The Shipping rules module allows you to establish flexible frameworks which Xentral can then use to automatically assign a shipping method to a sales order as soon as those exact shipping rules apply. Shipping rules can be based on the revenue, the weight, the products contained, the delivery country, the payment method or other parameters.
By using shipping rules, you can partly automate your shipping process and thus save valuable time, since you do not need to assign a shipping service provider manually for each sales order. Instead, the shipping service provider will be preselected automatically according to the criteria defined by you.
Typical use cases for shipping rules
Defining shipping rules is especially interesting for you if you work with more than one shipping service providers and if you are also shipping your products to multiple countries. In the following, you’ll find some practical examples:
Shipping rules are often used to change the shipping method for sales orders that exceed particular values. One exemplary use case is changing the shipping method as soon as a certain shipment weight is exceeded. In this case, the shipping method DHL Kleinpaket is selected up to a shipment weight of 1.00 kg. From 1.01 kg, regular parcel shipment using the shipping method DHL National will be assigned. In case of a shipment weight exceeding 31.5 kg, the shipping method Spedition will be assigned.
The shipping method can also be selected based on the country of destination. For example, you can automatically assign the shipping method DHL National to all sales orders with the country of destination Germany. Similarly, all sales orders with the country of destination Austria can automatically be assigned the shipping method POST.AT. For the remaining EU countries, you can automatically assign the shipping method UPS.
You are offering your products on multiple sales channels. Some of them might require particularly quick shipping of your products. You can easily set up shipping rules for each sales channel so that you are able to assign an express shipping method to sales orders from specific sales channels. This way, you fulfill the requirements of the respective marketplace and ensure as well that the products ordered will be delivered quickly to your end customers.
Features
The Shipping rules module in Xentral contains the following features:
Definition of rules so that Xentral automatically selects a specific shipping method as soon as the matching conditions are met.
Application of the rules to manually created and imported sales orders: In case of manually created sales orders, Xentral suggests changing the shipping method. For imported sales orders, the shipping method will be automatically adjusted according to the rules.
Determination of a variety of shipping rules and precise control over their application by assigning priorities
Warning
Note the following limitations for using shipping rules in Xentral:
It is not possible to automatically select the optimal shipping method, i.e. regarding shipping costs. The shipping method selection is solely based on the settings that you have carried out within the shipping rules.
If sales orders are imported in Xentral via the Transfers module, the shipping method cannot be changed using shipping rules.
Shipping rules do not take effect if sales orders are manually modified. After a manual change, you must manually select the Change shipping method option in the Sales order tab of the sales order for the shipping rule to be applied.
Creating shipping rules
Proceed as follows to create shipping rules in Xentral.
Use the Smart Search to open the Shipping rules module.
You are now in the Rules tab.
In the Actions section at the top right, click on +New rule.
Carry out the settings as described in the table below.
Note
The available operators for the settings listed below are described in the Available operators for shipping rules chapter.
Click on Save.
Setting | Explanation |
Name | Enter the desired name for the shipping rule. This name is not visible to your customers, but only to you and your employees in Xentral. |
Destination shipping method | Select the desired target shipping method that should be assigned to sales orders that fulfill the selected criteria. In case the rule applies, a message will be displayed after releasing a manually created sales order. For sales orders imported from an online store, a matching rule will automatically be applied and the shipping method will be changed in the sales order without you having to take active steps. |
Active | Activate this option to activate the shipping rule in Xentral. This step is necessary so that the shipping rule can be suggested or executed automatically. Important Deactivated shipping rules will not be applied! |
Priority | You can use the prioritization to determine which rule should be applied in case two separate rules apply to the same sales order. The smaller the number that you enter here, the higher the priority of the rule.
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Product | Use this setting to restrict the shipping method to specific products that are contained in the sales order. Important When using this setting, pay attention to the operators you select. When using the operators <, > or between, you have to enter the Product ID. Do not enter the product number in this case. Identifying the product ID is easiest if you open the respective product in the Sell > Products menu. The very last numbers of the URL (in your browser’s the address bar, directly after the = symbol) are the product ID. You can then enter it when creating shipping rules in the Shipping rules module. |
Fast lane | Select if the shipping rule should be applied for sales orders that have previously been marked as Fast lane and are thus prioritized for processing. |
Sales order amount | Here, you can set up restrictions based on the sales order amount so that the shipping rule can be applied to particularly small or big sales order amounts. |
Payment method | Determine a payment method so that the shipping method is only applied to sales orders with exactly this payment method. |
Shipping method | Select the shipping method that has originally been set for the sales order. The shipping rule will then affect all sales orders with this shipping method and changes the shipping method to the previously defined Destination shipping method. |
Project | This setting allows you to apply the shipping rule to sales orders of a specific project. Important In this case, the shipping rule will only be applied to sales orders of the selected project. Sales orders from other projects will remain unaffected even if they match the criteria defined in the shipping rule. We advise you to carefully consider if using this setting makes sense for you! |
Delivery country | Select a delivery country for which the shipping rule should apply. In this case, the delivery country is the country of destination that the shipment is delivered too, i.e. the country of the customer’s address. |
Shop | Select the shop from which the sales order has been imported. This way, the shipping rule will only be applied to sales orders from this specific sales channel. |
Volume | Enter the sales order volume to apply the shipping rule based on this criterion. Note The value that you enter in this field has to equal the sum of the volume of all products contained in the sales order. You can calculate the volume of a product by multiplying its measurements with each other (length x width x height). Sample calculation: Length: 5 cm, width: 10 cm, height: 25 cm = 1250. You can find the product dimensions under Sell > Products > [Open product] > Section: Stock/Dimensions. |
Weight | Limit the shipping rule according to the total weight of the sales order. In case of weights below 1 kg, you need to use a decimal point. Entries that contain a comma will not be considered. A weight of 100 g is thus indicated by entering 0.1 kg. |
Available operators for shipping rules
Multiple operators are available for selection In the shipping rule settings. You can use these operators according to your requirements or not select any in case a criterion should not be included in the rule.
