Shipping again: Is this how I do it?

[Spark]

I know there are lots of other posts on shipping but wondered which was the best (a.k.a. easiest) way to go.

I'm currently set up incorrectly with a "use default charge"; by zones - showing only UK first & second post and "free over" £50. (Free over £50 should only apply to standard delivery within mainland UK - currently it's been giving free postage to all orders over £50 regardless of location.).

I need to change my settings to reflect the different charge rates for the UK (i.e., mainland, highlands etc.), together with options for ParcelForce 24 & 48hr services. I've read in another post that one way to do this is to remain with zones but to specify different locations like UK01, UK02 etc. Fine so far, I think (though not tried it yet).

For countries where shipping location is not currently specified - i.e., the US -the default charge of £3.99 is automatically applied. (T&Cs state different charges apply if shipping outside of mainland UK).

Can I get around this by checking the box for "if band not defined - do not allow shipping"? Does checking this box bypass a shipping cost or does it stop the transaction / sale from proceeding until customer contacts?

Instead of having "free over £50" - is it possible instead to apply a discount of £3.99 (representing current shipping default cost) to all sales over £50 so that regardless of where a customer is purchasing from, they benefit from the same shipping saving? Another benefit of doing it this way would be that, the customer then has the choice to opt for 24hr delivery rather than the standard 48hr but still get the same incentive discount to make an order that is over £50.

If it is possible - is this how I do it? Or have I got it all wrong?

Discount & surcharge settings (like voucher codes) / cart content tab / all product groups / general tab, enabled based on value excluding tax / trigger £50.

Hope this all makes sense & grateful for any replies.

Regards

Sonia

[Bruce]

(Free over £50 should only apply to standard delivery within mainland UK - currently it's been giving free postage to all orders over £50 regardless of location.).

This is a global variable and will be applied over the entire site.

Can I get around this by checking the box for "if band not defined - do not allow shipping"? Does checking this box bypass a shipping cost or does it stop the transaction / sale from proceeding until customer contacts?

This will stop the sale from proceeding and the customer will have to contact you to place the order, the error message is "Select Shipping Destination - The catalog shipping database does not have any shipping options defined for this location. Please contact us directly with your order." and this comes from Design | Text, 'Go To' Phase: -1 ID: 25 & Phase: -1 ID: 171, you can change the wordings here if you want... This is without a free over on the shipping and with it set to "Do not allow shipping". You will also have to create a Zone for teh countries you wish to place orders else there will be only teh UK in shipping which will be selected by default resulting ina person going thsough to chakout and passing but not being able to select an alternate destination to ship to.

Instead of having "free over £50" - is it possible instead to apply a discount of £3.99 (representing current shipping default cost) to all sales over £50 so that regardless of where a customer is purchasing from, they benefit from the same shipping saving? Another benefit of doing it this way would be that, the customer then has the choice to opt for 24hr delivery rather than the standard 48hr but still get the same incentive discount to make an order that is over £50.

You have this one spot on.

Best thing to do is to play around with the settings a bit and see what works best for you. You can download and import the latest shipping tables from our website here.

Kind regards,

[Spark]

Thanks Bruce

Going to try it now - wish me luck.

[Spark]

Sorry Bruce (or anyone else out there)

Seemed straighforward enough but I do have a quick question (o.k. 2 questions).

1. If I set up an order level discount of £3.99 to represent the P&P discount for orders over £50 - what will happen if a customer orders over £100? Will it take 2 x discount (£7.98) or is there any way to set a maximum.

In the miscellaneous tab of the discounts & surcharge tab it has an option for allowing only one order value discount per order - but this wont work I don't think as the £3.99 is in addition to any discount voucher code entered. This might work if I were to set the discount up as a cart content discount instead but......

2. If, instead of setting the P&P discount up as an order level discount, I set it up as a cart content discount, what should I do about the product groups?

So far, I haven't allocated any products into groups (haven't needed to yet). Do I need to create a new product group called "ALL ITEMS" and put everything into it so that a cart content and an order level discount can both be applied?

Thanks.

Sonia

[Bruce]

So far, I haven't allocated any products into groups (haven't needed to yet). Do I need to create a new product group called "ALL ITEMS" and put everything into it so that a cart content and an order level discount can both be applied?

I gues this will be the best way to go if you want to keep them apart, if you would like this discount ot also apply on the order level, then simply unchecking the restriction on the Miscellaneous tab.

Kind regards,

[Spark]

Thanks Bruce.

If the discount were set up at order level though would it give multiple discounts where orders are over £100 (i.e, would it try to give £7.98 off rather than £3.99 for if the order reached £100)?