The Shipping Methods page lets you manage the shipping methods that you intend to offer for your store's customers.
General Shipping Settings
Per Order Shipping Fee
Per Order Shipping Fee is the flat fee associated with shipping an order. This amount is added to the order total before tax calculations.
Note: If you have shipping costs for individual products, you can enter them for each individual product as the Per Item Shipping Cost attribute. Note: If you have a shipping cost modifier for some product options, you may enter it as the Shipping Cost Modifier attribute in the Product Options section. The Shipping Cost Modifier for an option affects the Per Item Shipping Cost for the entire product.
Example:
Per Item Shipping Cost for Product1 = $3.00
Per Item Shipping Cost for Product2 = $5.00
Per Order Shipping Flat Fee = $5.00
The customer ordered 2 items of Product1 and 4 items of Product2.
The shipping fee by UPS = $11.00.
Then,
(Total shipping cost, $42.00) = (Per Order Shipping Flat Fee, $5.00) + (UPS shipping fee, $11.00) + (2 x Per Item Shipping Cost for Product1, 2 x $3.00) + (4 x Per Item Shipping Cost for Product2, 4 x $5.00)
Per Order Handling Fee
Per Order Handling Fee is the flat fee associated with shipping an order. This amount is added to the order total before tax calculations.
Note: If you have handling costs for individual products, you can enter them for each individual product as the Per Item Handling Cost attribute. Note: If you have a handling cost modifier for some product options, you may enter it as the Handling Cost Modifier attribute in the Product Options section. The Handling Cost Modifier for an option affects the Per Item Handling Cost for the entire product.
Example:
Per Item Handling Cost for Product1 = $1.00
Per Item Handling Cost for Product2 = $2.00
Per Order Handling Fee = $10.00
The customer ordered 2 items of Product1 and 4 items of Product2.
Then,
(Total handling cost, $20.00) = (Per Order Handling Fee, $10.00) + (2 x Per Item Handling Cost for Product1, 2 x $1.00) + (4 x Per Item Handling Cost for Product2, 4 x $2.00)
Minimum Shipping Cost
Minimum Shipping Cost is the lowest possible shipping cost. Total shipping cost is calculated as the sum of the shipping cost was calculated by the selected shipping method (UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc.) + Per Order Shipping Fee + Per Item Shipping Cost * number of products. For example, if the total shipping cost is $24 and the Minimum Shipping Cost is $30, then the shipping cost will be equal to $30 - the minimum.
Free Shipping For Orders Over
and
Free Handling For Orders Over
Free Shipping For Orders Over and Free Handling For Orders Over enable you to provide free shipping and/or handling for orders with Order Subtotal exceeding the set values.
Example 1.
Free Shipping For Orders Over = $300.00
Free Handling For Orders Over = $400.00
In this case, Free Shipping is not applied because of Order Subtotal is less than $300.00.
Free Handling is not applied too because of Order Subtotal is less than $400.00.
The total shipping and handling cost is calculated as follows: Shipping and Handling Cost = Shipping Cost Calculated + Handling Cost Calculated = $30.00 + $10.00 = $40.00
The order total is calculated as follows:
Order Subtotal: $270.00
Shipping and Handling: $40.00
Taxes: $31.00
--------------------------
Total: $341.00
Example 2.
Free Shipping For Orders Over = $300.00
Free Handling For Orders Over = $400.00
In this case, Free Shipping is applied because of Order Subtotal is greater than $300.00.
Free Handling is not applied because of Order Subtotal is less than $400.00.
The total shipping and handling cost is calculated as follows:
Shipping and Handling Cost = Handling Cost Calculated = $10.00
The order total is calculated as follows:
Order Subtotal: $320.00
Shipping and Handling: $10.00
Taxes: $33.00
--------------------------
Total: $363.00
Example 3.
Free Shipping For Orders Over = $300.00
Free Handling For Orders Over = $400.00
In this case, Free Shipping is applied because of Order Subtotal is greater than $300.00.
