Mals Advanced Shipping

Advanced shipping uses the same basic concepts as the standard shipping methods but allows you to set-up many more zones; up to twenty instead of just five. Furthermore each zone can have up to six shipping options for the customer to choose from. The module directly integrates with the UPS and USPS.

• 20 zones instead of 5
• 28 bands for each option instead of 5
• Each zone can have up to 6 options for the customer to choose from
• Different shipping options can have a different basis; calculated by value, quantity, units or a UPS quote (based on weight)
• Customers can select their zones from a list of Countries or US states or Canadian provinces

The new module introduces the concept that you can offer the customer a choice of shipping methods, up to six in fact. Nevertheless it uses the same basic concept for its calculation as the standard shipping; that the cart takes a total, for example weight or value of the order, and applies whatever you set-up here in Ad min to that total.

You can choose more than one basis

With standard shipping you are forced to decide the basis of your shipping calculations before you start. For example you might decide your shipping will be calculated by weight (units), by total value or by quantity of items ordered. With the new module you are not so constrained, you can even have one option based on value and a quantity. The only restriction is that units, which you can post in with the product can only mean one thing. In other words it can't be the weight for one product and a basic shipping cost for another!

Integrated UPS and USPS rates

Unlike the prior UPS calculators that I have set-up you aren't restricted to just the UPS quotes, you could for example just use it for international orders. Or you could even set up one option as UPS Ground and calculate your premium shipping options from your own tables.

To calculate a UPS or USPS quote you must set the weight of your products in your Buy Now links as a decimal of pounds (Lbs) in the field named units...

You can create up to twenty shipping zones. For most people shipping zones are going to be geographical areas of some sort, for example; Local, National and International. Within each zone you can define up to six shipping options for your customers to choose from, for example; Ground, Three day express or Next day delivery. You can't do anything until you set-up at least one zone!

In many cases the shipping zones you set-up may not make much sense to the customer. So to make it a bit easier for them you can use one of several pre-defined GUI elements, such a drop down list of countries or US States. In each case you set-up a link between each item in the list and one of your zones.