To sell online, you'll need to add local and/or global shipping options with a carrier, local delivery, or self-pickup. You can add any of these methods to your store or combine all three, depending on what and where you sell. For example, local delivery is best for food and flowers, while global shipping works well for apparel or beauty products.

From the Online tab, navigate to Settings > Shipping and pickup to create and manage deliveries, get live-time rates from the most popular carriers, and customize shipping zones and rates.

Understanding shipping in eCom

Deciding on the best shipping strategy for your store is an important part of selling online. There are four things to consider:

Shipping rates

The amount you charge your customers for shipping or delivery on top of the cost of products in the order.

• Real-time carrier rates are calculated automatically based on distance, weight, and order size. This is recommended for stores with heavy or oversized products or varying item size and dimensions.
• Flat rate shipping charges customers the same amount for shipping or delivery regardless of destination or the total number of items in order. This is recommended for stores that sell small but high-value products like jewelry, where products are roughly the same weight and size, or for stores that handle delivery themselves.
• Custom rates are manually set up based on the order weight or total. This is recommended for stores that want to encourage customers to spend more by offering lower shipping costs for bigger cart values, orders shipped by freight to cover shipping expenses, or non-integrated shipping services.
• Free shipping can help increase conversion in your online store and can be factored into the price of your products. This is recommended for high-profit stores that can cover shipping costs, local pickup options, or limited time offers like holidays.

Shipping region or delivery zone

A geographical area you ship to. You can set up a shipping zone as big as a block, city, state or province, country, or the whole world. A shipping zone limits the order delivery to a certain area. You can create as many shipping zones as needed.

Shipping service

eCom (E-Series) is integrated with the most popular carriers all over the world. You can connect any carrier or delivery service, including your own delivery. Shipping methods with a specific carrier may have its own delivery zone and rate.

Shipping labels

To ship an order, you need to buy and print shipping labels. Shipping labels differ depending on the carrier you use, but they all display required shipping information like customer address, package weight and dimensions, and shipping class.

Creating shipping methods for eCom

Create shipping methods from the Online tab by navigating to Settings > Shipping and pickup. There are a variety of options based on how you want to ship, how far, and for what price. This video shows one example of how you can set up shipping for your store:

In the video instructions, "Ecwid Admin" is the same as your eCom Admin Panel. You can access it through the Online tab or go to Setup > Apps > Lightspeed eCom > Open in a new tab icon.

You can create as many shipping options as you want. Each one can have different rates, destination zone, and carrier.

Connecting shipping methods to outlets

Outlets with incomplete addresses cannot be connected to a shipping method.

If you have more than one location, you can connect locations to shipping methods, meaning customers are restricted from choosing shipping options for items that are out of stock at the location that ships products to their area. For example, if items shipped through Canada Post ship from an outlet in Canada and that outlet is out of stock of an item, that shipping option will not be available in the customer checkout.

To restrict shipping options to locations:

1. Navigate to Online > Settings > Shipping and pickup.
2. Click Add shipping.
3. Select your shipper from the list or enter the name in Other carriers and click Set up.
4. Click the type of rate you will offer for this shipping method.
5. Choose the outlet to assign to the shipping method from the dropdown menu.
6. Configure your limiting availability by subtotal and showing estimated delivery at checkout options.
7. Choose your shipping origin and enter the address if required.
8. Click Save & Finish.

You can also give customers more flexibility with pickup options or local delivery options for eCom.

What's next?