Shipping options
The Kentico E-commerce Solution allows you to specify for each product if shipping is required. For example, e-products such as media files, e-books, etc. that the customers can download from your website after purchase do not require shipping. On the other hand, other products such as clothing, footwear, computers, electronics, etc. need to be delivered to the customers by a delivery service. Shipping options then represent the actual services used to deliver these products to the customers.
When creating a new product or editing an existing one (on the General tab), you can specify whether shipping is needed.
When placing an order on the live site, or creating / editing an order in the administration interface (Orders -> Shipping), you can specify which shipping option will be used for this order. Note that at least one product with the Needs shipping property enabled must be contained in the order, i.e. added to the shopping cart.
Managing shipping options
You can manage shipping options in the Store configuration application on the Shipping options tab (or in Multistore configuration -> Shipping options; global shipping options only). Here, the system displays a list of all defined shipping options. You can add new shipping options by clicking New shipping option, and you can modify properties of existing shipping options after clicking Edit () in the Actions column. You can also remove shipping options from your on-line store by clicking Delete () next to respective shipping option items.
When editing a shipping option, the system offers the following tabs to specify its properties:
- General
- Payment methods
- Shipping costs
- Tax classes
General
Here you can edit general properties of the current shipping option.
- Display name - specifies the name of the shipping option displayed to users on the live site and in the administration interface.
- Code name - specifies the name of the shipping option used by developers in the code.
- Charge - specifies the cost charged for the shipping option (in the main currency). If flat rate shipping is used, the cost is charged for all shipping. If shipping based on weight is used, the cost is charged for the lowest weight range.
- Description - allows you to enter a text description for the shipping option in order to give further information.
- Teaser image - allows you to upload a teaser image depicting the shipping option. You can upload also other types of files such as documents, and audio and video files.
- Enabled - indicates if you can use the shipping option object in your on-line store. For example, if enabled, you can select the respective shipping option from the Shipping option drop-down list when editing an order on the Shipping tab.
Payment methods
Here you can specify which payment methods are available for the currently edited shipping option. To add payment methods, click Add payments and select appropriate payment methods in the displayed selection dialog. You can remove selected payment methods from the list at any time using the Remove selected action. You can also remove all listed items at once by clicking … and performing the Remove all action.
Shipping costs
Here you can define shipping costs for the given shipping option. The system offers two types of shipping:
- Shipping based on weight - multiple shipping costs are charged for the shipping based on the specified weight ranges.
- Flat rate shipping - the same cost is charged for all shipping.
Shipping based on weight
Multiple shipping costs are defined and the shipping cost is charged for a particular weight range. Note that the cost of the lowest weight range is specified in the shipping option’s Charge property (General tab).
If you use this approach, the system displays a list of all shipping costs defined for the currently edited shipping option. You can add new shipping costs by clicking New shipping cost, and you can modify properties of existing shipping costs after clicking Edit () in the Actions column. You can also remove shipping costs from the currently edited shipping option by clicking Delete () on the respective lines.
When editing a shipping cost, you can specify the following properties:
- Minimal weight - specifies the lower limit of the weight range for which the current shipping cost is charged. The upper limit of the weight range is made up by minimal weight of the next weight range (if defined).
- Shipping cost - specifies the shipping cost charged for the current weight range.
Flat rate shipping
The same shipping cost is charged regardless of order weight, as specified in the shipping option’s Charge property (General tab). No shipping costs are listed.
Tax classes
Here you can specify which taxes apply to the currently edited shipping option. To add tax classes, click Add tax classes and select appropriate tax classes in the displayed selection dialog. You can remove selected tax classes from the list at any time using the Remove selected action. You can also remove all listed items at once by clicking … and performing the Remove all action.