About Shipping Groups

Before Shipping Methods are ever set up, the first step is to determine the Shipping Groups which your Shipping Methods will apply to. Shipping Groups may be type Country, State/Province or City. Typically, the farther a shipping destination is away from the Distribution Center(s) of a company, the more expensive (and time-consuming) shipping will be.

Let’s say your company has one Distribution Center only and it is located in Vancouver, BC. The cheapest destinations will then be those destinations in Vancouver or very close to Vancouver (Burnaby, Richmond, North Vancouver, etc.). It may also be true that shipping to cities and towns in British Columbia will be cheaper than shipping to cities and towns in Ontario. Furthermore, shipping to the United States might again be more expensive, due to customs issues. International shipping will likely be the most expensive, and the rates to various countries may fluctuate significantly. For example, shipping to the United Kingdom is probably cheaper than shipping to a country in South America.

Shipping Groups are managed by clicking on the “Edit or view Shipping Groups” link. Upon entry to the page, you will see all Shipping Groups that have currently been entered into CommerceCM via the following interface:

 

The Group Type column indicates the type of shipping group (country, state/province or city). Existing Shipping Groups may be edited by clicking directly on their name.  New Shipping Groups may be created by clicking on the New Group button.