Overview
Shipping Management in Flxpoint is your centralized hub for organizing and automating shipping across sources and sales channels. It allows you to create shipping policies, configure source-specific shipping methods, and map customer-facing shipping options to your internal policies. This streamlines your shipping process, ensuring accuracy, cost-efficiency, and improved customer satisfaction.
From Shipping Management, you can:
- Create, edit, or delete shipping policies.
- Add, edit, or delete source shipping methods.
- Add, edit, or delete channel shipping mappings.
- Automate or select package sizing for shipping labels.
- Filter carriers or methods for rate shopping.
Navigating to Shipping Management
Shipping Management is located in the Global Account Settings. Follow the steps below to navigate to Shipping Management:
- Flxpoint App → Settings → Orders → Shipping Management
Shipping Policies Setup
Shipping Policies bind together channel shipping mappings and eligible source shipping methods.
To Create a Shipping Policy
- Click Add Policy in the top right of the screen.
- Enter the Policy Name in the blank field.
- Click Create.
For businesses dealing with complex shipping scenarios—such as different methods for regulated products like firearms or hazardous materials—it's essential to organize your shipping methods effectively:
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Group Similar Shipping Methods: Consider grouping all related shipping methods under a single policy. For instance, all ground shipping methods could be grouped under a "Standard" policy, while expedited methods might fall under a "Priority" policy.
- Use Custom Codes: When setting up these methods, assign custom codes that reflect the specific requirements of each method. For example, you could have separate codes for ground shipping of different product categories, like firearms and accessories.
This approach ensures that all your shipping needs are met within the constraints of the platform, while keeping your shipping policies organized and efficient.
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Creating a shipping policy only requires a name. This name is completely up to you, but is best represented as a bucket of shipping solutions. Some examples include:
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To Edit or Delete a Shipping Policy
- Select the desired shipping policy.
- Hover your mouse over the Shipping Policy Name located in the top left of the policy.
- Click on the Gear Icon to the right of the shipping policy name.
- Edit the Policy Name and click Update (if applicable).
- Click Delete and confirm by selecting Yes, Delete (if applicable).
For more information on shipping policies, see Shipping Policies.
Source Shipping Methods Setup
Source shipping methods represent the different ways a source can physically ship an order out (i.e. specific carriers, methods, or service levels).
To create a new source shipping method, you will need the following information:
- Name: represents the type of shipping method
- Default Method Code: represents a custom code your source needs to ship out a specific way
- Best Fit Package: If enabled, allows Flxpoint to recommend the best fit package size. This is calculated using the order line item's dimensions. The largest box possible will be used for oversized FR/FOs.
In the advanced settings, the following optional fields are available:
- Default Carrier Code: The code (text) that your source recognizes for this carrier.
- Custom Carrier Name: represents an additional custom field you can use to describe the carrier
- Custom Method Name: represents an additional custom field you can use to describe the carrier service method or level
For more information on source shipping methods, please see Source Shipping Methods.
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To access the rate shopping settings, you must first connect to Ship Engine and enable Rate Shopping for this source. |
Handling Multiple Shipping Methods for a Single Source
If your source requires multiple shipping methods, such as different methods for shipping handguns, long guns, and accessories, you might encounter limitations when setting up only two methods (Standard and Expedited). Here’s how to manage this:
Identify Specific Requirements: Determine the exact shipping codes needed for each product type (e.g., UPSH for handguns, UPSF for long guns).
Create Custom Shipping Methods: Set up unique shipping methods for each product type. Use names and codes that correspond to your source's requirements. For example:
- Handguns: Set up a method named "UPSH" under your "Standard" policy.
- Long Guns: Set up a method named "UPSF" under your "Standard" policy.
- Accessories: Set up two methods—"UPSR" for orders under $500 and "UPS4" for orders over $500—both under your "Standard" policy.
Mapping to a Policy: All these shipping methods can be categorized under one policy, like "Standard Shipping." Make sure each method is correctly mapped to ensure accurate order processing.
This approach allows you to handle the nuance of shipping regulated products, ensuring that each type of product is shipped according to your source's specific requirements.
Channel Shipping Mapping Setup
Channel shipping mappings allow orders being imported from a channel to be mapped to a central shipping policy.
Important to Note:
- Channel shipping text = shipping option the customer will be able to select on your sales channel.
- You may add more than one channel shipping text per policy.
- All channel shipping texts must be mapped to a shipping policy.
- Flxpoint will flag incoming orders if the channel shipping text has not been added to a shipping policy. Please see Unmapped Channel Method Notification below.
Example:
- Customer places an order on your sales channel and chooses a shipping selection such as: "4-7 business days."
- To leverage this selection of "4-7 business days," create a channel shipping mapping to identify and associate this selection with a general shipping policy, such as "Standard" or "Ground."
- The channel shipping mapping would look something like:
- "4-7 business days" → "Standard"
Unmapped Channel Method Notification
When an incoming order is missing shipping text or contains a shipping text not associated with a shipping policy, Flxpoint will flag the order.
To Resolve the Unmapped Channel Method Hold:
- Navigate to Shipping Management via Settings → Orders → Shipping Management
- Click 'Assign to Policy'
- Use the drop-down menu to select the desired shipping policy.
- If you would like a new shipping policy, you will add the shipping policy before selecting the drop-down menu.
- Click 'Set' to assign the channel shipping method to the selected shipping policy.
If you assign an unmapped channel method to a policy, this change will apply to all orders currently on hold due to this particular unmapped channel method.
If you have multiple varieties of unmapped channel methods (i.e. N/A and NA), you will have to assign each variation to a shipping policy.
For more information on channel shipping mapping, please see Channel Shipping Mapping.