Shipping White Paper

ChannelAdvisor Merchant software provides powerful tools that enable you to configure your shipping methods and set your shipping rates. The ChannelAdvisor Merchant software contains many advanced customization features to give you the flexibility to meet all your shipping needs.

Shipping and handling rates need to be calculated for a variety of reasons. The buyer may wish to estimate their shipping cost before they actually purchase the item, or they may have already purchased the item and now the shipping amount must be calculated for Checkout. In any case, ChannelAdvisor Merchant calculates the correct shipping and handling charges based on one of three shipping levels.

The system checks for a shipping value in the following order:

• Level 1 – Inventory Item Shipping and Handling
  The Inventory shipping and handling rate is entered with each specific inventory item. This allows each item to have a unique shipping and handling cost. If no Inventory Shipping rates are detected, the system will automatically go to Level 2, Classification Shipping, for the shipping rate.



• Level 2 – Classification Shipping and Handling
  Classification shipping allows similar items to grouped together. All items with the same classification will charge the same shipping and handling rate. If no Classification Shipping rates are detected, the system will automatically go to Level 3, Global Shipping, for the shipping rate.



• Level 3 – Global Shipping and Handling
  If shipping rates have not been set for the inventory item or classification levels, Global Account Shipping Settings are used to calculate the shipping rate for the item(s) on the invoice. At a minimum, Global Account Shipping Settings are required for all accounts. If shipping values are not specified for levels 1 and 2, the global rates are applied.

The inventory shipping and handling rate is the item-specific shipping rate. This enables you specify a shipping and handling rate for each unique item. If an inventory item level shipping rate is detected, that information will always be used to calculate the shipping cost. This is also true for handling rates on the inventory item record.

You should only include a shipping rate on the inventory item edit page if that is always the carrier and shipping rate which will be used to ship that particular item. Note: If the exact shipping rate cannot be determined before the item is posted to the marketplace, you should not use the inventory item level shipping fields.

Note: To create inventory item level shipping and handling rates for your account, you must first enter the shipping carriers you use and the zones/locations you ship to.

1. In the Inventory All Items view (Inventory > All Items), select the SKUs for the inventory item level shipping rates to be updated.
2. Click
3. Enter the item level shipping rates for each enabled zone and shipping carrier combination. Note: Do not enter rates for zone and carrier combinations if the selected items cannot be shipped using that method.
4. Click . You will then be returned to the All Items View and the new item level shipping rates will be saved for all of the selected SKUs.

To set up the shipping carriers you support, go to your Account Shipping Carrier settings (Settings > Account Shipping Carrier). On the following page, you can enable the carriers you support to ship your completed orders. There are several default shipping carriers included in each new account that is created, however you may define new custom shipping carriers at any time.

The following fields are available in your Account Shipping Carrier settings (Settings > Account Shipping Carrier):

Disabled/Enabled Shipping Carriers are listed in this settings page. You can choose to enable or disable any of the shipping carriers you support. Note: Only the shipping carriers that are enabled in this settings page will appear in other sections of the ChannelAdvisor Merchant system where shipping rates are defined.

The Create a new Shipping Carrier and Class function allows you to create new shipping carriers that are not already in the shipping carrier list displayed. For example, if your company uses a lesser-known shipping carrier, it may not appear in the list of available carriers. To add a custom-shipping carrier, you need to supply a carrier name and a class, and then click to include it in the enabled list of shipping carriers.

• Carrier – This is the name of the custom-shipping carrier that may be selected by a buyer for delivery of their purchase. An example of a carrier name is ‘FedEx’ or ‘UPS’.
• Class – This is the shipping class that is offered by the carrier for delivery of an item. For example, shipping carriers generally offer ‘Overnight’, ‘Next Day Air’ or ‘Ground’ delivery methods.

To set up the shipping locations you support, go to your Account Ship-To Zones settings (Settings > Account Ship-To Zones). On the following page, you can create a list of the shipping locations you support. You must specify the zones, countries, states and provinces to which you will ship merchandise. Only the countries and their enabled states, provinces and regions will be displayed to buyers in the ChannelAdvisor Checkout.

