Shiptastic automatically provides built-in shipping methods for each shipping service provider you have activated. Under WooCommerce > Settings > Shipping, you can add a new shipping method for the shipping zone you have selected, e.g. for shipping via UPS. Shiptastic provides extensive configuration options for your shipping method.
How it works
Unlike other shipping plugins for WooCommerce, Shiptastic is all about packaging. Each of the rules you configure either relates to a specific packaging or applies to all other packaging, i.e. packaging that is not provided with rules. You may be wondering why the rules refer to packaging?
The background is as follows: As a shop owner you work with different packaging, e.g. boxes in sizes M, L and XL. You can store this packaging in the settings under Packaging. When a customer adds a product to the shopping cart, Shiptastic automatically determines in the background which packaging(s) should be used for the current shopping cart. Depending on the number of products in the shopping cart, it may be necessary to use several packages, i.e. shipments. This naturally results in higher shipping costs than sending a single shipment. Similarly, sending a parcel in size XL is usually significantly more expensive than sending a parcel in size M. Based on the specific scenario, i.e. the determination of the number of necessary shipments including the packaging used, the shipping costs can be determined very precisely based on the rules you have stored. This also creates an overview of the shipments in the shopping cart for which you can create labels in the shipping process.
Rules & costs
In the shipping method settings, you may first define how the shipping costs should be calculated for certain scenarios. You can therefore specify whether the shipping costs should be totaled if several shipments (packages) are required or whether the highest/lowest costs should be calculated. In addition, depending on the configuration, several shipping rules may be applicable for the respective packaging. You must also define a calculation type for this case.
Conditions
When you create a new shipping rule, you can also create one or more conditions in addition to the packaging. These conditions relate to different scenarios/attributes:
- Always: This rule should always apply
- Total amount: The total amount of all products (for shipping) in the shopping cart
- Total weight: The total weight of all products (for shipping) in the shopping cart
- Parcel weight: The weight of the products contained in the parcel (i.e. the shipment)
- Parcel value: The total value of the products contained in the parcel (i.e. the shipment)
- Shipping classes: All shipping classes contained in the cart
Depending on the attribute, various operators and additional fields are available. For example, you can enter a from-to value for the total amount. For from-to values, please note that the from value is a greater than or equal to value (inclusive) and the to value is a less than value (with a value of 5, all values up to 5 but not 5 are valid).
Note: If you define several conditions per shipping rule, all of the conditions must be fulfilled for the rule to apply.
Cost calculation
Shiptastic now runs through the available rules for each package (shipment) that has been defined for the current shopping cart and checks whether the rule is applicable. If a free rule (i.e. costs equal 0.00 euros) is found, the search is aborted. Otherwise, the shipping costs are calculated based on the settings you have specified.
If no rule applies for the respective packaging, the shipping method will not be offered in the shopping cart. The situation is different if there are rules for the packaging type Other packaging. In case of doubt, these rules serve as a fallback, i.e. if no applicable rule has been found for a packaging, these rules are still checked and, if possible, applied.
What packaging is available?
In principle, all packaging for which at least one rule has been created in the shipping method settings is available for packing the shipment(s). If you have created a rule for the special packaging type Other packaging, all packaging available for this shipping service provider will be used, even if you have not configured a special rule for the individual packaging.
You can configure whether or not packaging is available for the respective shipping service provider in the detailed settings for the respective packaging.
Product and packaging data
In order for the system (the knapsack algorithm for calculating the packages in the shopping cart) to function correctly, it is important that you have configured and entered your product and packaging data correctly. The following product data is essential for this:
- Dimensions, i.e. length, width and height
- Weight
It is also necessary that you have entered your packaging options in the settings under Pick & Pack > Packaging and that you have also entered the dimensions and load capacity there. You can also restrict the packaging to use for certain shipping service providers.
Example scenarios
To give you a better understanding of how it works, we present a few typical use cases for calculating shipping costs below.
Free shipping starting with USD 50
This is a typical scenario in an online store. Shipping costs a flat rate of USD X and becomes free of charge from a certain order value. To implement this scenario, 2 simple shipping rules are sufficient:
- Packaging: Other packaging; If: Always; Cost: USD 3.95
- Packaging: Other packaging; If: Total amount; From: 50.00; To: Empty; Cost: USD 0.00
All available packaging from the shipping service provider is now available for packing the consignments. As soon as the value of the shopping cart is greater than or equal to USD 50, shipping is free of charge.
Shipping costs per shipment
In your store, you would like to charge a flat rate of USD 3.95 for shipping. However, if more than one package is required for the current shopping cart, the costs should be added together.
- Packaging: Other packaging; If: Always; Cost: USD 3.95
You should also set the Multiple shipments setting to Add costs. Now add a product to the shopping cart as a test and gradually increase the number so that the algorithm recognizes that more than one package is required for shipping. The costs increase.
Tip: Of course, you can also easily set higher or lower shipping costs for individual packages here. To do this, simply create individual rules for each packaging type.
Debug shipping rules
To get an overview of the shipping calculation, you can activate the shipping debug mode in the Woo settings under Shipping > Shipping options. Shiptastic will then generate a summary message for each of your configured shipping types, which will be displayed in the shopping cart or in the checkout (for administrators). If you are using the new block-based checkout from WooCommerce, the messages may only be displayed on general store pages, e.g. on a product page.