After enabling eCom for your business and syncing locations, you can add one or multiple shipping methods and connect them to locations for more granular control over delivery and inventory levels. You can add any combination of carrier shipping, local delivery, and self-pickup methods to your store, depending on what you want to sell and where.

In Retail POS, select eCom (E-Series) from the dropdown menu and at the bottom of the sidebar, click Shipping & Pickup to create and manage deliveries and customize shipping zones and rates.

Understanding shipping options in eCom

There are some key things to consider when deciding on the best shipping strategy for your store.

Shipping rates

The amount you charge your customers for shipping or delivery on top of the cost of products in the order.

• Real-time carrier rates are calculated automatically based on distance, weight, and order size. This is recommended for stores with heavy or oversized products or varying item size and dimensions.

  To use real-time carrier rates, you’ll need to set your shipping origin address. Your company’s address will be selected by default.

• Flat rate shipping charges customers the same amount for shipping or delivery regardless of destination or the total number of items in order. This is recommended for stores that sell small but high-value products like jewelry, where products are roughly the same weight and size, or for stores that handle delivery themselves.
• Custom rates are manually set up based on the order weight or total. This is recommended for stores that want to encourage customers to spend more by offering lower shipping costs for bigger cart values, orders shipped by freight to cover shipping expenses, or non-integrated shipping services.
• Free shipping or Conditional free shipping can help increase conversion in your online store and can be factored into the price of your products. This is recommended for local pickup options, high-profit stores that can cover shipping costs, or limited time offers like holidays.

Shipping region or delivery zone

A shipping region is a geographical area you ship to and the delivery zone limits the order delivery to a certain area. You can set up a shipping zone as big as a block, city, state or province, country, or worldwide.

• In-store pickup: A cost-effective and easy-to-manage local option. Customers come to the associated location to pick up their online purchases.
• Local delivery: Set delivery options for local customers in a nearby radius. You can manage deliveries yourself or work with a delivery service in your area.
• Domestic shipping: Ship to specific cities, states/provinces, or throughout the country, typically through a national or international carrier.
• International shipping: Ship to select countries or worldwide, through a national or international carrier.

You can create as many shipping zones as needed.

Shipping service

eCom (E-Series) is integrated with the most popular carriers all over the world. You can connect any carrier or delivery service, including your own delivery. Shipping methods with a specific carrier may have their own delivery zones and rates.

Shipping labels

To ship an order, you need to buy and print shipping labels. Shipping labels differ depending on the carrier you use, but they all display required shipping information like customer address, package weight and dimensions, and shipping class.

Creating shipping methods for eCom

In Retail POS, select eCom (E-Series) from the dropdown menu and at the bottom of the sidebar, click Shipping & Pickup.

There are a variety of options based on how you want to ship, distance, and cost:

• Click + Add Shipping to set up shipping options with a carrier.
• Click + Add Delivery to set up local delivery.
• Click + Add Pickup to set up self pickup.

  

You can create as many shipping options as needed. Each one can have different rates, destination zones, and carriers.

Adding handling fees

You can also add a flat per-order charge to help cover your shipping expenses. The handling fee will be added to the order at checkout as a separate charge.

1. In your eCom store, navigate to Shipping & Pickup.
2. In the Settings section, click Set Up Handling Fee.
3. Add a customer-facing Title, Fee ($), and Description.

   

4. Click Submit.

Connecting shipping methods to outlets

Outlets with incomplete addresses cannot be connected to a shipping method.

If you have synced multiple locations to eCom, you can limit shipping by inventory and connect locations to shipping methods, meaning customers are restricted from choosing shipping options for items that are out of stock at the location that ships products to their area.

For example, if items shipped through Canada Post ship from an outlet in Canada and the item is out of stock at that outlet, that shipping option will not be available in the customer checkout.

To limit shipping by location inventory:

1. Under Settings, click Outlets' availability for pickup, delivery, and shipping options.
2. Select Available only if products are in stock.

   

3. Click Save.

To restrict shipping options to locations:

1. Under Add a new shipping or delivery method, click + Add Shipping.
2. Select your carrier from the list or enter the name in Other carriers and click Set Up.

   

3. Click the type of rate you want to offer for this shipping method.

   

4. Use the Outlet associated with this shipping method dropdown to select the outlet to assign to this shipping method.

   

5. Configure your other shipping options and regions as desired and Save.

Setting your shipping origin address

If you’ve set up real-time shipping rates or pickup options, you’ll need to set your shipping origin address. Your company’s address will be selected by default.

To update your shipping origin address:

1. On the Shipping & Pickup page, scroll down to Settings.

   

2. In the Shipping Origin box, click Change Address.
3. Select I ship orders from a warehouse or another location.

   

4. Enter the new Shipping origin address and click Save.

What's next?