You can easily create custom shipping zones and then assign countries, states and provinces to those zones. A shipping zone may be an entire country, or it could be a grouping of areas within a country that are in close proximity to one another. For example, you may wish to create a ‘Southeastern US Zone’ and include Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

Here are the steps for creating custom Ship-To Zones:

1. In your Account Ship-To Zones settings (Settings > Account Ship-To Zones) page, add all of the worldwide shipping zones that you will ship to. The default setting will include ‘Domestic’ and ‘International’. You can add more custom zones at any time.
2. Using the mouse, select each specific zone to add the countries, states and provinces. To change the zone focus, highlight a different zone name with the mouse.
3. Using the Add and Remove buttons, select the countries, states or provinces that your company will ship items to for each zone. You must enable all of the states and provinces within each country that you ship to. For example, if you will ship to North Carolina, but not California, you must enable North Carolina, but not California. Note: Some countries use a notation of ‘All Regions’. To enable that country, you must enable the ‘All Regions’ selection.
4. To save the zone, country, state and province assignments click .

Classifications are a powerful tool that can be used for many different purposes in ChannelAdvisor Merchant, from creating custom fields on an inventory item description page to assigning shipping or scheduling settings.

The Classification shipping and handling rate allows you to assign a shipping method or shipping and handling rate values to multiple inventory items that all belong to the same group. Classification level shipping and handling amounts are generally used to specify rates for large groups of inventory. Once a shipping method and the rates have been added to a Classification record, all inventory items assigned to that classification will use the same method and rates when an item is sold and an invoice is generated. A classification shipping and/or handling rate will only be used if the inventory item record does not have a specified rate.

1. To create a new Classification level shipping and handling rates, go to the Classifications page (Inventory > Classifications) and click .
2. Classification Name – Assign a meaningful name that will be representative of the data to be grouped by this classification.
3. Posting Priority (Optional) – This option allows you to set the order in which items in this Classification may be scheduled into the marketplace. 1 is the highest priority and 10 is the lowest priority.
4. Schedule (Optional) This option allows you to assign this classification to a specific posting schedule.
5. Attributes (Optional) This allows you to describe features in common with all items in this Classification. For example, within the Camera classification all products will have attributes such as Lens, Body Weight, Flash, etc.
6. Upsell Items (Optional) Upsell items will present buyers with additional purchase choices in the ChannelAdvisor Checkout. Typically, upsell items that are accessories or supplies to the items in the class.
7. Click . On the next page, select the Distribution Center from which your items will ship then click .
8. On the following page, select the shipping rate settings for this classification using any of the following options:
• 3rd party Shipping Rate Calculator – This option integrates with UPS, FedEx, USPS, or DHL to determine exact shipping rate values from your location to the buyer’s location. All inventory items assigned to this classification must include weight in pounds on the inventory record.
• Use Inventory Item Shipping Rates – By selecting Use Inventory Item shipping rates, you will be required to enter a shipping rate value by carrier for every item added to inventory.
• Use Variable Shipping Rate Tables – Shipping rates may be configured based on the invoice total, weight of the items, or the quantity of items to be shipped. If weight will be used, the inventory item record must include weight in pounds.
• Use Flat Shipping Rate Table – A fixed rate must be supplied for each supported carrier.
9. Once you have selected the shipping rate for this classification, click . On the following page specify the exact shipping and handling cost for each item per each zone and carrier combination.

If ChannelAdvisor Merchant does not detect an inventory item or classification level shipping rate, it will use the default Global Account Shipping Settings to calculate the shipping or handling rates for the item(s). All accounts are required to specify Global Account Shipping and Handling Rates. This default information will be used in the event an inventory item specific rate or a classification rate have not been assigned.

1. To set your Global Shipping Rate preferences, go to the Account Shipping Rates settings (Settings > Account Shipping Rates).
2. The default Distribution Center will appear at the top of the page. If you have multiple Distribution Centers an option to select the Distribution Center will appear. Select the Distribution Center from which your items will ship and click .


