How to set up Rate Shopping

Overview

Rate Shopping, part of the Rate Shopping & Custom Method Names Advanced Feature supports comparing shipping rates between shipping methods across different carriers returning the cheapest method under a single method name.

This functionality is purpose built for cases where multiple shipping services could be used and you want to only show the cheapest to your customers at checkout.

Requirements

• Enable the Rate Shopping & Custom Method Names Advanced Feature
• “Shop for Cheapest Rate” enabled in the feature settings
• At least 2 carriers configured on your ShipperHQ account

Setup

Enable Rate Shopping

1. Select the Advanced Features tab from the left-hand navigation bar.
2. Enable the Rate Shopping & Custom Method Names Advanced Feature
3. Go to the Settings tab of the feature
4. Check the Shop for Cheapest Rate Checkbox
5. Set the Carrier Title to the carrier name you want to show at checkout. This is the equivalent to the Carrier Title set on your carriers but will be shown when Rate Shopping applies in place of a specific carrier title
6. Save the Advanced Feature settings
   

Now that Rate Shopping is enabled, you can proceed to set up your Method Merging Rules which tell ShipperHQ which shipping methods to rate shop between.

Setting up Rate Shopping Rules

1. Go to Carriers > Method Merging Rules
2. Click + New
3. In the Overview section, enter the Shipping Method Title (e.g. “Basic Shipping”) for your merged rate. This is what will be displayed in checkout as the shipping method
4. Enter a Method Code (e.g. “BASIC”) which will be used to uniquely identify this rate shop result behind the scenes. This is not shown at checkout and is only for internal reference
   
5. In the Carrier Methods section, choose at least one Shipping Method each from at least two Carriers. E.g. if I choose UPS Ground and FedEx Home Delivery, ShipperHQ will return the cheapest of these two methods
   • These can be methods from any combination of Custom and Live Rate Carriers
   • Rate shopping between methods on the same carrier is not supported e.g. UPS Ground can not be rate shopped with UPS 2nd Day Air if both are set up under the same carrier
     
6. Check the Show Winning Rate checkbox if you want to show the name of the winning shipping method at checkout
   • If checked, the winning method name will show. E.g. if UPS Ground wins, “UPS Ground” would be shown at checkout regardless of the “Merged Shipping Method Title” title set on the Method Merge Rule
   • If unchecked, the “Merged Shipping Method Title” set on the Method Merge Rule will be used instead of the winning method name
7. Save the Method Merge Rule

You can now continue to set up any additional Merge Rules to rate shop between other Shipping Methods. All Rate Shopped results will be shown at checkout under a single “generic” carrier with the title you set in the Advanced Feature settings “Carrier Title”.

Examples

Take a look at these examples to help understand where Rate Shopping is applied and how it will work:

Example 1: If you are rate shopping between a UPS Ground quote at $17.33 and USPS Priority Mail at $14.95 but have a Shipping Rule which sets UPS Ground to $0 (for free shipping to that particular zone for instance), UPS Ground will be the option made available to the customer because ShipperHQ compares rates after Shipping Rules have been applied.

Example 2: If you are rate shopping between a UPS Ground quote at $17.33 and FedEx Home Delivery at $16.31 and do not have Shipping Rules which change the rates, FedEx Home Delivery will be the option made available to the customer.

Example 3: If you are rate shopping between a UPS Ground quote at $17.33 and USPS Priority Mail at $14.95 but have a Shipping Rule which upcharges USPS Priority by $3.00 bringing it’s final rate to $17.95, UPS Ground will be the option returned to the customer because ShipperHQ compares rates after Shipping Rules have been applied.