Overview
Spark Pay Online Stores can estimate shipping costs and charge customers shipping based on the estimated calculation at checkout and on the admin order edit screen. This can be done using rates provided by a shipping provider like UPS or through custom rates that you specify. Your store can automatically send shipping information to a drop shipper or manufacturer via email when one of their products is ordered, and integrated shipping management applications like Shipstation can help you print shipping labels and send tracking numbers to customers. For more information on these robust and powerful shipping features, continue reading below.
Shipping Provider Live Rates
There's two options for charging customers shipping:
- Shipping Provider Live Rates
- Custom Shipping Rates
Shipping provider rates come directly from a shipping provider (USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc) via direct integration with the shipping providers own rate estimation system. When a customer selects a shipping provider's service on the shopping cart, our system communicates with the shipping provider's system instantaneously and displays the shipping calculation to the customer.
Do you have negotiated rates with a shipping provider like UPS? Your store can even pull in these negotiated rates.
Setup Location: Settings > Shipping > Shipping Providers
More Information: How to Setup Live Shipping Rates | How to Setup UPS Negotiated Rates
Custom Shipping Methods
Custom shipping rates are created using the custom shipping method feature in your Spark Pay Online Store, and they calculate shipping based on the rules you set.
Custom shipping methods can charge different amounts for shipping based on order subtotal, number of order items, weight units, shipping region, customer type, manufacturer, and other criteria.
Location: Settings > Shipping > Custom Shipping Methods
More Information: Custom Shipping Methods | How to Make a Free Shipping Option
Shipping Regions
Shipping setup begins with shipping regions. Do you charge a different shipping rate for Alaska and Hawaii? Do you ship only within the U.K.? Or maybe you only ship to Texas and Louisiana? Shipping regions make this possible. A shipping region is a specified area of countries, states or zip-codes. Shipping regions can have their own shipping markups and payment methods, and custom shipping methods can be limited to specific regions.
Setup Location: Settings > Shipping > Shipping Regions
More Information: Shipping Region Setup
Warehouses
Warehouses (or drop shippers) are the "from" address(es) that your store uses for shipping, whether you run a home business that ships from a single residence, or a drop-shipping business that ships from multiple warehouses in different geographic locations. Your store can automatically send shipping information to a drop shipper or manufacturer via email when one of their products is ordered by setting an email address and email template on a Warehouse. Both products and shipping regions can be assigned a default warehouse.
Setup Location: Settings > Shipping > Warehouses
More Information: Defining Warehouses | Understanding Drop Shipping Email Notifications | Using The Dropship Manager
Breakout Shipping
Do you need to allow the customer to select multiple shipping rates when an order ships from two or more warehouses? This is possible with Breakout Shipping. Breakout Shipping allows you to assign a classification to code to products. Products with the same classification code will be grouped together when shipping is calculated, and the customer will be able to select a different shipping option for each classification code in their cart.
Setup Location: Catalog > Products > Edit Product > Shipping
More Information: Breakout Shipping
Integrated Shipping Apps
In addition to direct integration with shipping provider rate calculation systems, Spark Pay Online Stores also integrate with several shipping management applications that make shipping stuff a easier:
- Shipping Easy
- ShipStation
- ShipWorks
- SmartyStreets
Setup Location: Tools > Apps and Addons
More Information: Spark Pay App Store
Location of Shipping Settings
Shipping settings are either global, store specific, product specific, or theme specific. If you have multistore setup (one admin with multiple storefronts), shipping settings that are global will apply to all of your stores. On the other hand, shipping settings that are store specific can be set differently for each store (select the store in the store drop down in the top right hand corner of the page). Product specific shipping settings only apply to a single product, and theme specific shipping settings only apply to a single theme.
Store Specific Shipping Settings
- Shipping Options: Settings > Shipping > General (1)
Global Shipping Settings
- Custom Shipping Methods: Settings > Shipping > Custom Shipping Methods
- Handling Fees: Settings > Shipping Handling Fees
- Regions: Settings > Shipping > Shipping Regions
- Providers: Settings > Shipping > Shipping Providers
- Warehouse: Settings > Shipping > Warehouses
Product Specific Shipping Settings
- Product Shipping Settings: Catalog > Products > Edit Product > Shipping
Theme Specific Shipping Settings
- Shopping Cart Shipping Calculator Settings: Themes > Edit Theme > Global Theme Settings (2)
- Shopping Cart Shipping Calculator Settings: Themes > Edit Theme > Shopping Cart > Basic Settings (3)
- Product Page Shipping Settings: Themes > Edit Theme > Product Details > Advanced Settings (4)
- Checkout Page Shipping Settings: Themes > Edit Theme > One Page Checkout > Basic Settings (5)
1. Free shipping threshold, package restrictions, shipping provider markups, and many other settings are set here. Want international or overnight shipping methods to be available in one store, but not another? You can inactivate specific shipping methods and provider services here.
2. Here you can change the shipping calculator on the shopping cart to only ask the customer for ZipCode or also ask for Country and State/Province. You can also change how the shipping methods are sorted in the shipping method drop-down.
3. Here the shipping calculator can be hidden or displayed using the Show Shipping Calculator setting. The shipping method display can also be changed from a drop-down menu to a radio button list, and the shipping weight units can be changed from Lbs to Kgs.
4. In product details advanced settings, the shipping estimator on the product page can be hidden or displayed by toggling the Enable Shipping Estimation on Product Page setting
5. Want to show or hide the shipping address fields on the checkout page by default? This can be set by toggling the Show Shipping Address By Default setting. The shipping method selection can also be changed from a drop-down menu to a radio button list here using the *Shipping Method Display Type* setting.