3. On the following page, select the global account shipping rate settings using any of the following options:
1. 3rd party Shipping Rate Calculator – This option integrates with UPS, FedEx, USPS, or DHL in the United States to determine exact shipping rate values from your location to the buyer’s location. In order to use the calculator, all inventory items must include the weight of the item on the inventory record.
2. Use Inventory Item Shipping Rates – When you select ‘Use Inventory Item’ shipping rates, you will be required to enter a shipping rate value by carrier for every item added to the inventory.
3. Use Variable Shipping Rate Tables – Shipping rates may be configured based on the invoice total, weight of the items, or the quantity of items to be shipped. If weight will be used, the inventory item record must include the weight of the item.
4. Use Flat Shipping Rate Table
– A fixed rate must be supplied for each supported carrier.
4. Flat Rate Shipping and Handling Combination Rules


The Flat Rate Shipping and Handling Combination Rules will affect all outstanding checkouts and future checkouts when it is turned on. The setting will apply to both shipping and handling calculations.

The examples below will help illustrate the two options. In the examples assume that the rates are for a specific region and shipping carrier/classification combination. The same logic would be repeated to calculate the rates for all of the shipping carrier/classification combinations that fall in the buyer's region.

Example 1: Inventory Item (Level 1) rates only
Assume for this example that an invoice contains two items with Inventory, Level 1 shipping rates:

Since both A1 and A3 both have inventory item rates specified, then rates are taken from that level for both SKUs. Results are displayed for both the First Item and the Highest First Item Rates.

Notice how in the Highest First Item rates, only one of the SKUs in the invoice receives "first item rate" treatment. This lowers the total shipping cost of this invoice by $2, compared to the First Item rate.

Example 2: Classification (Level 2) rates only Assume for this example that an invoice contains two items with Classification, Level 2, shipping rates:

Since both A2 and A4 have no inventory item rates specified, then rates are taken from the next highest level, which for both SKUs in this example would be classification based rates. Results are displayed for both the First Item and the Highest First Item rates.

Notice how in the Highest First Item rates, only one of the SKUs in the invoice receives "first item rate" treatment. This lowers the total shipping cost of this invoice by $3, compared to the First Item rate.

Example 3: Combining rates from two different levels Assume for this example that an invoice contains two items that have classification rates:

Since both A2 and A4 have no inventory item rates specified, then rates are taken from the next highest level, which for both SKUs in this example would be classification based rates. Since A5 has no inventory item rates and no classification based rates, rates would then be taken from the global level for this SKU. Results are displayed for both the First Item and the Highest First Item rates.

This example demonstrates the most complex situation with the Highest First Item rates calculation method which is what happens when multiple flat rate calculations combine from different levels in the shipping hierarchy. Notice that in the First Item rates, because each item has different types of rates configured, each receives first item rate treatment. However, in the Highest First Item rates calculations, even though each rate's calculation comes from a different level, only the SKU whith the Highest First Item rate receives that value.

Once you have selected the shipping rate, click . On the following page specify the exact shipping and handling cost for each item per each zone and carrier combination.

In order to provide simplified or reduced-rate shipping options, you may choose to offer invoice consolidation to buyers that purchase multiple items. This will also allow the buyer to complete one checkout instead of many. To enable invoice consolidation for your account, there are several things to keep in mind.

In order for multiple items to consolidate properly on an invoice, there must be a common shipping carrier and class between them (where FedEx is the Carrier and 2nd Day Air is the Class). For example, if Item 1 offers shipping only by FedEx and Item 2 offers shipping only by USPS, then the order cannot be consolidated to ship using a common carrier. In such a case, it is advisable to mark one or both of these items in the inventory item record as “Unable to be consolidated”. This will ensure that an individual invoice is generated for each item, and the buyer will have to complete checkout for each item individually.

The All Items View (Inventory > All Items) displays a column called ‘Shipping’ that lists the method by which an items shipping rates will be determined: Inventory Item Level, Classification Level or Global Account Shipping Settings Level. If your account is enabled to allow invoice consolidation, and an inventory item is detected that will not be able to consolidate with other items in the account, a yield sign will appear in the Shipping column next to the shipping method, notifying the user that further action is required prior to posting and closing that item.