Mind the difference between the operators = and in. Let’s take a look at the Product setting to recognize the following differences:
Using the operator =: For the shipping rule to be applied, the sales order can only consist of a single specific product. If other products are contained in the sales order, the rule is not applied.
Using the operator in: This operator allows you to add multiple products to a shipping rule. If one of the products selected in the shipping rule is contained in an order, the rule is applied. Other products may be present in the sales order as well.
Special case with JIT parts lists: Just-in-time (JIT) parts lists can only be entered with the operator in. Using the operator = is not possible.
Important
Note that not every operator makes sense for each setting. The operators < and > make sense when dealing with metric information such as the Weight but are not possible to use for the Project setting.
Applying shipping rules
After you have created the required shipping rules in Xentral, you might ask yourself how exactly these rules are applied.
The answer depends on whether you have created your sales orders manually or if sales orders are imported automatically in Xentral, e.g. via an online shop.
Tip
Do you need more information on manual sales order creation or an overview of the possibilities for sales order import in Xentral? Then take a closer look at the following articles:
Manual sales order creation: As soon as you click on Release in a manually created sales order, a message with the text “A shipping rule has been found. Change shipping method?” is displayed in case a shipping rule applies. By clicking on Chang shipping method, the destination shipping method is set in the sales order.
Automatic sales order import: These orders reach your system via the interface to your connected online shops or via other import possibilities. During this import, the shipping rule you have created is automatically taken into consideration and the desired destination shipping method is assigned to the sales order. You do not have to carry out any additional steps, but can continue processing the sales order as usual.
Viewing the history
In the History tab, all sales orders that have been created manually in Xentral and for which the message “A shipping rule has been found. Change shipping method?” was answered by clicking on Change shipping method. The list of executed changes in the history allows you to understand if and which rules have been applied.
Sample use cases
Shipping method assignment based on shipment weight
In daily business, shipping rules are frequently used to change the shipping method according to different shipment weights. In this cases, it is useful if you create a shipping weight matrix and create the corresponding shipping rule for each rule in Xentral afterwards.
Here is a sample matrix for shipment weights:
Rule | from | to | Ship with | Shipping method in Xentral | Product |
Weight in kg | 0.01 | 0.5 | Merchandise shipment | internetmarke | Books and other items 500 g |
kg | 0.51 | 1.0 | DHL Kleinpaket (formerly Warenpost National) | dhl | Books and other items 1000 g |
kg | 1.01 | 3.0 | DHL Paket National | dhl | Parcel (up to 31.5 kg) |
kg | 3.01 | 31.5 | DPD Classic | dpdapi | Parcel (up to 31.5 kg) |
kg | 31.6 | 1000 | Freight shipping | Freight shipping | Pallet shipping |
Independent of the original shipping method with which sales orders are imported or created, the desired shipping method should be selected according to those weight specifications.
Continue by creating five separate shipping rules accordingly. Enter a name for those rules as well as the weight span and the desired shipping method.
Shipping method assignment based on shipment weight and delivery country
Another use case is the automatic assignment of a shipping method for specific delivery countries. The assignment based on delivery country is often carried out in addition to the differentiation by shipment weight. Thus, in this use case we will extend the previous example on the shipment weight by introduction the delivery country as an additional criterion.
In the following example, the previously created weight matrix should always be applied regardless of the delivery country. Only if the country of destination is Austria, a different shipping method should be assigned to the sales orders.
To achieve this, we add the following rule for the delivery country Austria. In this case, DPD should always be selected independent of the shipment weight:
Rule | = | Ship with | Shipping method in Xentral | Product |
Delivery country | Austria | DPD | dpdapi | Parcel |
When creating this rule in Xentral, assign the priority 0 as well as the delivery country Austria.
Since no criteria regarding the delivery country were selected in the weight matrix, you need to assign a priority here. This is due to the fact that sales orders with the delivery country Austria would now be affected by both the weight rule and the country.
By entering the priority 0, the delivery country rule will be preferred. All other rules have a lower impact (0 > 1 > 2 > 3 > 4 > 5).