Free Handling is applied too because of Order Subtotal is greater than $400.00.
The total shipping and handling cost is calculated as follows:
Shipping and Handling Cost= $0.00
The order total is calculated as follows:
Order Subtotal: $450.00
Shipping and Handling Cost: $0.00
Taxes: $45.00
--------------------------
Total: $495.00
A general example of calculating the shipping and handling cost:
The customer ordered 2 items of Product1 and 4 items of Product2.
Sale Price for Product1 = $70.00
Per Item Shipping Cost for Product1 = $3.00
Per Item Handling Cost for Product1 = $1.00
Sale Price for Product2 = $30.00
Per Item Shipping Cost for Product2 = $5.00
Per Item Handling Cost for Product2 = $2.00
Per Order Shipping Fee = $5.00
Per Order Handling Fee = $10.00
Minimum Shipping Cost = $20.00
Free Shipping For Orders Over = $300.00
Free Handling For Orders Over = $400.00
In this case, Free Shipping is not applied because Order Subtotal is less than $300.00.
Free Handling is not applied either because Order Subtotal is less than $400.00.
Total shipping cost = (Per Order Shipping Fee, $5.00) + (UPS shipping fee, $11.00) + (2 x Per Item Shipping Cost for Product1, 2 x $3.00) + (4 x Per Item Shipping Cost for Product2, 4 x $5.00) = $42.00
Total handling cost = (Per Order Handling Fee, $10.00) + (2 x Per Item Handling Cost for Product1, 2 x $1.00) + (4 x Per Item Handling Cost for Product2, 4 x $2.00) = $20.00
Shipping and Handling Cost = Total shipping cost + Total handling cost = $42.00 + $20.00 = $62.00
Shipping and Handling:
Order Subtotal: $260.00
Shipping and Handling: $62.00
Taxes: $32.20
--------------------------
Total: $354.20
Availability of shipping methods from which you can choose depends on the version of Avactis Shopping Cart software. The full list of shipping methods supported by the system is provided under Available Shipping Methods. To select one or more shipping methods, select them in the list and move them to the Selected Shipping Methods box by clicking the Right Arrow button.
Under Selected Shipping Methods, the order of shipping methods is identical to your customers will see when placing an order for a product. Click the Up and Down arrows to define the order in which these shipping methods will be displayed to customers. To save any changes click Save.
Once saved, the selected shipping methods will appear in the Shipping Methods section. By default, the selected shipping methods are inactive, that is, they are still unavailable to your customers. To start offering these shipping options, you need to customize the settings and activate the selected shipping methods. To do so, click a shipping method's name. A new window is displayed where you can customize and activate the shipping method.
To remove a shipping method from the list of available methods, select it in the Selected Shipping Methods column and click the Left button to move it to Available Shipping Methods. Click Save. The selected shipping method will be removed from the list of Shipping Methods.
For an illustration of how to customize and activate a shipping method, please see the Video Tutorial.
Shipping Tester
The Shipping Tester page lets you to test and verify shipping module settings and also view the details of how shipping/handling charges are calculated. You can use this page whenever an error occurs in calculating shipping charges. Errors, if any, are listed per each shipping method. Possible errors include the wrong shipping address, the wrong origination address, or a server connection error due to invalid account details, or no connection to the server.
The Shipping Tester page contains the following parts:
Origination address
The address of your store. Products will be shipped from this address. The store address can be set up at Store Settings / Store Configuration / Store Owner's Profile
Destination address
The address to which the product is shipped. This address is entered by the customer during checkout. Here you can enter shipping addresses to test how shipping charges are calculated.
Shopping Cart
Test cart with test products.
Common Shipping and Handling parameters
The shipping and handling parameters which are common to all shipping methods. These settings are entered at Store Settings / Shipping Methods / Settings.
Active shipping modules
These sections appear after calculations of shipping charges have been performed. Every active shipping module has its own section. This section contains the server query message, the server response, the list of error messages, and the summary table listing the shipping charges for each active shipping module. Shipping modules and shipping methods can be set up at Store Settings / Shipping Settings / Methods.