When configuring your Shipping Settings, take care to make sure that your inventory will all be able to consolidate together if you have enabled this setting. Choose a list of primary shipping carriers, and attempt to limit your shipping rates to only one level of the system. For example, if you have unique inventory, likely to ship by different carriers and for different rates, we suggest establishing Inventory Item Level shipping information. This will allow you to specify the shipping rate for each inventory item.

This function provides the ability to batch upload shipment tracking numbers into the All Sales View (Sales > All Sales). Using the Import Shipping file template, you can bulk import tracking numbers and shipping dates for orders into ChannelAdvisor Merchant. If there is no date in the ‘date shipped’ field, the system will use the date the import occurred as the ship date. When an order is updated with a tracking number using the upload process, ChannelAdvisor Merchant will automatically mark the order status as shipped.

Note: If the file contains an invalid Invoice ID or produces an error, the file will not import successfully and no items will be processed.

1. Obtain the Import Shipping file template and populate it with shipping and tracking information before attempting to upload it to the Merchant system.
1. Go to the All Sales view (Sales > All Sales)
2. Click
3. On the left side of the page, click on the blue Click here link.
4. In the new window that appears, click on the blue Import Shipping File to download the file.
2. In the All Sales view, click
3. On the Import Shipping page, either enter your shipping file or click
4. To upload the file, click

All views available in the Merchant Channel Management module may be exported to a tab-delimited text file format from within the user interface. These text files of data can be imported into Excel or a database for record keeping and data analysis.

1. From the All Sales view (Sales > All Sales), click
2. On the following page, choose the fields you wish to export to a comma separated values file (.CSV extension).
3. Click

Shipping Reports can be downloaded from the Transaction Processing Module (Console > Transaction Processing) under the Reports tab (Reports > Shipping Reports). These reports contain all of the shipping data over a given period of time. The frequency that these Shipping Reports are generated depends upon the your Checkout Report settings (Checkout > Configure Checkout) configured in the Channel Management Module (Console > Channel Management). Shipping reports are generated at the same time checkout reports are generated.

Report ID – The unique identification number used to distinguish one report from another. This report id is assigned sequentially to each new report as it is created.

Report Start Date – The beginning date used to select items that will be included in the report. All items included in the report will fall between the start and end dates selected.

Report End Date – The ending date used to select items that will be included in the report. All items included in the report will fall between the start and end dates selected.

Version – The shipping reports are available in two different formats, FedEx and UPS. The records will be split into the appropriate report format, ensuring the reports only include the orders specific to the supported shipping carrier.

# Orders – This column displays the number of unique orders that are included in the report.

Downloaded – This column displays the download history for each report, including a list of all users that have previously downloaded the report.

	This icon shows that the selected report has never been downloaded.
	This icon shows that the selected report has been previously downloaded. By clicking on this icon, the user can see a list of all people who have downloaded this report.

Shipping reports for FedEx Ship Manager (Online version) and UPS WorldShip solutions are supported in the Transaction Processing Module.

ChannelAdvisor Merchant will generate a shipping report containing a user-defined subset of Checkout data per shipping carrier selected within Report Settings, allowing data to be imported directly into the appropriate shipping solution.

• All transactions in which FedEx was the buyer-selected shipping carrier, will be included in the FedEx Report.
• All transactions in which UPS was the buyer-selected shipping carrier, will be included in the UPS report.

Before you can import the UPS shipping report into UPS WorldShip, you will be required to set up a ‘data map’ between the ChannelAdvisor shipping report fields and the import fields within the WorldShip system. More information on how to map the fields and use the import utility is available on the Reports Settings page (Settings > Report Settings) in the Transaction Processing Module (Console > Transaction Processing). Click on the blue click here link on the bottom left side of the Report Settings page.

FedEx only allows customer ship-to data to be uploaded into the Ship Manager address book. Only the fields listed below can be included in the report for the file import to work properly. There is no mapping process required for FedEx.

The Shipping Reports contain the following fields: