When a customer reaches the checkout, their cart items and location are sent to MachShip for quoting against the carriers in your account. Instead of displaying all potential carriers and services, MachShip organizes them into clear shipping options, showing the best price for each option. This approach simplifies the checkout experience and helps customers choose the right shipping service for their needs.
Let's use an example to illustrate how shipping options works:
Suppose you have the following carriers and services:
To set up Regular and Express pricing in your checkout, you might configure your shipping options as follows:
With this setup, your customers see two clear choices: a regular shipping price and an express shipping price. MachShip automatically selects the best rate from the available services for each option.
While the regular and express example is straightforward, it's not the most common setup. Most carriers offer similar delivery times, so shipping options often focus on other factors. Common configurations typically consider:
These factors help create distinct shipping options because they significantly affect pricing and don't apply to all customers. This allows customers to select the most appropriate shipping option for their situation.
When selling mostly to residential customers, a single shipping option including residential delivery is often used:
With this configuration, the cheapest of all your carriers and services, inclusive of any residential surcharges, would be displayed. Note, if a customer does not service an area, they simply would not be factored in when determing the cheapest - you do not need to split these groups by service area.
For a mix of business and residential customers, two options are presented:
Option Name: Residential Delivery
Option Name: Business Delivery
In this case, you're returning two options for the customer to choose from - where the residential group includes residential surcharges, the business one does not include any.
This allows you to offer a cheaper shipping price to business customers.
For bulky goods, a weight threshold is often used to determine when to apply tailgate fees:
Option Name: Standard Delivery
Option Name: Heavy Item Delivery
In this example, you're returning one price, with no tailgate fees, but including residential fees if the order contains smaller items.
If the order contains larger items however, you are showing a tailgate price only.
This configuration accounts for both weight and customer type:
Option Name: Residential Delivery
Option Name: Business Delivery
Option Name: Tailgate Delivery
Option Name: Forklift Unload Available At Delivery Point
This configuration provides customers with clear choices based on their delivery address and item weights:
Q: Instead of showing both residential and business options, can we ask customers about their address type and show only the relevant option? A: Some platforms support us adding questions to the cart (Magento, BigCommerce, WooCommerce), while others do not at this time (Shopify).
For those platforms that support it, we can do this.
Q: Can I show all available carrier services to my business customers? A: Yes, MachShip can display all carriers and services you offer, or a selection, with their names and prices.
Q: Can I add markups to different shipping options? A: Yes, each shipping option can have its own markup as either a fixed dollar amount or percentage.
Q: Is there a limit to the number of shipping options? A: No, you can create as many shipping options as needed for your business.
Q: Do I need different options for different states or areas based on carrier availability? A: This isn't necessary. MachShip will only return prices for carriers and services that service the destination address provided.
Q: Can the shipping option names and descriptions be customized? A: Yes, names are customizable. Some platforms allow for both a title and description, while others may only show a title. The amount of space available for descriptions is typically limited.
Q: Can shipping options be split into express and regular services? A: Yes, options can be organized into express and regular categories, with specific services allocated to each option.
Remember, the key to effective shipping options is understanding your customer base and the types of products you're shipping. Design your options to provide clear, relevant choices that meet your customers' needs while optimizing your shipping processes.