Consider the following use case for the Shipping Tester.
Assume your store has the following address:
City: New York
Country: United States
State: New York
Zip/Postal code: 10001
You have set up the following shipping modules: U.S. Postal Service and Standard Shipping Rates.
To perform a test calculation of shipping charges, you should add some items to the shopping cart and then specify a shipping address.
Let's say we've added a test product with the following parameters:
Name: Product #1
Quantity: 1
Weight: 2 lb
Price: 100
Per Item Shipping Cost: 10
Per Item Handling Cost: 5
Free shipping: NO
The shipping address is given as:
City: Washington
Country: United States
State: District of Columbia
Zip/Postal code: 20201
Now, we click the Test button to perform the calculation.
After the calculation is complete, we will see the following general results (your results may vary):
Subtotal:
$100.00
Free Handling For Orders Over:
$400.00
Free Shipping For Orders Over:
$300.00
Minimum Shipping Cost:
$10.00
Per Item Shipping Cost Sum:
$10.00
Per Order Shipping Fee:
$5.00
Per Item Handling Cost Sum:
$5.00
Per Order Handling Fee:
$10.00
Total Handling Charge:
$15.00
Total Weight:
2 lb
For each active shipping method, several sections will be displayed on the page. In our case, the "U.S. Postal Service" and "Standard Shipping Rates" sections are displayed.
Each section has two subsections: Debug Info and Methods.
Debug Info lets you see calculation details and thus troubleshoot potential problems.
Methods shows the total shipping charges for each shipping method.
The result is the shipping cost for each active shipping method.
In our case, we received the following results for the shipping methods of the U.S. Postal Service shipping module:
Method name
Transit time
Shipping Method Cost
Total Shipping Charge
Total Shipping And Handling cost
USPS Express Mail PO to Addressee
$18.80
$33.80
$48.80
USPS Priority Mail
$4.20
$19.20
$34.20
USPS Parcel Post
$6.96
$21.96
$36.96
USPS Bound Printed Matter
$2.11
$17.11
$32.11
USPS Media Mail
$2.07
$17.07
$32.07
USPS Library Mail
$1.97
$16.97
$31.97
Calculation table legend:
Shipping Method Cost is calculated based on the product's price and weight and the sender's and recipient's addresses.
Total Shipping Charge is calculated as the following sum: Shipping Method Cost + Per Item Shipping Cost Sum + Per Order Shipping Fee. The values of Per Item Shipping Cost Sum and Per Order Shipping Fee do not depend on the shipping method. In our example, Per Item Shipping Cost Sum + Per Order Shipping Fee = $10.00 + $5.00 = $15.00. Therefore, all values in the Total Shipping Charge column are $15.00 greater than those in the Shipping Method Cost column.
Total Shipping And Handling cost is calculated as the sum of Total Shipping Charge + Total Handling Charge. In our example, Total Handling Charge = $15. Therefore, all values in the Total Shipping And Handling cost column are $15.00 greater than those in the Total Shipping Charge column.
Store Owner
The Store Owner's Profile is used to customize the contact information for the online store. These details are used in automated notifications sent to customers following order placement and during order processing. Store information can also be used when sending newsletters, offers, notices, etc to active customers.
To enter a piece of information, use the corresponding textboxes. Click the ? mark to get help on an item.
Click Update to save all changes made. To leave the page click Close.
Name
This is the name of your online store, for example, "Avactis Online Store."
This name appears in the From field of all e-mails sent to your customers.
The e-mail address of your store. This address also appears in the From field of all e-mails sent to your customers as well as to the administrator and the order-processing department.
Site administrator e-mail address
The site administrator's e-mail address. This address receives all automated messages from the online store. Automated messages include information about attempts at unauthorized access, low stock levels of products, new orders placed, etc.
Orders department e-mail address
The e-mail address of the order-processing department. This address receives all automated messages from the online store that concern low stock levels of products, new orders placed, changes in order status, etc.
General Settings
The General Settings page allows you to manage the basic store settings.
In this section you can set the status of your store to either CLOSED or ONLINE. A CLOSED store is unavailable to your visitors. In that case, a special webpage is displayed. For details on creating such a page, please refer to Storefront Area documentation.
Administrators can access a CLOSED store by using the keyword identified in the "Key for signing in to a temporarily closed store" box.
Store status
To close the store, set the status to CLOSED. Store users will not be able to view the catalog of products or place orders. A webpage specially created for this purpose will be displayed to visitors. For details on creating such a page, please refer to Storefront Area documentation.
To open the store to shoppers, set the store status to ONLINE.
Key for signing in to a temporarily closed store
The keyword for accessing a CLOSED store. The URL for viewing a CLOSED store is displayed below the keyword.
Stock Level Settings
This section lets you choose whether items not in stock are displayed to customers and whether they can be ordered.
Displaying products not in stock
Enabled: products not in stock ARE displayed when customers browse the catalog. Disabled: products not in stock are NOT displayed when customers browse the catalog.
Ordering of products not in stock
Enabled: products not in stock CAN be ordered. Disabled: products not in stock CAN NOT be ordered.
Store Time Settings
This sets the current store time. The time is used for order placement, in e-mails, and so on.
Store Time
Current store time and store date.
Adjust store time
This setting lets you change the current store time. Use positive numbers to increase the time and negative numbers to decrease it.
Settings for Blocking Sign In to Admin Area
This section lets you customize the conditions for blocking access to Admin Area in case of multiple unsuccessful attempts to sign in. If activated, a block applies only to one user having a particular IP address and does not apply to any other users.
Number of unsuccessful attempts to sign in to Admin Area after which the Sign In page is blocked
This setting determines the number of unsuccessful attempts to sign in to Admin Area after which the Sign In page becomes blocked. This allows you to protect your store from unauthorized access. The block applies to only one user that has a particular IP address and does not apply to any other users.
Amount of time the sign in page stays blocked
The amount of time the Sign In page stays blocked for the user who has exceeded the limit of attempts to sign in. The block applies to only one user that has a particular IP address and does not apply to any other users.
Shopping Cart
In this section you can choose whether the contents of the shopping cart are shown to the customer after he or she has added a product to it.
Show customer the shopping cart contents after the product has been added
Enabled: the contents of the shopping cart are displayed after a product is added. Any time a product is added, the customer sees what is currently in the cart. Disabled: the contents of the shopping cart are NOT displayed after a product is added. Adding products to cart is done without the cart's contents being displayed every time, although the customer may view the cart whenever they want.
For detailed information on any of these settings, click the ? mark.
Click Update to save any changes. To leave the page click Close.
Payment Methods
The Payment Methods page lets you manage the payment methods that you intend to offer for your store's customers.
Availability of payment methods from which you can choose depends on the version of Avactis Shopping Cart software. The full list of payment methods supported by the system is provided under Available Payment Methods. To select one or more payment methods and/or payment gateways, select them in the list and move them to the Selected Payment Methods box by clicking the Right Arrow button.
Under Selected Payment Methods, the order of payment methods is identical to your customers will see when placing an order for a product. Click the Up and Down arrows to define the order in which these payment methods will be displayed to customers. To save any changes click Save.
Once saved, the selected payment methods will appear in the Payment Methods section. By default, the selected payment methods are inactive, that is, they are still unavailable to your customers. To start offering these payment methods, you need to customize the settings and activate the selected payment methods. To do so, click a payment method's name. A new window is displayed where you can customize and activate the payment method.
To remove a payment method from the list of available methods, select it in the Selected Payment Methods column and click the Left button to move it to Available Payment Methods. Click Save. The selected payment method will be removed from the list of Payment Methods.
For an illustration of how to customize and activate a payment method, please see the Video Tutorial.
