To calculate rates at checkout for stores connected to Easyship, we use the address (entered by the customer), product information, and box size saved on the dashboard. This article breaks down various factors necessary for this feature to work accurately.
We'll Cover:
Addresses
When your customer enters their address at checkout, we use the postcode, city, state, and country to identify the general location of the customer's address. Additionally, we use your sender address on Easyship as the origin location.
Add/Edit Shipping or Billing Address
This allows us to calculate the shipment's origin (shipper location) and destination (receiver location).
Products
We use your saved products to calculate the size and weight of the shipment.
Saved products are necessary when generating rates at checkout. In the Product Listing section of the dashboard, you must sync products from your store (steps highlighted in the article below) to link the product profiles on the store and Easyship.
The SKU, product identifier, product name, and weight will populate upon syncing from your store. Dimensions and categories do not sync and require manual addition. However, there are multiple time-efficient ways to do so listed in the following article.
Without all product information saved, the checkout feature will not provide accurate rates to your customers, resulting in price discrepancies when fulfilling the order, which can even result in adjustment charges by the courier.
| Feature | Use |
| SKU | Stock Keeping Unit, used primarily for packing slips and for internal reference |
| Product ID | How we connect the product profile on your store to Easyship (required for rates at checkout) |
| Description | Used to describe the product on the commercial invoice |
| Product Category | Commodity type, HS Code (essential for international shipping and selecting the appropriate courier) |
| Dimensions | Size of item |
| Weight | Weight of item |
Boxes
Saved boxes are assigned based on the dimensions of products in an order, thus assigning the best fitting box. We highly suggest saving boxes that you typically use for shipping to ensure accurate rates and avoid potential adjustments.
You can save boxes in the Settings > Boxes section of the dashboard. If you select Auto, our algorithm will be prompted to assign the selected box to the order at the checkout, using the box size for the shipment's overall dimensions. Suppose you have multiple boxes saved with "Auto" enabled. In that case, the algorithm will assign the box that best fits the order (we recommend keeping various box sizes to accommodate different order sizes).
If you do not have saved boxes with "Auto" enabled, the algorithm will generate the shipping rate based on the raw product dimensions and weight.
Saving Shipping Boxes Dimensions
Summary
Our system cannot generate live rates without the information needed to create a shipment, and we require this information from you. If all of the above is set up correctly, your website visitors can select multiple shipping options based on their needs, further increasing the chance of a conversion.
Additionally, you need no longer worry about absorbing shipping costs on behalf of your customers or about syncing the orders from your store. The fulfillment experience will be seamless and highly time-efficient with customer-selected shipping services pre-paid and pre-selected. If you wish to offer free/discounted shipping options at checkout, please refer to the following article: How to Enable Free Shipping at Checkout