the minimum and maximum values you specify.
- Order Subtotal* (minimum and maximum)
- This criteria allows you to define a price range for the Subtotal of the Order.
- Alternatively you can leave the minimum, maximum or both unset.
- You may wish to use this option if customers automatically qualify for a particular Shipping Service if they spend a certain amount.
- Orders will only be applicable for this rule if their Subtotal is within the minimum and maximum values you specify.
- Order Weight (minimum and maximum)
- This criteria allows you to define a weight range for Orders.
- Alternatively you can leave the minimum, maximum or both unset.
- You may wish to use this option if you have Shipping Services which can only send items of certain weight.
- Orders will only be applicable for this rule if their Weight is within the minimum and maximum values you specify.
- Shipping Costs (minimum and maximum)
- This criteria allows you to define a price range for the Shipping Cost of the Order.
- Alternatively you can leave the minimum, maximum or both unset.
- You may wish to use this option if you use the Shipping Cost to determine the level of Shipping Service a customer receives.
- Orders will only be applicable for this rule if their Shipping Cost is within the minimum and maximum values you specify.
- Packaging Size
- This criteria allows you to specify a particular Packaging Size or leave it blank.
- The Packaging Size for an order is calculated automatically based on the Packaging Size you have set up on Products and which Products are on that Order.
- If you specify a Packaging Size then the rule will only apply to Orders with that particular Packaging Size, if you leave it blank then it will apply to Orders with any Packaging Size.
- This can be particularly useful if you need to send large or abnormally shaped packages via specific Shipping Methods
- Hazardous Materials
- This criteria allows you to specify whether the rule applies to Orders containing Hazardous Materials.
- Setting this option to ‘Yes’ will mean that the rule will only apply to Orders containing Hazardous Materials.
- Setting this option to ‘No’ will mean that the rule will only apply to Orders NOT containing Hazardous Materials.
- Fragile
- This criteria allows you to specify whether the rule applies to Orders containing Fragile items.
- Setting this option to ‘Yes’ will mean that the rule will only apply to Orders containing Fragile items.
- Setting this option to ‘No’ will mean that the rule will only apply to Orders NOT containing Fragile items.
- Shipping Region
- This criteria allows you to specify a particular Shipping Region (from StoreFeeder’s default Shipping Regions or from your own custom Shipping Regions) or leave it blank.
- If you specify a Shipping Region then the rule will only apply to Orders if the shipping address is within that Shipping Region, if you leave it blank then it will apply to all Orders.
- This can be useful if you need to send Orders going to different geographical locations via different Shipping Methods.
Order Subtotal is the total value of the order less tax and less Shipping Costs.
In addition, your Shipping Rules will also specify a Shipping Method which will be applied to the Order if that Shipping Rule is selected.
You can also set specify whether a particular Shipping Rule is Enabled or Disabled. If a Shipping Rule is disabled then it will not be considered when we compare it to your Order.
Finally you can optionally add a Priority to a Shipping Rule, which can be used to specify which rule takes precedence if you have equally matching Shipping Rules (see below for more details about Priority).
How Shipping Rules Apply to Orders
When a new Order is imported into StoreFeeder we compare it the details of the Order to the criteria set up in all your Shipping Rules. If any criteria in a Shipping Rule do not match the details of the order (e.g. if your Shipping Rule has a Maximum Order Total of £30 and then Order’s total is £45) then that Shipping Rule is discarded.
Once the Order has been compared to all your Shipping Rules, there are a number of outcomes that may occur:
- No valid Shipping Rules remain
- If, after comparing the Order to all your Shipping Rules, none of them matched the details of the Order then StoreFeeder will apply your Default Shipping Method to the Order
- Only one valid Shipping Rule remains
- In this case the Shipping Method from that Shipping Rule will be applied to the Order.
- More than valid Shipping Rule remains
- In this case StoreFeeder has determined that you have multiple Shipping Rules that could apply to the Order and needs to make a decision about which particular Shipping Rule to apply to that Order.
- See below for further details of how this decision is reached.
How StoreFeeder chooses which Shipping Rule to use when more than one Rule could apply?
When there are multiple valid Shipping Rules that StoreFeeder could use to apply a Shipping Method to an Order then a decision needs to be made.
The primary factor that StoreFeeder uses to determine which of these Rules to use is how specific the Rule is (or it’s ‘Specificity’). We judge the Specificity of a Shipping Rule based on how many of the criteria you have explicitly set a value for. For instance if you’ve selected a Channel in the Shipping Rule then this has been explicitly set, if you’ve left it as ‘All Channels’ then this hasn’t been explicitly set. We tally all the explicitly set criteria up and the number we get is the Specificity of that rule. Whichever of those rules is most specific will be the rule that StoreFeeder uses.
You can see exactly how specific a rule is by viewing the Specificity value in the Shipping Rules grid on the Shipping Rules page.
In the event that there are more than one valid Shipping Rule that are equally specific then StoreFeeder will look at the Priority you’ve set for the Rules. In this case then, of the most specific rules, StoreFeeder will pick the Rule with the highest Priority.
Priority can be given a value between 1 and 99. 1 is considered as the highest priority and 99 as the lowest. You do not need to specify a Priority for a Shipping Rule, but a rule with no Priority is always considered lower priority than a rule with a value for Priority.
In this example, there are 3 rules that, under the right conditions, all be valid for an Order:
In this event Rule 1212 and 1213 would both rank higher than 1214 (since they both have a Specificity of 3).
Because Rule 1212 and 1213 are equally specific StoreFeeder would look at the Priority to decide which Rule to use. As Rule 1212 has a higher Priority (1 vs. 5) then this Shipping Rule would be the winner and it’s Shipping Method would be applied to the order.
When a Shipping Rule is applied automatically to an Order you will now see an icon next to the Shipping Method on the Edit Order page. Hovering over this will provide you with some more information about the Shipping Rule that was used.
For help on creating Shipping Rules in StoreFeeder, please see the How to Set Up a Shipping Rule in StoreFeeder knowledgebase.
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